Game Dev

How selling 2 MILLION copies can be a flop

The economics of game development can sometimes be a very hard to understand topic, especially for many players. Here is an excellent post from Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Game Studios (Ori games, No Rest for the Wicked)

He talks about a specific case of a game that sells 2 million copies at a $20 pricepoint ($20m gross) and still ends up not making any money with just $292,500 after everyone takes their cut.

Now this is definitely not an "indie" game example, considering how the game in this case has a budget of $10 million, but here's the rough outline of what happens to the money:

• Cost $10mil to make, publisher funded, $2mil in marketing, total cost $12mil.

• Pricepoint $20 but most copies are sold on sale, average sale price $10.

• 2 million copies sold = $20 million gross revenue, then Steam takes 30% ending up with $14mil.

• Publisher takes $12mil leaving just $2mil, then the rest is split 70/30 with the publisher, leaving the dev with $600k.

• Subtract taxes and tools to end up with $292k out of the original $20mil

Even though in this scenario you made a hit (2 million copies is insane!) and paid the salaries for making of that game, you still have no money to make another game. Need to pitch publishers to get more funding to stay alive.

The only way out of this cycle is to self-publish, which requires having those funds up front. So yup the economics, especially on these AA games, are really tough. That's part of the reason why AA has fallen out of favor recently, you only get tiny Indies or giant AAAs, there's almost nothing in the middle because it's really tough to make the math work.

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Game Dev

Is Shovelware really that bad?

The word shovelware has some really bad connotations, but one developer asks, Is it really that bad?

This dev talks about how they're making a living releasing small, quick, simple games, usually 1 game per month. And they do it as a way to pay the bills rather than as a passion project. They have no goals of becoming a renowned game dev, not chasing awards or deep player engagement, and apparently it works for making a living. The dev is from Brazil so doesn't necessarily need a mega hit to make a living.

I think this is a fascinating discussion but I also think it first starts with what exactly is the definition of shovelware. I would say that if your game is good, if it's an actual proper game with mechanics and rules, if it's a cohesive experience, then it's not shovelware. Regardless of how fast you make it.

Making something small and quick isn't necessarily shovelware, I'm a big fan of making small games as I've mentioned many times. If there's effort put into it then it's just a small simple game which I feel is fine.

But it's also tricky where you draw the line. If you use too many assets, is it shovelware? If you clone another game, is it shovelware? If you reuse code/art from your previous game, is it shovelware? If you reskin your game multiple times, is it shovelware?

Personally I would say the answer is the same as what about Assets or AI, meaning that if the players enjoy your game then that's all that matters. Like this dev said, they are not trying to win awards or become a renowned game dev, just trying to make a living. And since games are entertainment then as long as they provide entertainment to someone then I would say they're good.

Gaming

Awesome Made with Unity Next Fest games!

Steam's June Next Fest is ending soon, once again there are thousands of demos from all kinds of awesome games for you to play, in total 2642 games!

You can browse the entire Next Fest page to see everything on there, the event ends tomorrow but most of these demos should stay up for longer.

Unity also made a really nice post talking about all the Unity made games in the festival.

• Jump Ship, a co-op PvE where you play as the crew of a spaceship seamlessly transitioning from ship to on-foot exploration.

• FEROCIOUS, is all about dinosaurs and guns!

• Morbid Metal, always looks super stylish and gorgeous with intense fast-paced combo driven combat.

• Scavland, is a top-down pixel art survival game set in a post apocalyptic soviet era.

• Baby Steps, is yet another silly meme game by Bennet Foddy (QWOP)

And tons more!

Fun

Gorgeous weather effects!

One developer made an absolutely stunning local weather effect!

I'm genuinely amazed at how good it looks, the rain is perfect, the lighting is awesome, the wind looks great as does as all the transitions. The fact that it’s local and split into individual areas is even more awesome!

According to the dev it's made in Unity and so far it's just a technical demo, impressive!