Ways to sell a game on the interweb

Started by RemiD, January 28, 2018, 09:02:21

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RemiD

#15
My previous statement was more concerning the rules of the steam store : don't do that, don't say that, don't offend anybody, be a tolerant diplomatic moderate developper -> boring !

In the game "Postal 2" even if no specific person or specific group is named, there are groups which you can recognize which are like caricatures of the real persons / groups, and i think that this was funny ;D

Derron

Todays teens and tweens have access to many money - I am pretty sure that more 18-30 have ways to pay for something online than the 30-40s - especially in countries with lower usage of credit cards.


Also they spend more on computer stuff than the 30+ just because they do not have families to care for. On the other hand 30+ have more money to spend in general (as their income is bigger than for the generation 20+).




@ rules
The vendor defines the rules. In a supermarket you will stand next to cheap products or the buyers are alcohol addicted drug abusers - you cannot choose them without limiting yourself too much (supermarket versus designer store).
Selling products on amazon is surely also something not everybody likes: take back goods on the smallest raised issue by a consumer else you might get a ban/blacklist/penalty on amazon.


bye
Ron

RemiD

#17
These days, i don't have the motivation to make a game, but the inspiration / motivation will come back... So at the moment i play some old DOS video games to see which gameplay elements / mechanics i like, and to think about what game i could make in the future...

I wanted to share this scene from the movie "Middle Men", which is a great illustration of what can be the result of having a good idea +  enough motivation to create the product (game) + distributing it on the web... 8)

(take a break from time to time, but don't give up !)

IanMartin

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When i see that the steam store or the gog store already take 30% of your price, and they sometimes do crazy promotions... Is it worth it for small games ?
Yes, I think it's worth it.  But that really depends on what you consider worth it.  If your day job makes you tons of money you're probably going to be disappointed.  Making a living from indie games is the brass ring most of us are going for, and it's not easy or people wouldn't give up so often after their first games...

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some stores offer a "refund without questions asked" if the game has been played less than 1hour or 2hours, and for a small game, this is is just crazy !
Yeah.  This sucks.  I would have designed my game software Platfinity differently if refunds had been available on Steam when I started it.  Between being Greenlit and my game coming out they implemented that.  Now there are people essentially borrowing games, especially short ones, and bragging about refunding them after playing through them.  So I would design with the idea of having a longer game, or reasons to stay past 2 hours and/or two weeks.  Rougelikes - as you said you are probably making - have increased in popularity because of refunds.  People can't finish them quickly, so refunds are less of an issue.  Achievements, daily runs, online, etc. all help combat refunds. 
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(i plan to make a small game but with procedurally generated content, so that there is no end, and it is replayable infinitely)
Yep, good idea.  Be aware some people will play it for 485 hours and then give it a negative review since they aren't enjoying it anymore and don't let that bother you ;)

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with a small game with primitive graphics + a one page website (and maybe a simple forum) + a paypal buy now button
In my experience, nobody wants a PC game that isn't on Steam. 


As far as making a living:
You either make big, fancy games that are going to sell for a higher price and will take you longer to make, or  you make simple games that sell for cheap and take you less time to make.  Don't take years making a simple game.  You can either make $1000 off one big game or $100 off 10 different games and it will equal the same money.  So that's why you see a lot of people starting with smaller games.  Longer dev cycle, higher risk.  Shorter dev cycle, less risk.  If you spend two weeks making a game and it bombs, no big deal.  If you spend two years, big deal.

Something that helps other people a lot, but I'm not good at, is being out there all the time, posting stuff on Twitter, talking to people, etc.  It seems like people who are always talking get attention for their games.  I have no idea how you do that and make a game at the same time.  I have trouble finding time to make my games, much less tweeting everything I'm doing and live streaming my lunch. 

I'm still trying to figure all this stuff out myself.  I'm playing the long game, and never quitting.  I don't think I will ever have any other real opportunities where I live so I'm going to have to work it out one way or another :)
Platfinity (made with BlitzMax) on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365440/Platfinity/

RemiD

@IanMartin>>thanks for your view / tips

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So I would design with the idea of having a longer game, or reasons to stay past 2 hours and/or two weeks.
maybe add an achievement which unlocks some parts / functionalities of the game only if the player plays more than 2 hours  (trolling the trolls  :P)

IanMartin

Sure, no problem!

Yep, add an "I played past the return window" achievement! 
No probably don't do that, they'd probably not see the humor in that and it would cause a backlash...
Platfinity (made with BlitzMax) on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365440/Platfinity/