GameDaily Biz has an interview with Marc DeForest of S2 Games, in which the company co-founder announces Savage 2: A Tortured Soul will only be avaible as an online purchase. According to DeForest, though only 20% of Savage 1 sales were online, the company made more money from those sales than from all of the retail store ones. DeForest also mentions he doesn't think people will care too much about the lack of a boxed version, as Savage 2 doesn't have a singleplayer mode. The RTS/FPS hybrid game sequel is due out later this year for $29.99.
BIZ: Is it your view that digital distribution is quickly becoming the best bet for independent developers to get their titles on the market? MD: In my opinion, digital distribution is the ONLY method independent developers should use. The traditional method of publishing works for the big players. They have the muscle to get paid on time and obviously have the financial wherewithal to spend large market development funds in stores. Small operations putting out very high quality stuff get stifled by the "big boys" of the industry, no matter how high quality the title is because of the control being exerted by dominant players. It is a battle that is just not worth fighting. The technology is readily available and easy to implement to sell games online and receive 90% of the revenue instantly, rather than higher distribution and market development costs and receiving a much smaller percentage and being paid in 90-180 days, if at all.
It's going to be interesting. If we see a lot of contented gamers buying a product at a lower price and the developer do...