Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#2I think he should see how hard it is to get setup selling on Steam. It's not crack-proof either, but I get the impression that single-player games are still selling pretty well there.
I also saw this recent announcement from Valve that sounds interesting to help work around this: http://store.steampowered.com/news/2372/
But it does sound like more DRM, albeit a different take on it.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#3Part of the problem with the game industry now is that there are just so many damn games being released. It used to be that a single title could easily hold my attention for at least a couple months. Now, the release schedules from just the big names alone clog up most of the calendar. People need to pick a cutoff for game purchases and I think the indie titles tend to get cut off the list first for most.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#4People are asking to give him money in a way that makes him emotionally uncomfortable, so he's turning their money down. Yep, he's professional alright.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#5Indie developers with loyal fans need to tie in the fans with special editions, just like big companies are. I can buy fable 2... or I can buy the limited edition and get a load of stuff, that as a fan, I would like to have. Same can be said with Fallout 3 and any number of games over the past 5 years. I mean Sid Meier's games release with like a 150 page manual, and I buy Sid Meier games (mostly because I like them enough) partly for the manual.
He could do any number of things. If you buy Geneforge 5's silver edition you get a signed limited edition Geneforge t-shirt. Gold edition, get a signed limited edition novelization of Geneforge 1-4's story and a signed t-shirt.
Personally, if I'd played the demo and loved it, I'd probably jump into Geneforge 5 with a special edition if I got a book telling me the story I'd have gone through in previous games.
A few loyal fans will be willing to pay more for things that can't easily be reproduced, and I'd hedge my bets that if he's earning a living off of an indie game he's got enough loyal fans that this would probably be quite profitable (especially if people want to give him money).
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#6People are asking to give him money in a way that makes him emotionally uncomfortable, so he's turning their money down. Yep, he's professional alright.
There's nothing unprofessional about turning down money if accepting it makes you uncomfortable.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#7I think he should see how hard it is to get setup selling on Steam. It's not crack-proof either, but I get the impression that single-player games are still selling pretty well there. I also saw this recent announcement from Valve that sounds interesting to help work around this: http://store.steampowered.com/news/2372/ But it does sound like more DRM, albeit a different take on it.
It is a form of DRM, but the delivery mechanism is just so easy that's it's worth the tradeoff. Any game you ever install through Steam is remembered by Steam. Format your computer? No problem, Steam will reinstall all your (Steam) games for you. No need to dig around to find the install discs.
It's the opposite of EA's DRM. EA's DRM makes life harder for the legitimate purchaser. Steam's DRM actually makes life easier for the legitimate purchaser.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#8Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#9Something rings so true about this. Treat your customers like you actually like and trust them. Give them more reasons to give you money, and they'll gladly do it (special editions, re-releases, etc).
The author could take advantage of his customers' desire to hand over money by offering something in return, satisfying his need to engage in trade rather than charity. Everyone would be happy. Customers get more stuff, he makes more money, and no one feels like they're getting shafted.
Re: Single player PC game developers: We're All Charity Cases Now
#10This article doesn't matter once they make games available on-demand via OnLive where there is almost no installation. Everyone forgets that BitTorrent and other pirate sites also have the benefit of being on-demand.
It's still tough for the majority of the population to use BitTorrent, they'd rather prefer a Hulu.