The Slitherine Group and Ageod Join Forces

[Arctic Blast]

Does this mean AGEOD's awesome prices are gone  :-\

And beyond that, does this mean AGEOD'S wide distribution is now gone?

[Nefaro]

I hope this merger works out well for all concerned.

I think it will.  They do seem to share similar developing philosophies, for the most part anyway.

So far, it's been a good experience with Scourge Of War joining the Slitherine-Matrix group as nothing has changed much other than dropping of the activation DRM, which is wonderful.  I would imagine that AGE games would similarly continue on as they always have, but with some extra distribution bells & whistles.

[Tuna]

AGEOD games were a great price before discounts!

[Bison]

This seems like it'll be a good match.  Looking forward to AACW2.

[Martok]

And I just read over at AGEOD that The Civil War 2 is coming!!!

Excellent. 

[JasonPratt]

Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?

I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!

Ageod and Paradox split earlier this year.

That was dang quick. What was it?--one year with two joint games developed, Alea Jacta Est (which has been an award winning monster success, on the Age engine) and whatever that Napoleon game was (on... whatever engine that was)?

Ageod and Matrislith definitely make a much better pairing, as they've been distributing everything through Matrix forever anyway. I was never comfortable with the news that Ageod and Paradox had 'married' in the first place: their games are just too different.

(Note to self: add "Matrislith" to my name list of fictional characters, probably as female villain...)

[Boggit]

Does this mean AGEOD's awesome prices are gone  :-\

I'm not sure how that will work out for gamers – Alea Jacta Est download is £15.99 at Gamersgate and AGEOD's own site, but for some reason it's £16.99 plus VAT of £3.40 at Matrix for £20.39! You don't get any perks like blue coins except at GG.

I'm just looking at download prices here - I didn't check Steam but perhaps I should have - I'm not sure how Matrix justify such a margin above and beyond their obvious price competitors - almost 21.5% more expensive for the same item, certainly the costs of providing the download service are unlikely to be so dramatic as between the three businesses.

In the EU it is normal to show prices including VAT. Matrix show an ex-VAT price in the online brochure, but adds VAT after a gamer has made their choice but before a gamer enters into a contract for sale with them. It can be confusing or even potentially misleading for a customer. However, if you've previously bought from Matrix before you should be familiar and aware of that. There may well be good reasons for this, given that Matrix deal with a multi-jurisdictional marketplace, although if Matrix do display prices in GBP, then I'd prefer to know what I'm expected to pay total at the outset. It would be interesting to know for sure why this is.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Matrix, and they offer some excellent games in a niche market, which must raise commercial issues in respect of long term survival. I'm just wondering whether the net impact of the merger is just going to make AGEOD games a very much more expensive proposition? I hope not.

[Slick Wilhelm]

I am so happy to hear of this news. I hope this means greater financial success for all three companies. I think I may have to celebrate this merger by purchasing some of their games tonight. I'm sure there's one or two that I don't already own.  ;)