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[Ryo Hazuki]

January 25th, 2017: Update - SUBSCRIPTION CLOSED WITH FOCUS ON PUBLISHING

https://www.gamepump.com/announcements

We have been working on GamePump for nearly a year and during that time we have been negotiating with nearly every major publisher in the world on rereleasing their back catalogs which currently do not appear on modern OS or PC marketplaces.

Over the course of these negotiations, some big games fell out, and several catalog's our lawyers were working on getting out of the graveyard of bankruptcy did not work out in our legal favor (meaning we weren't granted rights to commercially rerelease them).

By the end, we had a few great games we could republish to Steam, but when I evaluated the final slate of games that our subscribers would be getting, I felt we were not living up to the standard I had for the service.

Every game I produce, every service I launch, is because I am passionate about it.

If at any point, I feel that a project isn't going to blow you away, I'd rather face the disappointment and refund your money, than take your money and have you feel under served.

It is with that philosophy in mind that I have instructed our team to refund every subscriber their money and cancel the GamePump subscription.

Those who subscribed prior to cancellation will still receive the two promised games for Jan / Feb once they're on Steam (in the next 2 weeks, I'm told), as our FREE gift and our thank you for supporting this risky and experimental attempt at archiving our favorite and forgotten games of the past.

"What will happen to the great games you did find or develop?"

We will continue our focus on publishing the great games we did secure and the ones we had originally developed for the service, however since there isn't enough of those to justify a 12 month subscription, we will simply be publishing them to Steam, GOG, Humble, and other PC marketplaces as standard releases.

I genuinely want to thank you for your support and I'm sorry we weren't able to deliver on the promise.

It was important to us that we achieved this without using any subscriber money, so that we could ensure that you all received your full payment back if satisfaction was not guaranteed.

Many of you have already received your refund confirmations and if you have not, do not worry, our team is working overtime to ensure every customer is refunded their full amount in the next 48 hours. It takes 1-4 days depending on banking/payment method used to make your payment.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Robert Bowling

Founder, GamePump

Original post:

Just saw this on my Twitter feed. Robert Bowling (Call of Duty, Humble Monthly) seems to have started a new monthly subscription service called GAMEPUMP that promises to bring unreleased classic franchises and games to Steam. It's like a blind service such as Humble Monthly and Loot Crate, but you can buy the games on release too. Seems interesting, wonder what games will come out of this.

HOW GAMEPUMP WORKS

We partner with video game veterans of today and yesteryear to reclaim lost gaming artifacts.

Which is a really fancy way of saying, we revive classic game libraries from the proverbial basements of some of the top video game publishers in the world and help bring them to modern hardware.

IN RETURN, WE'RE GRANTED A ONE-TIME MASSIVE DISCOUNT FOR OUR ACTIVE SUBSCRIBERS.

GAMEPUMP GUARANTEE

We guarantee that 100% of the games you receive as part of your subscription will be BRAND NEW to your Steam library!

HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS PROMISE?

We only publish games that have never been on Steam. This includes bringing classic console exclusives to the PC for the first time ever by partnering with the premiere indie developers. In addition, some games are developed exclusively for GAMEPUMP as spiritual successors to your favorite game franchises of the past.

http://www.gamepump.com/

 

[Granjinha]

huh what classic games? as in ~lost in time? old gen games? indie games that weren't released on PC? (which are quite rare)

 

[gngf123]

Doing it blind is somewhat okay if it's guaranteed to be something brand new, but there's really no telling how good these unreleased games will be. Partnering with indie devs doesn't make much sense since nearly all indie devs in the past have published on PC first, so maybe it'll be completely unreleased titles that were never finished?

Maybe I'll see what's in the first month first.

 

[DerekOfTheDykes]

This could POTENTIALLY be extremely cool news

Okay, it's really cool any which way you slice ot, but my level of interest is going to depend entirely on the the games they plan on bringing to Steam

 

[Shaneus]

Classic console exclusives? By indie developers?

