The VMK Pay to Play Numbers

Ok I was thinking about this from a business stand point here are the numbers

Reports say VMK has 250,000 active players.

Let's say they charge $10 a month to play that's $2.5 Million per month or $30 million per year.


Even if they loose half the players without picking up a single new player it's still $15 Million per year.

The game has to cost much less than that to run and maintain. I'm sure none of the other games are pulling near that much cash flow. This just proves what a bad business decision Disney Online is making!

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Originally Posted by JPL

Ok I was thinking about this from a business stand point here are the numbers

Reports say VMK has 250,000 active players.

Let's say they charge $10 a month to play that's $2.5 Million per month or $30 million per year.


Even if they loose half the players without picking up a single new player it's still $15 Million per year.

The game has to cost much less than that to run and maintain. I'm sure none of the other games are pulling near that much cash flow. This just proves what a bad business decision Disney Online is making!

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I agree!

I was looking at it as maybe 50% mules, so 125k players.
30% (37,500) Pay at 4.95/month (60/yr) = $2,250,000/year
to
75% (93,750) Pay at 4.95/month (60/yr) = $5,625,000/year

There will be some families like ours that would take a long look at the idea of having 4+ accounts to the tune of $240+ per year.

In any case, the numbers would show that Disney could make money! I bet though that when they sat down and did the projected numbers that of all their online programs, VMK was very 'live' person labor intensive. Whereas, CP, Toons and PoTC are more of an online computer program...they set it on 'autopilot' and let the cash roll in...so the problem of VMK was the ratio of profit to the dollars constantly invested in the staff that had to answer the 'report' button :(

By the way, it seems that Disney is not expecting a lot of people from the same family to play, otherwise they would have a family package like:

$40-60/first account
$10-25/yr each additional account

A high percentage of homes probably have one computer for the kids, so only one account at time would be active. I think ours is the exception where we can have seven people on at a time. When the Pirate Quest weekend was going, our friends with one computer or dialup connections came to our house to play.

It's just shows there is no way this could have been thought out completely by Disney or that the higher up really don't have the facts. I was just throwing some numbers around looking at the prices of other online games. I mean really how much could it cost to run VMK? This also doesn't even take the other merchandise offering they could tie into the game like packs of trading cards for sale at the parks along with the pins they currently sell now.

I was looking at the other online Disney games and their prices, and was figuring VMK could fit into the $60 / year category.

I wasn't sure of the # of players on VMK, but most people I have spoken with are quite willing to pay to play.

Even at $60 a year with the number of players cut in half it's still a nice chunk of change for Disney Online.

I would be willing to pay to play too. :) My mom does the same thing for her pogo games. she said i could do it too. I don't see why they should have to end a game when so many people love it and are willing to pay to play for it.

The 250K number is after taking alot of the mules out of the 7 million accounts that were registered. I know that I would be willing to pay for VMK if they can get things back to the way it was before the real Yavn left.

Here is the letter I started working on yesterday afternoon. Should I change my revenue projections to those you guys have posted?

Dear Mr. Iger,

In May 2005, I heard about a new online game that was going to be based on the Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks. The name of this game was Virtual Magic Kingdom. As a Disney fanatic, I investigated the game and soon became a Day 1 player.

VMK has meant a lot to thousands of people. I know by now you have been bombarded with the human interest stories of the children and adults who have escaped illnesses or sadness in their lives by jumping into the VMK character. I can bet you have probably tired of this angle, so let’s look at the bottom line, money. As a stockholder, I expect you and other Disney executives to look for ways to increase revenues. So let’s look at how VMK can become a revenue asset instead of a monkey on our backs. Make VMK pay-to-play. While I do not profess to be a math genius, heck, as an instrumental music teacher counting to 8 is my limit, but I can do this simple math.

Charge $80 a year like you do with a few other Disney online games. There are about 250,000 active members on the game now. Say that only 100,000 of the current members decide to continue pay-to-play VMK, Disney has still collected $8,000,000 of revenue from the game. Have a family plan for those families who enjoy the game together. You could even have a different plan for those of us who regularly play more than one character.

Let’s look at the park and pin side of generating revenue as well. I went to WDW in 2005, 2006, and 2007 for the purpose of obtaining virtual prizes for my characters. During my 2007 vacation, I actually purchased a few one-day park passes so that I could obtain VMK quest prizes for my friends who couldn’t visit the parks. When the VMK pin series hit the stands, I ordered $150 in pins that first round. When I visited WDW, I bought another $200 in VMK pins for the codes.

I am only one person and VMK encouraged me to spend at least $2,000 on my WDW resort, food, park passes, and pins. How much money has a family of four spent on a WDW vacation that was planned just because VMK encouraged families to visit a Disney theme park solely for the purpose of visiting the live version of the game they have come to play and love?

