Critical Role Critical Role Launches Subscription Streaming and Member Service

Critical Role announced the launch of Beacon, a subscription service for fans of Critical Role. While all existing streaming content will be available as always on Twitch and YouTube, but the service will offer exclusives such as access to an exclusive Discord server, immediate podcast and VOD recordings of live shows, early access to Critical Role Abridged and The Re-Slayer’s Take, and exclusive new shows including Critical Role Fireside Chat and Critical Role Cooldown.

Critical Role Fireside Chat will be a monthly AMA interview show featuring a different cast member. Each episode will be live streamed taking questions from the members-only Discord lasting 30-60 minutes. The first episode on May 21 will feature Matt Mercer.

Critical Role Cooldown is a backstage pass to Critical Role each week with post-show reactions, pitching plans from the cast, and more. The first ten episodes are available now starting with Campaign 3, Episode 83, and new episodes will air every Thursday following the live stream.

Members will also have access to pre-sales for events starting with Critical Role Live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024. Paid members (not free trial accounts) will have access to purchase tickets on May 20 at 10:00 AM Pacific, while general sales open the following day.

Sign-ups are open now for a free 7-day trial, which will be auto-renewed for $5.99 at the end of the trial and on each month thereafter.

 

[EthanSental]

I saw this email from them last night and clicked on it. I’d be curious how many fans sign up as the price point isn’t high and I wonder if they are going to expand and turn this into their version of geek and sundry with more streaming shows.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I saw this email from them last night and clicked on it. I’d be curious how many fans sign up as the price point isn’t high and I wonder if they are going to expand and turn this into their version of geek and sundry with more streaming shows.

The strength of Dimension 20 and Um, Actually has gotten me to subscribe to the low-cost Dropout service, which is about the same price. It's a price point I suspect a lot of fans won't bat an eye at, especially since the money isn't going to a faceless corporation, but to a relatively small group of people fans feel like they know and like.

 

[TiQuinn]

The strength of Dimension 20 and Um, Actually has gotten me to subscribe to the low-cost Dropout service, which is about the same price. It's a price point I suspect a lot of fans won't bat an eye at, especially since the money isn't going to a faceless corporation, but to a relatively small group of people fans feel like they know and like.

The only thing that I’ve noticed is that between Dropout and Patreon subs and now this, that’s a lot of monthly subscriptions that are going out at a drip drip drip rate.

 

[Abstruse]

The strength of Dimension 20 and Um, Actually has gotten me to subscribe to the low-cost Dropout service, which is about the same price. It's a price point I suspect a lot of fans won't bat an eye at, especially since the money isn't going to a faceless corporation, but to a relatively small group of people fans feel like they know and like.

It's also only $1 more than the cost of a Twitch subscription and will give access to a Discord server only other members have access to. Which means it will likely hold appeal for those who want to participate in chat but don't want anything to do with the unmoderated mess that is the normal CR streams - Getting banned has a bit more weight when youv'e paid $6 to get access to the chat.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The only thing that I’ve noticed is that between Dropout and Patreon subs and now this, that’s a lot of monthly subscriptions that are going out at a drip drip drip rate.

Yeah, that's what's kept me from diving into Patreon; it can easily get out of control. We actually had to cut back on our streaming subscriptions for the same reason. (We currently do one major one and Dropout each month, and rotate the major one based on what new show we're itching to watch.)

 

[Meech17]

Yeah, that's what's kept me from diving into Patreon; it can easily get out of control. We actually had to cut back on our streaming subscriptions for the same reason. (We currently do one major one and Dropout each month, and rotate the major one based on what new show we're itching to watch.)

Yeah this is the way to do it. I recently dropped Amazon Prime in favor of HBO.

I do the same with Patreon. Sub to one for a month or a few months, check out the back log of content and then cancel it in favor of another one. I sometimes fear that losing memberships has some sort of algorithm driven penalties for creators, but I can't afford to sub to them all.

 

[Queer Venger]

they are losing viewers and subscribers; maybe this is a way to more directly tap into fan $$. Im not sure if it addresses the fact that they don't play live anymore.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I do the same with Patreon. Sub to one for a month or a few months, check out the back log of content and then cancel it in favor of another one. I sometimes fear that losing memberships has some sort of algorithm driven penalties for creators, but I can't afford to sub to them all.

One of these days, the streaming services will start roping us into longer-term plans with fees for quitting early, but happily, they haven't figured that out yet.

 

[Meech17]

One of these days, the streaming services will start roping us into longer-term plans with fees for quitting early, but happily, they haven't figured that out yet.

It seems the current strategy is to try and offer incentives to buy longer term plans. A lot of places are offering discount 3, 6, and 12 month subs where you pay upfront and it ends up cheaper than the per-month price.

They're using carrots right now.. Eventually they'll switch to the stick.

I used to sell mobile phones a decade or so ago, and phone companies were already doing stuff like this. You notice all the best promotions are for opening new lines, so people would sign on the two year plan for Verizon, and then once that was up jump to T-Moblie, Sprint (They hadn't merged at the time), or AT&T depending on whoever offered the better deal. Then two years later do it again. The companies got savvy on this, and started classifying an old customer who opened a new line as a "Win-Back" and they'd be ineligible for the new customer promotion