I can't think of any console exclusives by indies that I'd actually want. Unless something like Lumines would fit under that umbrella.

 

[Stumpokapow]

The business model is a little weird but given Night Dive's success in the space I am glad to see others jump in.

First year for $20 is basically sub-bundle pricing on a per game basis so that's hot

 

[Corpekata]

I wonder if this might fit in with the Dishwasher and Charlie Murder ports and the FNA system the porter is setting up, which should allow some more XBLA games to be ported easier and with full functionality. They are supposed to release in Dec or January, when this starts.

Of course, that would depend on what they mean by classic. To me it would be older stuff, but they could be using it liberally.

Made a thread about that here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1312545&highlight=

Classic console exclusives? By indie developers?

I can't think of any console exclusives by indies that I'd actually want. Unless something like Lumines would fit under that umbrella.

I think it might be referring to who is porting, like Night Dive, as they do mention top publishers as well.

 

[MaLDo]

Alien Hominid HD?

 

[Tregard]

Is this the guy from Robotoki?

 

[Granjinha]

I wonder if this might fit in with the Dishwasher and Charlie Murder ports and the FNA system the porter is setting up, which should allow some more XBLA games to be ported easier and with full functionality. They are supposed to release in Dec or January, when this starts.

Of course, that would depend on what they mean by classic. To me it would be older stuff, but they could be using it liberally.

Made a thread about that here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1312545&highlight=



I think it might be referring to who is porting, like Night Dive, as they do mention top publishers as well.

The one porting Dishwasher/Charlie Murder is the guy that helps make linux/mac versions of games for Humble Bundle, tho

 

[SapientWolf]

I wonder if this might fit in with the Dishwasher and Charlie Murder ports and the FNA system the porter is setting up, which should allow some more XBLA games to be ported easier and with full functionality. They are supposed to release in Dec or January, when this starts.

Of course, that would depend on what they mean by classic. To me it would be older stuff, but they could be using it liberally.

Made a thread about that here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1312545&highlight=



I think it might be referring to who is porting, like Night Dive, as they do mention top publishers as well.

I would pay $20 for Death Tank alone.

 

[Quadraphonic]

"spiritual successor" sounds really fishy.

 

[Lady Siara]

I like the idea though I wish they would at least name their first game so we can get an idea of what to expect.

 

[J.G.]

If this means we can get games that should be on Steam/GOG now (Crimson skies, Psi-ops) then I'm all for this

 

[MulderYuffie]

Thrill Kill pls



this could be good tho seriously.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

I found the LinkedIn profile of the founder, apparently he helped start the Humble Monthly Bundle.

I'm intrigued, but I feel I like I need some specifics before I jump in.

 

[tm24]

I could spend 20 dollars on Chinese tonight, but ill guess ill cook and take a chance on this

 

[hersheyfan]

Read the pitch on their website and went in on the 1 year package. Old console exclusives ported to PC (via Steam keys, which is even better) sounds like exactly what I want, and 13 games for 20 dollars is a great deal.

If we get older XBLA exclusive stuff like Guardian Heroes HD, that'd be up enough for me!

Edit: Order #00013. Within the first 20!

 

[Muskieratboi]

Interesting Idea. I'll wait to see what kind of games come out the first few months before considering it though.

Could be anything from Major XBLA titles getting ported to getting Amazing Frog and Sneak King.

 

[KelpPlankton]

This sounds worth blindly throwing them $20 for that first year. I imagine at least one game from that set will make the money spent feel worthwhile considering there's 13 of them in there.

 

[jshackles]

As someone with over 3,000 games in my Steam account, this pitch is really speaking to me. One of the reasons I don't like the Humble Monthly is because the one time I signed up for it I got 4 games I already owned alongside two I didn't. Humble Monthly typically has great games, but they're often games I already own.

If they're able to pull it off, I'm happy to fork over $20 for 13 games with Steam keys that are guaranteed to not be something I already have - with the added bonus that we might end up with a few games resurrected from consoles that can be more easily preserved on PC.

