Butterfly.net Snags Game Deal With Sony
from the one-big-customer dept
Last year when IBM and Butterfly.net just launched I was skeptical. They hyped up the "grid" aspect, when it seemed like just a normal datacenter (for gamers) to me. Things had been pretty quiet on the Butterfly.net front since then, but now they're heating up again as they've signed a deal with Sony to host online games for the Sony Playstation 2. As Butterfly.net points out this will increase their user base "exponentially". Certainly good news for the folks at Butterfly.net, but I wonder if they're going to suffer from the "one big customer" effect. Other big name customers may stay away (have to differentiate, after all) while Sony will demand more and more attention - knowing that Butterfly.net can't afford to lose them as a client.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
Everyone suffers from this 'problem' at one time or another. It's good for BF.net because now they can tout the fact they do support a MAJOR player instead of lesser known players.
What kind of silly observation thought was this ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
I'm speaking from experience on this one, having worked at a startup that spent so much time trying to land that "one big client", that we started to ignore and neglect all of our regular clients. Then, once we landed the big client (in a deal that didn't bring in much money, because we cut our rates to land that client...) they kept demanding stuff of us.
The question is, have they bitten off more than they can chew?
If you're in a business where more than 50% of your business is from one client, you are entirely reliant on them. I was just pointing out the risks.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
A lot of the big boys, started small, got big and now could give a damn about small / mid-size deals (except now where they're scratching for any loose change because the economy sucks). Do you really think the DELL's, IBM's, Microsofts, etc of the world care about the 50 man shop/company ? They probably feel it costs them more money to keep the relationship than completely severe it. And in reality, it may.
If BF.net does grow and forget teh small players, someone will recognize it as a business opportunity and pick it up. Stimulates the economy, etc.
BF net then is in the position of having to stroke Sony while looking for the next big hit.
Business. Not for the meek. Not for me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]