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Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

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Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#41

Post by quadcore »

VikramR wrote: post #29
quadcore wrote: post #23

One of the most common mistakes in the industry is to think that games are different than other types of software. That people "consume" them and move on to the next game. That's wrong. Only a very few games get all the play-hours. Most people ever really play one game. The "game of their life". For some it's starcraft, for others it's minecraft. Games are software, the same rules kind of apply: there are only 15 (sa…

That's definitely an interesting perspective, but I think steam stats say something a little different, there are hundreds, if not thousands of games that move 100K+ units (and see significant played time from their users) each year. That's a whole bunch of games that a significant number of people fall in love with. But beyond that, I think you just made the case for those games to sign up for a subscription model!…

You - and your YC partners - gonna learn again what a killer app is :)

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#42

Post by VikramR »

mysterydip wrote: post #40

As a hobbyist indie dev, I think it's a great idea. My main concern for the platform is the same as indies in general: discoverability. How do you plan to grow the platform and make people aware of it? People won't subscribe without games, and devs won't spend time modifying for a platform with no audience. Seems like a chicken and egg problem. What's your goal in subscribers for one, two, five years?

It's a great question - first of all, we require very, very little(usually zero) technical integration work for games that aren't heavily dependent on steam!

As far as growing our brand, we're going to use all of the typical avenues that a games company might! Twitch and Youtube influencers, physical presence at cons, and twitter/fbook/instagram.

It's taken some work to get things moving, but now that we've got great games like Evoland, Cluster Truck, Redout and tumblestone, we think we've got a virtuous cycle instead of a chicken and egg problem!

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#43

Post by VikramR »

quadcore wrote: post #41
VikramR wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely an interesting perspective, but I think steam stats say something a little different, there are hundreds, if not thousands of games that move 100K+ units (and see significant played time from their users) each year. That's a whole bunch of games that a significant number of people fall in love with. But beyond that, I think you just made the case for those games to sign up for a subscription model!…

You - and your YC partners - gonna learn again what a killer app is :)

I totally acknowledge that we're going to need to find a couple of those to get really big, and it's something we're working on!

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#44

Post by [deleted] »

quadcore wrote: post #41
VikramR wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely an interesting perspective, but I think steam stats say something a little different, there are hundreds, if not thousands of games that move 100K+ units (and see significant played time from their users) each year. That's a whole bunch of games that a significant number of people fall in love with. But beyond that, I think you just made the case for those games to sign up for a subscription model!…

You - and your YC partners - gonna learn again what a killer app is :)

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#45

Post by dylz »

kin wrote: post #39
dylz wrote: post #3

I hope you will be picky curators - I hate how so much of steam EA/ex-GL/etc is literal trash when it comes to indie games. Not talking about one person pixel art games, but talking about what's effectively cruft autogenerated rubbish to try and profit for $0.99 a copy. I would love to subscribe if so.

In your opinion do you think those games should be omitted entirely from Steam? Or, do you think platforms like Steam need to organize their storefronts better from their front pages?

50-50 IMO

One example: http://store.steampowered.com/app/581200/Nash_Racing/

This is literally just the demo for https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/advanced-tuning-car... being sold for money. It's unmaintained and runs like crap.

Some of the ones that are obvious beginner games that aren't really polished have their place in EA/ex-GL, with people actually passionate about it and trying to build a product. Kudos to them for trying and good luck. This is a great thing, provides visibility for these creative minds, and all that.

And then you have http://store.steampowered.com/search/?publisher=Tero%20Lunkk...

This publisher deserves to be removed from Steam completely. It is not beneficial to the platform or to the players, and would probably cause increased refund request support load / chargeback or dispute load.

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#46

Post by kin »

dylz wrote: post #45
kin wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In your opinion do you think those games should be omitted entirely from Steam? Or, do you think platforms like Steam need to organize their storefronts better from their front pages?

50-50 IMO One example: http://store.steampowered.com/app/581200/Nash_Racing/ This is literally just the demo for https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/advanced-tuning-car... being sold for money. It's unmaintained and runs like crap. Some of the ones that are obvious beginner games that aren't really polished have their place in EA/ex-GL, with people actually passionate about it and trying to build a product. Kudo…

I more or less agree. I feel as if Steam is starting to look like the Android app store. It's at the point where legit games have to worry about SEO. That being said I think it's really hard to define super simple games that deserve a place to be seen and played vs. super simple copies and exploits.

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#47

Post by favadi »

dylz wrote: post #45
kin wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In your opinion do you think those games should be omitted entirely from Steam? Or, do you think platforms like Steam need to organize their storefronts better from their front pages?

50-50 IMO One example: http://store.steampowered.com/app/581200/Nash_Racing/ This is literally just the demo for https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/advanced-tuning-car... being sold for money. It's unmaintained and runs like crap. Some of the ones that are obvious beginner games that aren't really polished have their place in EA/ex-GL, with people actually passionate about it and trying to build a product. Kudo…

Steam offers refund? Last time I bought a game that I can't play due to technical reason, they refused to refund.

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#48

Post by dylz »

favadi wrote: post #47
dylz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50-50 IMO One example: http://store.steampowered.com/app/581200/Nash_Racing/ This is literally just the demo for https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/advanced-tuning-car... being sold for money. It's unmaintained and runs like crap. Some of the ones that are obvious beginner games that aren't really polished have their place in EA/ex-GL, with people actually passionate about it and trying to build a product. Kudo…

Steam offers refund? Last time I bought a game that I can't play due to technical reason, they refused to refund.

I have definitely had multiple refunds done on steam easily.

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#49

Post by rygeko »

favadi wrote: post #47
dylz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50-50 IMO One example: http://store.steampowered.com/app/581200/Nash_Racing/ This is literally just the demo for https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/advanced-tuning-car... being sold for money. It's unmaintained and runs like crap. Some of the ones that are obvious beginner games that aren't really polished have their place in EA/ex-GL, with people actually passionate about it and trying to build a product. Kudo…

Steam offers refund? Last time I bought a game that I can't play due to technical reason, they refused to refund.

They do, but it's hit or miss when it comes to actually getting one. Personally I wish it just wasn't necessary.

Re: Launch HN: Dropleaf (YC S17) – subscription service for indie PC games

#50

Post by justinian »

I applaud your goals with your community, and wish more game developers and game-adjacent companies would think similarly. I've worked on games that didn't care, or didn't put the effort in, and so ended up with fairly toxic communities. When I was at Runic Games, I was amazed to see how inclusive and positive a gaming community around the Torchlight series was, but it definitely took work from the very beginning to make it that way.
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