 

[Mondrian]

Kinda feel like these may just be roms with an emulator wrapped together, but I'll roll the dice why not.

 

[MasterOfNone]

I subscribed because why the hell not, 20$ for 13 games which may include classics.

Order Number: #00019

Really?

 

[Ionic]

I subscribed because why the hell not, 20$ for 13 games which may include classics.

Order Number: #00019

Really?

#00020! High five!

 

[Tagyhag]

Yo that's awesome! I don't know if I'll sub though, the quality could be all over the place.

Ignition please!

 

[LewieP]

Not really interested to the extent that I'd open my wallet until I hear what games are available, but putting old games on steam sounds good to me.

 

[bede-x]

It's cool if it brings more classic games to Steam, but I see no reason to buy blind.

 

[Momentary]

Order number 24!! Let's do this!

 

[Radnom]

I ordered it because it sounds really interesting.

I chose the PayPal option and sent through $20, but it didn't actually ask for any kind of login, steam account, or even an email address... I didn't get any email confirmation apart from the PayPal pay confirmation and the payments went to "Super Villain Incorporated" which doesn't sound particularly promising, haha...

I hope I didn't just fall for an incredibly obvious scam!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The guy behind it says that the Turok Steam release is a good example of a remastered game. Wonder if this is akin to the kind of quality and games this service will bring?

 

[LuciusAxelrod]

I'm interested, but I kinda want to see what the first one is before I bite. When does the first game go out?
And it says the $20 for 12 months is a "Sale," does that mean the price will go up later?

 

[broncobuster]

I'd be down to subscribe if they can get No One Lives Forever 2. I gave up on seeing it re-released. It's a good test.

 

[JaseC]

I'm interested, but I kinda want to see what the first one is before I bite. When does the first game go out?

The service begins in January.

And it says the $20 for 12 months is a "Sale," does that mean the price will go up later?

Yes. It'll go up $60. You'll notice that "$60" is crossed out.

I'd be down to subscribe if they can get No One Lives Forever 2. I gave up on seeing it re-released. It's a good test.

NOLF will likely never happen.

 

[Deadstar]

Willow please.

 

[low-G]

I ordered it because it sounds really interesting.

I chose the PayPal option and sent through $20, but it didn't actually ask for any kind of login, steam account, or even an email address... I didn't get any email confirmation apart from the PayPal pay confirmation and the payments went to "Super Villain Incorporated" which doesn't sound particularly promising, haha...

I hope I didn't just fall for an incredibly obvious scam!

Same, but pretty sure they'll be able to handle paypal orders based on the associated email addresses.

 

[gngf123]

The guy behind it says that the Turok Steam release is a good example of a remastered game. Wonder if this is akin to the kind of quality and games this service will bring?

This is the thing. I love the idea but we really have no idea what the quality of this might be.

If the Turok remaster is a good comparison game, or old XBLA games like people are mentioning, it might be with it.

 

[UltraJay]

I ordered it because it sounds really interesting.

I chose the PayPal option and sent through $20, but it didn't actually ask for any kind of login, steam account, or even an email address... I didn't get any email confirmation apart from the PayPal pay confirmation and the payments went to "Super Villain Incorporated" which doesn't sound particularly promising, haha...

I hope I didn't just fall for an incredibly obvious scam!

I went with the credit card option and got a confirmation email that said I'd be given more details later. You definitely have to provide an email address before you even get the option of PayPal, however. I know because I had to put it in twice, once to get to the checkout screen and again at the checkout screen.

Funnily, my order number is #00026. I was not expecting to be so early on getting this.

 

[Garmonbozia]

I might have missed it, but will the games be released individually on Steam? Or will they be exclusive to subscribers?

 

[JaseC]

I went with the credit card option and got a confirmation email that said I'd be given more details later. You definitely have to provide an email address before you even get the option of PayPal, however. I know because I had to put it in twice, once to get to the checkout screen and again at the checkout screen.

Funnily, my order number is #00026. I was not expecting to be so early on getting this.

