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QuoteSo let’s talk sales figures. In twelve months, Super Win the Game has sold 7,640 copies across Steam, Humble, itch.io, IndieBox, and direct sales, with an average unit price of $4.98, generating roughly $38,000 of gross revenue. By my napkin math, this translates to about $18,500 after-tax earnings for my household.
QuoteMac and Linux account for about 10.25% of sales (6.25% and 4% respectively), so again by napkin math, I would estimate I’ve earned roughly $1,900 on those platforms. They continue to be a net loss for now. Reaching profitability isn’t totally outside the realm of possibility, however, since there is minimal cost involved in supporting them now that the core engine work is done.
That's really not a lot of sales for all platforms put together, but the thing to takeaway here is that SWTG is a very niche game. It's not my type of game, and I don't personally ever plan to buy it. I imagine a lot of people also feel the same way about it. That's not to say it isn't a good game, I just burnt myself out on retro type games a long time ago.
The actual percentage of sales from our platform is actually a lot higher than most other indie developers that we spoke to, so that by itself is actually quite nice to see. However, you may think that 4% from Linux is good, as it's above our actual surveyed market-share from things like the Steam Survey, but the major publishers and developers aren't going to jump into bed with Linux for that. Also, if the game sold better in general, the extra sales would likely normalise the Linux percentage down to where we have seen it from most other developers in the 1-3% band.
You may think I am being negative here, and I am from a certain point of view. I am a realist, and we aren't gaining any ground yet. I'm not going to sugar-coat anything, we need to grow and that's not debatable.
We also need developers to branch out some more, platformers and retro styles are becoming far, far too common.
You can find Super Win the Game on Steam, Humble Store and Itch.io.
Thanks for pointing it out Till. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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QuoteIt's not my type of game, and I don't personally ever plan to buy it. I imagine a lot of people also feel the same way about it. That's not to say it isn't a good game, I just burnt myself out on retro type games a long time ago.
And if we're being honest - a large portion of Linux titles from the 1500 on Steam will fall into this category. That's what makes this kind of story pretty frustrating: AAA houses could look at these figures as indicative, but I suspect that the reality is that if you launch a AAA game on Linux, you'll see a bigger slice of sales going to AAA-starved Linux gamers.
I've just dropped £23 on SOMA and had £35 tucked away for Alien:Isolation until the delay. If I was still gaming on Windows, these awesome games would be vying with the likes of GTA IV, CoD, Battlefield and upcoming titles like Subnautic, Vermintide and many, many others.
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4% vs 6.25% on mac? That's huge! I bet a lot of those sales are from the alternative arenas (ie non-Steam) and that's where Linux gamers more often hang than Mac gamers (pure speculation of course).
Either way, if we reached 4% on an average Steam release I'd pop a cork and do a toast for a significant step forward.
... And when we reach 10% I'll buy y'all a beer. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 29 September 2015 at 12:14 pm UTC
Either way, if we reached 4% on an average Steam release I'd pop a cork and do a toast for a significant step forward.
... And when we reach 10% I'll buy y'all a beer. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 29 September 2015 at 12:14 pm UTC
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linux_gamer Sep 29, 2015
Quoting: GuestHow is 4% low? It’s huge!Its not bad if the company has 100+ programmers of which only 2 do Linux porting (no allusion to Techland intended). If your a single person and have spent 10-15% of your time into that this will be no bonus when your game isn't that a big seller.
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"There is minimal cost involved in supporting them now that the core engine work is done". That's what I hope for for most developers. It may not be worth it the first time with all the starting problems, but when you've done it once, it's hopefully way easier next time.
I mentioned this in another thread...
I think we could start a list in the wiki of well done, enjoyable commercial games for Linux.
Obviously, it's not 1500, but I'd be very surprised if we couldn't come up with some hundreds.
Anybody can add games that run well on his system and he finds good work (but please nobody delete games because they, say, don't work with his AMD card).
Shall we?
Last edited by Eike on 29 September 2015 at 12:38 pm UTC
Quoting: scaineAnd if we're being honest - a large portion of Linux titles from the 1500 on Steam will fall into this category.
I mentioned this in another thread...
I think we could start a list in the wiki of well done, enjoyable commercial games for Linux.
Obviously, it's not 1500, but I'd be very surprised if we couldn't come up with some hundreds.
Anybody can add games that run well on his system and he finds good work (but please nobody delete games because they, say, don't work with his AMD card).
Shall we?
Last edited by Eike on 29 September 2015 at 12:38 pm UTC
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Mountain Man Sep 29, 2015
In terms of raw percentages, 4% is pretty darn good for Linux.
The he says, "I would estimate I’ve earned roughly $1,900 on those platforms. They continue to be a net loss for now." Really? It cost him over $2000 to create a Linux and OSX build?
The he says, "I would estimate I’ve earned roughly $1,900 on those platforms. They continue to be a net loss for now." Really? It cost him over $2000 to create a Linux and OSX build?
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Quoting: GuestHow is 4% low? It’s huge!
Percentage wise it's higher than normal, but a percentage is meaningless when you look at the figures I quoted from him.
$1,900 - That's from Mac and Linux combined over a year. I don't see that being a good thing, hence me saying it's Low, which it is.
Quoting: Mountain ManIn terms of raw percentages, 4% is pretty darn good for Linux.
The he says, "I would estimate I’ve earned roughly $1,900 on those platforms. They continue to be a net loss for now." Really? It cost him over $2000 to create a Linux and OSX build?
Support costs money too remember, support can take a lot of time away from everything else.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 29 September 2015 at 12:43 pm UTC
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Quoting: linuxgamerIts not bad if the company has 100+ programmers of which only 2 do Linux porting (no allusion to Techland intended). If your a single person and have spent 10-15% of your time into that this will be no bonus when your game isn't that a big seller.
I always do multi-platform. I find that if the project is designed for multi-platform up front, the cost is virtually 0. Maintaining multi-platform code helps find bugs which is actually a huge cost savings!
On the other hand, if you take a completed single-target project and try to port to another platform, you will end up spending a lot.
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I played You Have to Win the Game (the free version) and NEON STRUCT (demo) form this developer, and I think his games are pretty solid, bug free software. Impressive that they are made by one single developer.
But they are also a one man show, so very simple games. YHtWtG is one of the most hardcore, difficult games I have played, leaving both Super Meat Boy and They Bled Pixels behind. Still a good, enjoyable game.
So is not a surprise that the sales figures are low. You have to remember that the majority of the people playing games stink, so a "easy" mode have to be provided, or you risk the loss of a lot of sales.
But they are also a one man show, so very simple games. YHtWtG is one of the most hardcore, difficult games I have played, leaving both Super Meat Boy and They Bled Pixels behind. Still a good, enjoyable game.
So is not a surprise that the sales figures are low. You have to remember that the majority of the people playing games stink, so a "easy" mode have to be provided, or you risk the loss of a lot of sales.
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SystemShock Sep 29, 2015
Why "pretty low" ? In my opinion the number of sales for such a simple Game, especially on Linux, is not too bad.
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