The developer of the game 'Steam Marines' [Official Site, Steam] has been talking about sales of the game, and Linux represented 2% of the total.
Here's a reminder on what the game is:
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
Direct Link
It's worth noting that Mac only hit 3%, considering their marketshare on Steam is a lot higher than ours, that's surprising.
Steam Marines 1 lifetime sales are (approximately) 3% Mac and 2% Linux.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
So. It's generally not profitable for me to support them.
The developer did say that they will continue to support us, even if it's not financially sound for them to do so. That alone should be applauded.
The developer also noted that Linux users didn't generally need much help:
Linux users almost never contact me for tech support. And the 95% of Windows users represent less than 50% of my tech support issues.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
One Tweet in particular caught my attention:
95% of the sales came from Windows users. This was despite Linux users arguing that lots would buy if a Linux version was made available.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
I've said it before, and I will say it again, don't bug developers for a Linux version if you aren't personally interested and plan to buy it. It can create situations like this, but it's also worth noting that the developer may have overestimated how much they would make from Linux.
Linux only represents currently 0.89% of the Steam user-base, so 2% of your overall sales to have come from Linux is actually quite healthy. To me, that says the developer expected a little too much. That 2% figure is more than other developers have seen.
It's also worth noting that Steam Marines came to Linux around a year after the original Windows release. Games that don't get a day-1 Linux release often tend to see lower Linux sales as a result of many factors. The first being that Windows obviously had around a year extra to bring in sales, Linux as mentioned above is a smaller market, dual-booters often become impatient and buy a Windows copy, some people use Wine and so on. A day-1 Linux release is generally a must-do if you want to see good sales and support from Linux gamers.
Still, it's great to see developers speaking about this in the open and if you like the look of Steam Marines go pick up a copy and support an indie developer.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
he said 3% of mac users represents 50% of his support issues, 2 options: he have a problem with his mac version or mac users are quite annoyng.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
3 Likes, Who?
raverrebel Nov 8, 2016
Quoting: veccherhe said 3% of mac users represents 50% of his support issues, 2 options: he have a problem with his mac version or mac users are quite annoyng.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
I think he meant that 50% of the reported issues by Windows users are actually not issues but user caused problems. The other 50% are technical issues.
0 Likes
Mac users ARE annoying. Didn't you get that memo? All of them are in love with apple devices eventhough they can't do anything.
On a more serious note, the fact we're not so taxing on support should be another reason just for supporting us. And as for the other issue of people buying the windows version: don't buy the windows version. Then there's of course the group that has played through wine and lost interest altogether.
On a more serious note, the fact we're not so taxing on support should be another reason just for supporting us. And as for the other issue of people buying the windows version: don't buy the windows version. Then there's of course the group that has played through wine and lost interest altogether.
3 Likes, Who?
QuoteI've said it before, and I will say it again, don't bug developers for a Linux version if you aren't personally interested and plan to buy it. It can create situations like this, but it's also worth noting that the developer may have overestimated how much they would make from Linux.
Well, according Steamspy the game has sold more or less 100.000 units (on Steam, or activated or played on Steam) which leads to approximatively 2.000 units accounted for Linux players (which is not that bad for a 20€ game - not a cheap one - with mixed reviews). From Steam forum I would say that there is less than 2.000 Linux players who were asking for a Linux version. ^^
Quoting: raverrebelQuoting: veccherhe said 3% of mac users represents 50% of his support issues, 2 options: he have a problem with his mac version or mac users are quite annoyng.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
I think he meant that 50% of the reported issues by Windows users are actually not issues but user caused problems. The other 50% are technical issues.
QuoteAnd btw, that 3% of Mac users represents over 50% of my support issues. So extra bad for Mac.
Source
;)
4 Likes, Who?
The thing about SteamSpy, is that you shouldn't entirely trust their data. I've seen multiple reports of it being way off. Just something to think about when quoting numbers :)
1 Likes, Who?
Wow either Valve or this guy is greedy.
If you believe steamspy, this got 111,707 ± 8,641 sales. Lets just imagine 111k players, of which 2% would be 2220 Linux players. Then lets assume a bizarre idea that they all got it for its lowest price on humble bundle (90% off), at 2eur, which I believe does not even count as Linux sale. It would be 4440Eur at that, which for such a simplistic and easy to port game should already be a tad less than extra money, ooor if we approximate and take 50% off (10eur), and get like 22,2k euros. I need about a couple years to earn this kind of money. And it came only from Linux. How long should it take to port to Linux, or how much should you pay Valve for this money to be dismissable? It really looks to me like 1-2 developers could easily spawn a game like this.
Edit: was typing too long lol, someone already tried imagining the money. But still, I find it very realistic, and I believe he just imagined overtaking Linux with a delayed port and bask in riches and fame.