The PayPal link is a direct link to PayPal's checkout system. You're not asked to provide anything prior to logging in and purchasing a subscription (I also paid with PayPal as I had a couple of bucks sitting in my account).

I might have missed it, but will the games be released individually on Steam? Or will they be exclusive to subscribers?

I'd assume so. I doubt GamePump is counting on subscriptions alone to cover all costs.

Edit: This:

In return, we're granted a one-time massive discount for our active subscribers.

...strongly suggests that the games will be made available for individual sale.

 

[UltraJay]

I might have missed it, but will the games be released individually on Steam? Or will they be exclusive to subscribers?

It says on the homepage that subscribers get "one-time massive discount" meaning that 5 bucks a month (or less with the longer subs) is cheap compared to what it will cost on Steam for everyone else.

We're talking about console games that have never been on Steam or even PC at all. It says that they will be working with "indie developers" on making ports. The expense and time making actual ports doesn't make sense if it is only for subscribers. It would be like a Kickstarter that only gave the game to its backers.

Getting it in the bundle is so you can get it at a much cheaper price. It must mean the games will be costing more than 5 dollars at the least.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

As someone with over 3,000 games in my Steam account, this pitch is really speaking to me. One of the reasons I don't like the Humble Monthly is because the one time I signed up for it I got 4 games I already owned alongside two I didn't. Humble Monthly typically has great games, but they're often games I already own.

If they're able to pull it off, I'm happy to fork over $20 for 13 games with Steam keys that are guaranteed to not be something I already have - with the added bonus that we might end up with a few games resurrected from consoles that can be more easily preserved on PC.

Good point. I have a fraction of the number of games you do and I feel the same. With this at least you're guaranteed to get games you don't already have in your steam library

Pretty confident they'd be released on steam individually

 

[Living Proof]

I might have missed it, but will the games be released individually on Steam? Or will they be exclusive to subscribers?

According to the second sentence of the OP, you'll be able to buy the games individually upon release.

I assume that is where they at least initially intend to make the real money, depending on the quality of the ports and the IPs they manage to pull in. The introductory promo price is an interesting strategy.

 

[UltraJay]

The PayPal link is a direct link to PayPal's checkout system. You're not asked to provide anything prior to logging in and purchasing a subscription (I also paid with PayPal as I had a couple of bucks sitting in my account).

I just noticed that PayPal is a separate link. Going through the site itself takes you to a SquareSpace checkout system but before that it takes you to a product information page about the subscription and clicking "checkout" there pops up a box to input "Subscriber Information" including Name, Email, and Referrer (I put NeoGAF).

 

[shandy706]

$20, why not.

I hope the extra game is Turok, haha. Guess not since it's already on Steam.

 

[Living Proof]

Well, I'm subscriber #28. I put neogaf as my reference. I bet half the current registrants are from GAF so far

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I guess Paypal users don't get to see their subscriber number. Bummer!

 

[Tetsuo9999]

Any idea how long the promo price lasts for? I'm saving my Paypal money for Black Friday (Xenoverse 2 PC is still broken and that money could go towards the PS4 version). I hope for stuff like The Dishwasher and Jazz Jackrabbit 2 on here. Most of the high quality digital games from last gen have been ported, but there's still enough left to warrant a service like this. Just depends on what they decide to port; obviously old DOS abandonware won't make everyone happy, but both kinds of ports could be difficult to do.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Too blind for me too jump in. I'd need to see at least the first game to consider.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I get why they may not be able to explicitly list many games from the get-go but it'd be nice if they could at least provide more of a ballpark for the types of games they're trying to release--I don't hoard games for the hell of it and I'm not really interested in giving them in-principle support; I want to know the criteria by which these games are being selected and I want to know more about the people choosing the games so that I can decide whether I can trust them to pick things I'll actually play.

 

[jholmes]

Oh fuck it you guys got me. I'm always all about this sort of thing, getting old software up with the times, so really if like two out of 13 are even decent this'll be worth it. More than that and it'll be a bargain.

No. 31!