Austin Game Conference 2005 Report

RPG Vault has put together a two-page report of the recent Austin Game Conference, primarily focusing on the MMORPG-related events. A snippet to follow:
Next up for me was a breakout session in the Business & Production track. Entitled ROI, the economics of MMOs, it brought together Jon Grande of Sigil Games Online, Robert Garriott of NCsoft, John Needham of SOE and Jeff Anderson of Turbine. They looked at how online games make money, touching on a variety of sub-topics such as retail vs. digital distribution, subscription fees vs. or plus ancillary revenues, and the still rising cost of bringing a major title to market. The lack of consensus on a number of subjects was interesting, and probably very healthy for the industry's future, indicating once again that companies are more open to learning and trying new things rather than being stuck thinking in just one way.