Last edited by valgusk on 8 November 2016 at 4:17 pm UTC
If you believe steamspy, this got 111,707 ± 8,641 sales. Lets just imagine 111k players, of which 2% would be 2220 Linux players. Then lets assume a bizarre idea that they all got it for its lowest price on humble bundle (90% off), at 2eur, which I believe does not even count as Linux sale. It would be 4440Eur at that, which for such a simplistic and easy to port game should already be a tad less than extra money, ooor if we approximate and take 50% off (10eur), and get like 22,2k euros. I need about a couple years to earn this kind of money. And it came only from Linux. How long should it take to port to Linux, or how much should you pay Valve for this money to be dismissable? It really looks to me like 1-2 developers could easily spawn a game like this.
Edit: was typing too long lol, someone already tried imagining the money. But still, I find it very realistic, and I believe he just imagined overtaking Linux with a delayed port and bask in riches and fame.
Last edited by valgusk on 8 November 2016 at 4:17 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: liamdaweThe thing about SteamSpy, is that you shouldn't entirely trust their data. I've seen multiple reports of it being way off. Just something to think about when quoting numbers :)
Well, for above 15.000 units it begins to give orders of magnitude (about +/- 50%) if you take data with a (large) pinch of salt (and know how Steamspy works), and above 100.000 it begins to be relatively accurate (about +/- 10%). Taking SOMA as example you find more or less what you can expect from the 450.000 units the dev' have sold (including PS4 units) in Steamspy. Note that in some cases dev' have pretended that Steamspy wasn't accurate... and some months later Steamspy was indeed right when dev' were forced to give actual numbers (that was the case for Kerbal Space Program). :)
Quoting: valguskWow either Valve or this guy is greedy.
Valve takes 30% of incomes. :)
Last edited by riusma on 8 November 2016 at 4:27 pm UTC
0 Likes
If we assume that Linux gamers are about 1℅ of Steam users, it means his game had twice as big market penetration on Linux than on Windows.
It partially comes from limited options, but still, if we reach 10℅ users publishers can expect sales of more than that.
It partially comes from limited options, but still, if we reach 10℅ users publishers can expect sales of more than that.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: HoriStill, this is not the customer's problem or concern.
You're absolutely right, but I was more speaking from the dev' viewpoint here (i.e. he only gets 70% of 4000€ ~ 20.000€ depending on how optimistic you are toward Linux sales). :)
NB: just to be clear, I've really nothing against this dev' who seems to be a nice guy from what I could see on the Steam's forum where people were asking for a Linux port. :)
1 Likes, Who?
well I dont know if these stats are correct or wrong...but check this out
Steam Marines has been in a Humble Bundle -> The Return of Space Boy Bundle <- for $1
Published 14 months ago
I dont know if that time was a Linux Build Released or not
checking the Linux depot --> Last Update about a year ago (August 21, 2015 – 13:22:24 UTC)
So how sales are calculated ??? Based on Bundle purchases?? or from Purchases that were not in bundle?
So having in mind that this game was published in 2013 for Windows and maybe mac and in 2015 it was released for Linux gaining 2% profit for a 3 year old game just from Linux users I consider it very good.
Maybe some users have already bought the bundle as well and wanted a port to Linux since they already had the game for $1.
Everything is a bit confusing
If you want to show real stats you have to release your game in day 1 for all platforms and the last day before you bundle your game you push out sales stats. That will show you the real percentage of each platform sales.
Last edited by wolfyrion on 8 November 2016 at 5:22 pm UTC
Steam Marines has been in a Humble Bundle -> The Return of Space Boy Bundle <- for $1
Published 14 months ago
I dont know if that time was a Linux Build Released or not
checking the Linux depot --> Last Update about a year ago (August 21, 2015 – 13:22:24 UTC)
So how sales are calculated ??? Based on Bundle purchases?? or from Purchases that were not in bundle?
So having in mind that this game was published in 2013 for Windows and maybe mac and in 2015 it was released for Linux gaining 2% profit for a 3 year old game just from Linux users I consider it very good.
Maybe some users have already bought the bundle as well and wanted a port to Linux since they already had the game for $1.
Everything is a bit confusing
If you want to show real stats you have to release your game in day 1 for all platforms and the last day before you bundle your game you push out sales stats. That will show you the real percentage of each platform sales.
Last edited by wolfyrion on 8 November 2016 at 5:22 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Well I think the Mac is bigger problem here than Linux, there is a lot bigger marketshare on Mac's side and he sold only 1% more to them than to us. And the thing is that thte game has been out 1 year less for us, so practically if he gets 2% sales in a lifetime 2 times shorter than the Release of Windows version (some Linux users also perhaps got it on the Windows before) that would mean that sales would be much higher if that was day 1 support :) I mean a lot of people dual boot and some buy game on Windows but prefer Linux and then developers don't get the right information if they don't provide day 1 support for all platforms... and since he literally had no problems with technical support to Linux users, porting the game was basically only thing to do (which is not that hard with modern engines), so all in all I believe that still, it is worth to him :)
https://gyazo.com/5f61ee82080f8bb3d41fe4b3b9e32d91
And yeah, Mac users are responsible for majority of tech issues :)
Last edited by MaCroX95 on 8 November 2016 at 5:35 pm UTC
https://gyazo.com/5f61ee82080f8bb3d41fe4b3b9e32d91
And yeah, Mac users are responsible for majority of tech issues :)
Last edited by MaCroX95 on 8 November 2016 at 5:35 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
What is that smug developer?
