Introducing “MagnaPlay,” which claims to be the “world’s first indie game subscription.” But full of suspicion – AUTOMATON

The world’s first indie game subscription service called “MagnaPlay” seems to be in operation. However, there is something suspicious about it. Even if you’re interested, you might want to wait and see.

“MagnaPlay” is a subscription service. By paying a monthly fee, you can play various indie games. A format in which games are downloaded and played from a dedicated client. Indie games are at their peak right now, and the concept itself is quite interesting.

However, it is doubtful whether “MagnaPlay” is firmly established as a service. First, let’s look at the features of the product. There are currently 11 games available. Despite popular games like Hello Neighbor and Punch Club, the line-up is pretty lackluster. Also, the monthly fee is $8 (about 1000 yen) per month, which is high (for this lineup).

Also, on the client screen of “MagnaPlay”, game packages such as “Dead Cells” and “Hades” that are not provided by the service are displayed while saying “You can get a Steam key”. There is a plan to present a Steam key of such a game to the first 1000 people, and it may be a design for that purpose, but it may lead to misunderstanding. What’s more, there is no mention of the operating company’s information on the site, nor is there any mention of it on the privacy policy page. Although the terms of the payment service stripe are displayed when making a payment, “MagnaPlay” does not present any terms.

As such, it lacks the necessary elements as a subscription service, and there is anxiety when using it. There are no particular cases where the publishers/developers of the provided works have expressed their participation in “MagnaPlay”. When this happens, it becomes doubtful whether the game provided in the first place has permission from the developer.

Who are the operators in the first place?Our Story pageAccording to the company, “MagnaPlay” is being developed by a team of university students living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They say they love the game, but find it frustrating. This is because the rise in the price of new games makes it difficult to have new experiences, and the amount of money that goes to developers from the sales is small, so games with innovative potential are reaching a wide range of users. He says he’s seen cases where the studio itself shuts down without anyone knowing.

In view of such a situation, the team seems to be developing “MagnaPlay” after interviewing developers. In short, it seems that the idea is to provide a place where it is easy to play small-scale games with wonderful ideas at a low price, while also giving the developers a solid reward. He also says that this challenge will revolutionize the gaming industry and take indie developers to the next level.

Regarding this service, a person who is one of the development team has introduced the above concept to an overseas forumHacker Newsposted at. In addition, although this service is a subscription, it is said that the work is installed instead of streaming. Therefore, it is said that DRM was newly developed to solve the piracy problem, and the technical aspects are also explained in detail. As for the user reaction to such posts, while they appreciate their technical efforts and enthusiasm to some extent, they are skeptical about whether subscribing will succeed in the field of indie game distribution.

Although it is an interesting challenge, the business scheme is quite dangerous. The official Twitter account follows some studios with a track record, and although there is a possibility that the title lineup will be enhanced in the future, it must be said that it is risky to pay a monthly fee at this point.