White Wolf offers free download of ‘Exalted’ PDF
Responses to Wizards of the Coast’s recent decision to discontinue on-line PDF sales have started to come in. Not one to resist the chance to fire a shot across the bow of its biggest competitor, gaming company White Wolf has posted this announcement:
In light of recent announcements, some fans have expressed concern over the future of electronic (PDF) format book sales in the RPG industry. White Wolf Publishing today has announced that it currently has no plans to discontinue its existing PDF products.
“Quite the opposite,” says Eddy Webb, the Alternative Publishing Developer for White Wolf. “I believe this is a growing market with potential we haven’t yet had a chance to fully explore, both as publishers and as fans of role-playing games.” Eddy remarked that he has dozens of upcoming PDF-exclusive products on his schedule in addition to continuing to provide PDF versions of upcoming products, and that White Wolf is still actively looking into returning to the print-on-demand arena.
To celebrate White Wolf’s continuing devotion to PDF products and reward their growing, loyal fan base, the company is offering a free download of the Exalted Second Edition rulebook as well as a one-time 10% discount on the purchase of any White Wolf PDF titles through DriveThruRPG.com and RPGNow.com from 1 Am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Simply enter the coupon code “wwlovesyou” to receive the discount. Both offers expire by midnight (EST) on Sunday, April 12th.
I have the first edition of Exalted in hardcover and am quite fond of it. For the unfamiliar, it is an Oriental-styled fantasy game inspired by animé and Hong Kong wuxia action movies. I will definitely be taking advantage of this legitimate free download opportunity.
It is certainly a canny move on White Wolf’s part to take advantage of Wizards of the Coast’s hesitation. As one of the few remaining big publishers from the heyday of the pencil-and-paper RPG, they have had to adapt to the new realities of the present market. It is not hard to imagine they might see this as an opportunity to expand their PDF sales into the vacuum created by Wizards’ abandonment of it. (Also, the coupon code is cute.)
Of course, it may well be that Wizards of the Coast’s decision was dictated from above. Wizards is owned by toy-and-game giant Hasbro, which has already exercised some influence over Wizards in the form of insisting on a new edition of D&D every couple of years.
As we have seen with Amazon and Mobipocket, when a smaller company is bought by a huge conglomerate it can lead to consumer-unfriendly decisions. Hasbro’s focus is on selling to huge distributors and retailers, and the individual consumer can get lost in the shuffle.
White Wolf, on the other hand, is now part of CCP, the makers of the MMO EVE Online. They are certainly not as big as Hasbro, and the MMO business relies on having a good, personal relationship with every single customer because subscriptions are where the bulk of their money comes from. Hopefully this customer-centric attitude continues to hold sway with White Wolf.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:51 am
That’s not first time WW make this. Last year they offered free electronic copies of World of Darkness Rulebook and Scion: Hero during Free RPG Day. Also other editors take this decision: Evil Hat has given away during 24 hours electroci copies of Spirit of the Century, a ENnies Wiining Indie RPG based on pulp fiction, and Spirit of the Season, a Christmas adventure for SotC, and so on.