Just because you're supporting Linux and Mac people won't buy your shitty game.
When Witcher 3,Skyrim and Doom like AAA games comes to SteamOS and Linux people will greatfully buy them.
We don't need your shitty game(s).We're happy with Mad Max,Shadow of Mordor,Civilazition V and stuff like that.
He just sees Linux and Mac users for profit.His goal is not sharing a game's fun with platforms.
To him,Windows users are worthy.We're just leftovers
Just because you're supporting Linux and Mac people won't buy your shitty game.
When Witcher 3,Skyrim and Doom like AAA games comes to SteamOS and Linux people will greatfully buy them.
We don't need your shitty game(s).We're happy with Mad Max,Shadow of Mordor,Civilazition V and stuff like that.
He just sees Linux and Mac users for profit.His goal is not sharing a game's fun with platforms.
To him,Windows users are worthy.We're just leftovers
1 Likes, Who?
@Leopard that's a really bad attitude to take. They specifically said they will continue to support us even though it's not financially worth it for them. Your attitude undermines us, especially with smaller developers.
20 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Nov 8, 2016
Quoting: LeopardWhat is that smug developer?You are insane. No matter if it's Civ 5, Deus Ex, Undertale or Stardew Valley, percentage share in sales will always be the same.
Just because you're supporting Linux and Mac people won't buy your shitty game.
When Witcher 3,Skyrim and Doom like AAA games comes to SteamOS and Linux people will greatfully buy them.
We don't need your shitty game(s).We're happy with Mad Max,Shadow of Mordor,Civilazition V and stuff like that.
He just sees Linux and Mac users for profit.His goal is not sharing a game's fun with platforms.
To him,Windows users are worthy.We're just leftovers
The Steam Marines developer actually cared and cares to support Linux and Mac, which are the minority of gaming market. He shared his numbers publicly. He contributes to the community that way. And this is what you think of him?
And what did you do to make our small gaming niche better?
Shame.
13 Likes, Who?
People like @Leopard are throwing bad light on our community. the developer just said that it is not worth financially to support Mac & Linux and by that I believe that he specifically meant Mac more because he had more than 50% tech issues with them and only 3% sales the other hand he actually was happy with Linux users not having as many tech issues which probably told him that Linux is quite stable platform and if he makes his games well, they will definitely work very well and Linux community knows how to set things up and don't blame developers for every little bug that might not be caused anyhow by developer's fault. I think that his choice of supporting us eventhough it's not really a huge profit is very big and shows clearly that he is interested in better gaming as a whole so that is really what Linux community needs, approval as a gaming platform and an open-minded approach to gaming by as many developers as possible!
8 Likes, Who?
It's good that Linux userbase didn't require much support. It'll encourage developers to support the platform as it wouldn't cost them much (considering they are using an engine that already has Linux support).
2 Likes, Who?
why is he complaining? 2% is a great number coming from less than 1% of the users
Btw, I already have the game, I got it from an humble bundle. Is he also counting the linux sales from there? I just almost never buy simple indie games directly from steam, I get them from bundles.
Last edited by edo on 8 November 2016 at 7:09 pm UTC
Btw, I already have the game, I got it from an humble bundle. Is he also counting the linux sales from there? I just almost never buy simple indie games directly from steam, I get them from bundles.
Last edited by edo on 8 November 2016 at 7:09 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: MaCroX95People like @Leopard are throwing bad light on our community.
In Dutch we have a saying (can't think of an English equivalent) which says something like: people see others as they are themselves. It appears to be much too applicable on the internet. If only people spent as much time informing themselves as they do bitching about others.
2 Likes, Who?
Oh c'mon.You're just so used to begging developers.
If he is loving Linux and Mac community;then why he is complaining about sale percentage?
Why is he saying about game's profits?Why is he whining?
You're just so blind.
If he is loving Linux and Mac community;then why he is complaining about sale percentage?
Why is he saying about game's profits?Why is he whining?
You're just so blind.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: liamdawe@Leopard that's a really bad attitude to take. They specifically said they will continue to support us even though it's not financially worth it for them. Your attitude undermines us, especially with smaller developers.
I think sometimes developers saying it isn't worth it is a cop out. Give us some details. How much work did you actually put in to make the Linux version. Like the Rust dev that said it wasn't worth it even though they sold about 30,000 copies, which comes out to around $600,000. Doubt they spent anywhere that to make and support the Linux version. If you're on Unity and didn't use incompatible middle ware, you shouldn't have to sell much to make it profitable.
So while I definitely appreciate that he made and supports the version, and that he said he will continue to support Linux, I find his logic suspect. It doesn't support us well to publicly say it isn't worth it, especially if isn't true. Would be nice to have an idea how much it cost to create/support the Linux version and what was actually brought in by Linux sales.
Like others have said, it isn't accurate to compare numbers when one version comes out two years after the other. The hype is gone, the Windows version has been for sale much...much longer, many people have already bought it for Windows that may have bought it for Linux.
4 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me