"IL2 Sturmovik" merchandise is for the combat-flight-sim market what "Call of Duty" is for the FPS, so for a publisher could be not a reasonable idea to change it, not at all. IL2 now is a very strong trade-mark in the world, as for Maddox Games. Maddox is not a problem at all, and Oleg Maddox could be however a good idea, but IL2 is a problem for what has been said above about customers confusion. So, how to avoid it if the publisher doesn't accept other words than IL2?

Storm of War: Battle of Britain
A new combat flightsim serie from Oleg Maddox
or
A new combat flightsim from the creator of IL2
or
(...)
(...)

NB: IL2 is not required

ecc. ecc...

I'm afraid that the first box will be full of marketing advices. However, Storm of War is a good choice for a new serie.

P.S.: The Red Star is itself a very good sign for customers (and i'm not talking off course about politic; the red colour and the star are both very good as distinctive signs for a trade-mark), so the association between it and IL2 Sturmovik words is really very strong. Don't forget about it.

Storm of War -- ....................
from the creator of IL2 Sturmovok

Sounds good to me

There have been many strong hints from OM that in the longer term the series may not be limited to aircraft simulation alone. The name Storm of War could be attached to any genre including tank simulation, naval simulation or whatever.

In English, the phrase does not read very well. I would suggest the title be more about aircraft and flying than War itself. It would have more dignity when introduced to the non-initiates.

If you were to say to the average person with no previous background in flight sims, "I play Storm of War on the internet and always fight with honour." They would look at you with pity. :oops:

Hello Oleg,

as I said (using different words) in the other post yesterday evening, you are one of the very few developers in the world who has a strong and loyal fan base that directly associates you as a person with the product. Only a handful come to my mind in the gaming industry who have such a status: Warren Spector (Deus Ex), Robyn and Rand Miller (Myst series), Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid series) and you, Oleg Maddox. Very, very few people have achieved to build up a customer base that is so loyal that they would follow them almost anywhere. In the movie world the equivalent would be people like Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and so forth. Independently from what they do, people will say "it's a Kubrick movie". The name of the person has become a brand of itself. Your name is almost universally known in the flight simming world, even by most who only play civil flight sim, and who have never played IL2. Most have at least heard your name.

I think it's time you claim from the distributor what is actually already rightfully yours since years: that your name is on the box. The occasion for it is now, at the beginning of a new series, and it won't come again so quickly. Building up a new brand that puts emphasis on your name, instead of a "IL2", which is associated with a flight sim only, and a plane few people in the West know about, is easier for your old and new customer base in the long run. It's also much easier to associate with different theaters, like BoB, Mediterranean, and so forth, and it doesn't create odd associations nobody understands and who are bare of logic like "IL2 Sturmovik: The Battle of Britain". ("uhh, Russians were in the BoB??"). Furthermore, creating a gaming series with your name on it will make it easier to make other products, like the more fun oriented "crimson sky" inspired shooter you mentioned earlier. (btw, in my opinion you should do a steampunk flying sim: big floating fortresses and flying gunships "19th century style" shooting cannons and stuff...nobody has ever done that ...I could bring you a lot of Hollywood film designers who would LOVE to work on such a thing....and me, hehe) But back on topic: Your name would also make it possible very easily to extent to land simulation and other things. "IL2 Sturmovik: Tank Battle of the Ardennes" would sound even more strange to western ears than "IL2 Sturmovik: The Battle of Britain"!

I think you should try right now to establish a head line on all new products going something like this: "A Oleg Maddox Combat Simulation" or "Oleg Maddox Flight Simulation series", followed by "Storm of War: The Battle of Britain", or just "The Battle of Britain". On the first release of the product a sticker could be on the box saying "from the creator of award winning IL2 Sturmovik". Later, when the new product is established such a sticker is not necessary anymore and can be dumped. I think that's better for your own future as a developer and person, and much better for the future of your product, instead of creating strange names like "IL2 Sturmovik: The Battle of Britain" which Brits, Americans and other westerners will not understand and only get confused about.

Well, just my personal two cents.

Well, after seeing this video, my conclusion is IMHO, that Oleg looks better without a moustache. :grin:

Let us pray not. Call of Duty has gone from being one of the best games ever with the ability to mod it and make new maps, skins and dedicated servers to being a console game for kids that you cannot mod or control your own server...it has turned into total nightmare for modders and the original game fans. I hope this is a comparison we never hear from again. ;)....*shivers*

As for them name, anything with Oleg's name will work. "From the creators of greatest ww2 air sim of-all-time "IL2- Sturmovik"

Oleg's already expressed his point of view. It's the publisher who has the final say and they will probably do whatever the heck they like. The only thing I can imagine changing their minds would be some sort of massed email/letter campaign by fans to keep the SOW:BOB name with a well thought out and reasoned explanation why it should be.

Given the 1C community who posts about SOW, coming off as rational or coherent in written form might be a problem!

Right now the publishers are banking on the IL-2 name carrying them in Russia and Eastern Europe where the game is much more popular and IL-2 has better name recognition and cultural significance. In the west, they're probably going to keep the SOW title. If they don't, and go the IL-2 naming route it would probably be the equivalent of Spielberg's marketing department doing this. . .

"I know, lets name take the name of one of his earlier successes, and add it to the start of this new one! That way fans will know that it's by the same guy, and they're both similar. . . even though they're sort of different.

Empire of the Rising Sun: Saving Private Ryan

Now we know the publisher is Ubi, tks oleg ;)

Yes, Forgotten battles was an excellent title.

Maybe Unforgotten Battles now?


1c: Battle of Britain (by the makers of IL2) works perfectly.