We have been told that VMK began as a promotion for the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland. However, VMK has since moved past a promotion, and has become a community. It is a community where parents know their children are safe as they play side by side, and a community of adults who began playing VMK for their love of Disney, but have continued in the game because of the friendships they have made. No where else online is there a virtual game that encompasses the values VMK has instilled in the children and those of us who are young at heart. I ask, along with thousands of other VMK players, that you reconsider your decision in closing VMK. We will pay-to-play in order to keep the community the Disney Corporation has encouraged us to build.

Sincerely,

Robin
VMK titles Fortissimo and Avalanchefan

Great Letter Avalanchefan!:thumbsup:

I think I would lower the $80 to $60, since they do some online that are that price. I also like your comment about a family plan or for additional characters. With four in our family, it could get expensive quickly!

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Originally Posted by jjramsey

In any case, the numbers would show that Disney could make money! I bet though that when they sat down and did the projected numbers that of all their online programs, VMK was very 'live' person labor intensive. Whereas, CP, Toons and PoTC are more of an online computer program...they set it on 'autopilot' and let the cash roll in...so the problem of VMK was the ratio of profit to the dollars constantly invested in the staff that had to answer the 'report' button :(

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Let me try to clear up any misconceptions about CP.

CP was already a success before Disney swooped in to purchase it. When Disney Purchased CP it already had 700,000 paying members at 5.95 a month. There were several other Companies interested in buying CP. CP operates out of Kelowna, where I live, currently I believe they are up to 146 staff (give or take a few, I haven't checked in lately). Knowing some of the staff I can tell you it is "labor intensive". It is moderated 24 hours a day, when the mods are not in the game waddling around, they are answering player and parent emails or addressing other in game concerns. They also have graphic designers, programmers and several other techies and the general office staff.

They are opening another CP branch in England and are currently hiring staff for their new offices there.

I would have to assume that POTC and Toon Town have to run along the same line. I have had live chats with POTC staff concerning issues with my computer.. so, I know they are out there all the time.

Patti,

Since that is the case, I am now even more puzzled why Disney looked at and rejected a pay-to-play for VMK?

...sigh...things are looking a bit weird right now. :ill: Where is the Grinch in VMK...oops wrong story line!

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Originally Posted by jjramsey

Patti,

Since that is the case, I am now even more puzzled why Disney looked at and rejected a pay-to-play for VMK?

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No more puzzled than I am. There are some big bucks to be made.

If CP could make it work.. then with a little advertising and marketing towards the game, rather than having it continue to be advergaming itself.. and maybe a few games younger kids could play as well, VMK could become very succesful. It would still plug the actual parks, without doing it in a blatant advergaming kind of way, but no more so than paying to play Cars Online will sell more Cars mechandise. And.. let's not forget that in order to play Webkins you have to buy a $15 toy. They all market something, pay or not.

Speaking of CP, it's shut down today to be upgraded. Did you people overload the servers?:secret:

The numbers of subscriptions just don't begin to show the VMK potential when it comes to income. People making extra trips to the parks for Quest Items. Buying merchandise for special VMK items. The Movie Rewards program has people buying Disney DVDs. The VMK pins sold out the first day they hit the parks. I bought a Herbie DVD and can't stand the movie.
Now add to that the people who stayed at a Disneyland Hotel for Stitch items. We are talking big money here.

If Disney did make VMK a pay to play game, they could advertise VMK a lot more to attract new players.

Outside of VMK Central and those of us that already play the game, I haven't seen 1 advertisement for VMK.

Meanwhile, I have seen many commercials / advertisements for Pirates Online...

I know not everyone is 'on board' about VMK being a pay to play game, but I think Disney would be surprised at how many players would pay...

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Originally Posted by JPL

The numbers of subscriptions just don't begin to show the VMK potential when it comes to income. People making extra trips to the parks for Quest Items. Buying merchandise for special VMK items. The Movie Rewards program has people buying Disney DVDs. The VMK pins sold out the first day they hit the parks. I bought a Herbie DVD and can't stand the movie.
Now add to that the people who stayed at a Disneyland Hotel for Stitch items. We are talking big money here.

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I would not be surprised if the 'crossover income were equivalent to way over 100% what they would take in for game fees! At least in our family, we made special plans to get a couple of trips in, not only because we like the parks, but to do all the quests. The trips were timed so that the minimum time between the trips would not interfer with quest collection. Then we bought a pile of the pirate pins with codes...and about three times the normal number of movies...to get the inferno...

This is exactly what I don't understand with them. I look at it like this.

Disney is going to spend all that money on making new games like Cars and Fairies online worlds. When they have a game already established (VMK) which with a few touch ups maybe a couple mini games and a few others could be a really amazing game.

Also the money they could make from VMK could be endless. Charging players is just the start. Since VMK is based around the parks they could profit so much off of that. Sell things in the parks that have to do with the items rides and have it turned into virtual items for the game. Sell trading cards for items in the parks. Continue with the pin thing they have now only expand it they could make pins that have to do with Haunted Mansion and sell those with the cards. The Disney Movie Rewards are even better it would cost them nothing since its a virtual item. They just have to put it up and watch as tons of people buy movies just to get a virtual item.

That is what I don't understand with so much possibilities you'd think they would want to do this.