I'm not sure if it makes sense to directly compare a title like Skyrim with SB Pro. Of course, if you look at it strictly from an entertainment point of view, it's a valid position, and if you're just looking for pure entertainment, by all means go and buy Skyrim. It's a fantastic deal there - great graphics, just $60.-, and potentially also hundreds of hours of gameplay if you want to discover the entire world there. I had tremendous fun with Fallout 3 (another huge time sink), and I suppose that Skyrim is somewhat comparable in concept (though the setting is totally different etc.).

This is why I say that the value is in the eye of the beholder. Because if you want to educate yourself about contemporary armored combat vehicles, SB Pro is rather unique. While other games may also offer "simulation goodness", none of the examples that you mentioned allow you a first-hand in-detail experience of battle tanks and IFVs. If on the other hand you don't care about what kind of a machine you control as long as it is modern and technical and in a combat environment, one of those flight simulators may be a better deal. I just doubt that there is anyone using these outlandish metrics for purchase decisions.
You want to do some (virtual) flying, so you go and pick a flight sim. Or you're interested in armor, then there's the choice between a number of WW2 tank games, some 1st person shooters that also let you board something that resembles tanks if you squint your eyes real hard, and press your fingers on your ears singing "Nananananana I can't hear you nananananana". Then there's Blaze of War, or Balkans on Fire which I'd consider real contenders even though their focus is different so that they aren't completely interchangeable - but still, probably the titles that come closest to a directly comparable tile if your focus is more on entertainment.

Whatever floats your boat. But I think that SB Pro has a number of world-exclusive elements. Is there any other simulation for infantry fighting vehicles? Or mobile gun systems like the Centauro? How many other titles are there that have a reasonably faithful replication of the Leopard 2 family fire control system? How many other titles are out there that offer a comparable real-time constructive simulation/tactical wargame with contemporary equipment?


If you say that you aren't really that much interested in all this, then I will wholeheartedly agree: Steel Beasts isn't made for you.
Then again, you wrote that you're on the fence for a couple of years, so you probably have some interest in these things. In that case I say, there isn't anything better. It really depends on what metrics you apply to determine the value of SB Pro; only you can know what is important for you, and decide on that basis whether or not eSim Games is offering a sweet deal or not. They could try to pay me for playing "The Sims", I still wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

We've decided that we want at least $100.- for SB Pro PE in its current configuration without printed user manual and digital installation file distribution, and up to $125.- with everything. Suppose we would reduce the price to $40.-, I'd still have to enter this very same discussion, just with someone else whose price point would be $30.- or less. We are fully aware that a three-digit price (even at the lower end of the spectrum) is a bit of a deterrence. That's intentional though it may be counter-intuitive. We want customers who are really interested in the subject matter. Everyone with serious interest will still investigate what SB Pro offers.
There will be no impulse buys, yes. But also no negative surprises about what SB Pro is and what it doesn't attempt to be. After having put so much money on the table, people will invest some of their time to work themselves into the subject matter. Which is an absolutely essential prerequisite to actually have a lot of fun with it. Our price point generates fewer, but happier customers. And customer satisfaction is one of the cornerstones on which the company was founded and is still resting. I like to surprise people positively. In a marketing campaign, I will reveal most, but not everything that is new in a new version. So that if people are already convinced that an update is worth the try, they always find something extra that sweetens the deal.

But you have to make that initial leap of faith. I could argue that anyone who already owns a PC for entertainment purposes has demonstrated that he has disposable income for unnecessary luxury items (and let's be honest, computer games are just that, a luxury). And I'm not ashamed to ask for a luxury price. But I will also tell you that I have come from very modest beginnings. I know very well the value of every single dollar. I will never tell you that $100.- are small change even though most of our customers probably make more on a single day's work. Even then, four or five hours of work are nothing to treat with disrespect. All I can say is that we at eSim Games work long hours too, to honor that leap of faith that every one of our customers had to do at least once; to honor it with the very best work that we can possibly deliver. In the last twelve months we created four new jobs, doubled our programming capacity, and invested a six-digit sum into stuff that will help to further boost our productivity and the value of subsequent Steel Beasts releases. I'm not asking you to "support a worthy cause" or to buy SB Pro PE just to send a signal to keep independent developers alive, or some sob story. I'm just asking for an open mind about our product's qualities:

Here's our product. This is what we want for it. I'm here to tell you everything you need to know to make an informed decision, and I will respect a "Thanks but no thanks" as much as I will be happy about a purchase decision. My promise is, that there will be no negative surprises if you care to have a closer look at it. At SteelBeasts.com there is a Tech Support discussion board with all the dirty laundry there is. Look at the customer complaints, look at our responses, and draw your own conclusions. There is nothing that we have to hide.