Ok so i have been thinking about this lately especially after FFXIV. Yoshi P the director of the reboot FFXIV ARR had said numerous times that the game will not go free to play, reason being is that the game is not back by numerous outside shareholders who need to recoup their losses as quickly as possibly. he has said that they would rather shut the game down than to actually go f2p, which to him would be a sign of failure for the game.

That leads me to the question who are the shareholders for ESO. I know it is Zenimax under the publisher Bethesda, but how many other outside sources are there? One thing people always noted was that FFXI was a success in spite of having only 500,000 or so subs, which is true, it has been going for 11 years and has been one of the most grossing games to date. I would be ecstatic if between the pc/xbox1/ps4, ESO could contain that many subs for the years to come.

So I guess to bring the question back home, how many outside sources are we having to please, and the more there are the more likely this could backfire and go f2p, which is what I don't want.

Aeno

There's an important distinction to be made here. Stakeholders are not necessarily shareholders. The latter are the folks that own the company, and thus pull the strings. The former are merely interested or involved parties.

With that said, you'll be happy to know that Zenimax media is privately-owned. That means the share's aren't listed for public trading. Thus, those who own the company are far more invested in the business, and aren't just in it for the dividend/capital gains.

Zenimax/Bethesda is a private company and should fully own themselves.

A lot of misinformation here.

Shareholders are the people who own a certain % of a company. Zenimax Online (Makers of ESO) AND Bethesda are owned by Zenimax Media Inc. Zenimax Media Inc is not a publicly trading company, therefore people can only "guess" who the shareholders are.

Edit - Publicy trading companies can be found on stock exchanges, where you, or I, can buy/sell or trade shares. Someone examples are;

Microsoft

BP

Electronic Arts

Barclays Bank

But that's exactly what I said, no? It's privately owned.

No where did I disagree with you...?

No you can't invest in them now and expect a profit after all this hype.

You should had invested in them in 2012 after the skyrim hype and during the planning of ESO, that is if you could had found some one to talk to about it to begin with.

No way on earth would they sell shares now even if they were a public company, its the epitome of hype thanks to ESO, so yea no chances either way you would had chosen.

Ok lol I never said i understood all this, and I guess my Economics teacher didn't teach things that stuck.

So that being said since Bethesda are a privately owned company with Zenimax under the umbrella will they have to really worry about going f2p, which would be a sign of failure, inspite of what people say. Having a steady income, not WoW numbers, for years to come would be a success. Do you think they would be in such a rush to recoup losses, not here to discuss CE, that they would do something as rash as go f2p? Would they every be forced to due to shareholders/stockholders/someholders whatever they call them?

Aeno

Oh and Im not asking this because I want to buy into something, I am just wondering because of the fear around here of f2p

Aeno

Guess it was a logical conclusion, given I was really the only reply, and the OP was asking a question, not stating an opinion. Maybe quote the post you're replying to next time?

As I say, it's kind of an assumption, but there is at least much less of a risk, since the shares are not publicly traded, so there's less of a separation between ownership and stewardship, which often leads to short-term decision-making.

Matt Frior said something like "B2P, F2P are all viable, proven business models, but this (Box price and sub), is what works for ESO).

I'll try to find the link;

http://www.pcgamesn.com/elderscrolls/matt-firor-justifies-elder-scrolls-subscriptions-we-re-not-worried-about-getting-people-door

So because Zenimax is private does this mean we will hear how awesome subscription numbers are and sales numbers the first month, but if the sub numbers drop we wont hear a word because they aren't required to release that?

Pretty much. When it comes to numbers, they'll tell us if/when they want.

Uhm last I checked it was a PRIVATELY owned company and therefore not required to disclose any financial statements under U.S. GAAP to the public. Meaning, if they release ANY figures consider it a grace from the finance Gods and stop assuming that undisclosed financial statements from a PRIVATE company means poor performance.

Newsflash -- IT JUST MEANS THEY'RE PRIVATE.

Jeez.

And why exactly are you quoting me, typing in capitals and coming across as an angry little man?

Because you've been spreading misinformation all day in various threads. Enough's enough. When it comes to numbers they'll tell you whatever they want to tell you. They have ZERO obligations to you financially speaking.

You are a stakeholder NOT a shareholder so stop presuming things that you know nothing about.

Period.

Good to know they are a private organization

I heard the company is owned by Illuminatis who are really daedric worshippers in suits and just pretend to be games developers

I'm pretty baffled. You're a strange fellow. Where did I say or imply they weren't a private company or that they would release information? I'm also curious as to what other "misinformation" I've been spreading. Feel free to start a thread, or at the very least PM me the incriminating evidence. Until that time, you're just an angry little man on the internet and I somewhat pity you. But that's probably more of my "misinformation", right?

lulz

It's derived from your snarky response to a misinformed user "Pretty much. When it comes to numbers, they'll tell us if/when they want."

Just because they decide to not disclose any financial statistics with respect to a privately held company does not constitute it as a "poor performance" quarter. So your little "pretty much" comment is completely out of line and MISINFORMED.

This dialogue is over on account of you being incredibly thick and ignorant.

Sir, I'd suggest you seek help. You've obviously not read anything properly. I'm also waiting on the other "misinformation" I've been spreading "all day". Again, please seek help and also stay away from any highly populated buildings/areas until you calm down.

we have a pretty good idea who owns zenimax online and zenimax media.

providence equity partners (who i think has given zenimax about $450 million over the past few years) and Global Eagle Acquisition Corp seem to have a big share. also, Robert Trump (who may or may not be donald trump's brother? i think they have some sort of relationship) is on the board of directors, so there is a reasonable chance trump management has an interest. jerry bruckheimer (he makes movies), cal ripken jr. (he was a baseball player), and the president of CBS round out the board.

it's not publicly traded, but there are still shareholders and i'm pretty sure they get to vote their shares. those shares just aren't available to be purchased by the public. the corporate structure of zenimax should be pretty similar to the structure of EA, it's just the people running zenimax (hopefully) want to make better video games and aren't as interested in running a ponzi scheme. i don't think zenimax has the same SEC reporting requirements a public company has, so they won't have the quaterly report thing. however, those are mostly b.s. anyway, and people anolyzing those reports to get an idea of how many subscribers there are is not that good of idea.

whether that means they will go f2p or not, i can't say. i hope they don't. i think that questions is a lot more complicated than just asking who's calling the shots, but ultimately the people calling the shots did put their money on the line and they do want a return on that investment.

[censored] people granted the NDA is still up but everyones pms levels are just off the charts. How is my thread turning into a flame war? shut up the both of ya before I report my own damn thread. put something constructive or not at all, well if it is at least remotely funny like the Illuminati one then I'll allow for it.

Aeno

not looking good for the future we have a Trump, Bruckheimer and the president of CBS...

seriously though was just wondering, funny how such rich people want more riches as fast as possible isn't as though their children will be missing a meal and they need it in the next few months gotta love the 1%s.

Aeno