SirPrimalform: Higher grossing with a smaller number of bundles sold too (and consequently a higher average purchase). Says something about the demographics they were targeting doesn't it? Or something.
Actually, As I layed out before in this thread. The average price is not formed by the perceived or actual "retail value" of the stuff offered, but by the personification of the group behind it. The smaller a team, or especially if it is only an individual, the higher people are willing to pay. And because many gamers were to ignorant to fully understand THQs DLC policy, they got some unwarranted flak, which probably didn't help into pledging more than necessary.
Also, Windows users pay less, as windows is the OS that is the cheapest to maintain. With Linux and Max users missing in this, the average was expected to be lower.
Lastly, SR III was a very bad draw for a PMTA game. Because many (wrongfully) thought they would get only half a game, due to the high amount of DLC. Offering TQ later without an expansion had the same problem. Not to mention that more people had already bought the bundle than any other bundle by that point. And it is pointless to rise your pledge, as you get the bonus games anyway. Surprisingly, DOW gave the average a noticeable little bump, even thought also this game was missing the expansion.
THQs "not well thought of" (to put it mildly) business plans are also reflected on how this bundle ran. On the other hand, we won't know how much more DLC sales this generated, so maybe they were smarter than I give them credit. Yet, I remain confident that adding COH full as a PMTA bonus would have let to a higher average. Then people wouldn't have thought "Why pay more, if I only get a half a game?". Also, this the only way to get Steam keys for this game (outside Steam, obviously), as it isn't a Steamworks game. Which is also something people want and pay for.
The HIB 5 had Bastion as the PMTA game, which was
the hot shit when it was featured in the bundle. Heck, they probably could have put Bastion in this bundle and it would have been a bigger draw then SR III.
All in all I am very happy that this worked out in such a overwhelming success. THQ certainly deserves the money and this should get them to at least release their next bunch of games (which all look like to be quality releases). But in the long run THQ has to change their business strategy.
And big Kudos towards the humble guys for helping out a struggling publisher know for quality releases. That they stepped on the toes of some egoists who only want games their way is the icing on the cake.
I'm expecting the next HIB to preform even better than the HIB V, because this bundle has brought even more attention to the humble guys. And if the indies are of the expected quality to be featured here (and not the other, second rate bundles) and have a likeable enough face behind them (looking at you, Grimrock devs) only the sky is the limit.
Very exited about the next HIB!