Good news today folks, as Mimimi Productions who recently released Shadow Tactics [Official Site] have stated that their previous game The Last Tinker [Official Site] was profitable on Linux (and Mac).
It's really good to see when things work out for developers, especially when they recently released another game for us which is really quite good.
On reddit, the developer did an "Ask me anything" and they had this question put to them:
Q: "Why did you release MAC and Linux ports? Are they profitable?"
Hopefully it's a similar story for their new game, which I will have a review up on sometime soon once I have been able to put more time into it as the publisher sent me a key. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
It's really good to see when things work out for developers, especially when they recently released another game for us which is really quite good.
On reddit, the developer did an "Ask me anything" and they had this question put to them:
Q: "Why did you release MAC and Linux ports? Are they profitable?"
Mimimi ProductionsWell, in this case: because we wanted to :) To be honest, it's still a lot of work (creating ONE build per platform can take up to 15 hours!) and even with Unity there are many platform-specific bugs. We will closely look at the numbers, but for Tinker those platforms actually have been profitable, yes.
Hopefully it's a similar story for their new game, which I will have a review up on sometime soon once I have been able to put more time into it as the publisher sent me a key. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I remember hearing them talk about The Last Tinker ([Video, in German](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA3WzLuPvN0)) back in 2014. It sounded like a bunch of students proud of their first project. I'm happy they developed this well - and are supporting Linux!
It's good to hear they feel it has been success, even though they considered it quite some work. I hope their newest game, very well received in local games media, will do as well as it seems to deserve. While I'm not into Ninjas, I'm looking forward for some Desperados feeling...!
It's good to hear they feel it has been success, even though they considered it quite some work. I hope their newest game, very well received in local games media, will do as well as it seems to deserve. While I'm not into Ninjas, I'm looking forward for some Desperados feeling...!
1 Likes, Who?
I might have to get The Last Tinker. If it's even half as good as Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (very different genre, I know) then I'll likely enjoy it. Plus, I could use a 3D platformer to play until Yooka-Laylee comes out.
Last edited by Keyrock on 13 Dec 2016 at 10:53 am UTC
Last edited by Keyrock on 13 Dec 2016 at 10:53 am UTC
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Lordpkappa 13 Dec 2016
Sure are profitable platforms, and with more support even more.
Hope the 2017 will be the year that will close the gap with Windows as developing platform.
Hope the 2017 will be the year that will close the gap with Windows as developing platform.
1 Likes, Who?
If I recall correctly, I got the game from a Humble Bundle, but never played it because the performance was very very poor on my rig using AMD Catalyst or old Mesa drivers. I have to give it a second chance with the new, faster, latest Mesa.
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Yep a review would be definitely a great thing, the game seems good but I want to hear about linux support/perf first !
0 Likes
Another Steam-exclusive game... Pass.
What are you talking about?
https://www.gog.com/game/the_last_tinker_city_of_colors
https://www.gog.com/game/shadow_tactics_blades_of_the_shogun
https://www.gog.com/game/shadow_tactics_demo
Last edited by Eike on 13 Dec 2016 at 3:56 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
My son (4) loved The Last Tinker, and I was pretty impressed with it as well. Glad to hear the Linux port was profitable for them.
1 Likes, Who?
I actually bought it on steam, proud to be part of the stats. ;-)
But I have a question. I will probably buy Shadow Tactics from a retail store, as it comes with some collectibles. Since it's an in-house multi-platform release, the money will go the right way, but will they know to count it as a Linux purchase? How does it "work" when companies release multi-platform - do they count "Linux sales" (as reported by stores) or "Linux players" (on Steam) / "Linux downloads" (on GOG) to know the numbers?
But I have a question. I will probably buy Shadow Tactics from a retail store, as it comes with some collectibles. Since it's an in-house multi-platform release, the money will go the right way, but will they know to count it as a Linux purchase? How does it "work" when companies release multi-platform - do they count "Linux sales" (as reported by stores) or "Linux players" (on Steam) / "Linux downloads" (on GOG) to know the numbers?
0 Likes
I actually bought it on steam, proud to be part of the stats. ;-)
But I have a question. I will probably buy Shadow Tactics from a retail store, as it comes with some collectibles. Since it's an in-house multi-platform release, the money will go the right way, but will they know to count it as a Linux purchase? How does it "work" when companies release multi-platform - do they count "Linux sales" (as reported by stores) or "Linux players" (on Steam) / "Linux downloads" (on GOG) to know the numbers?
Presumably they can track the key they sold you to platform stats on Steam? I'm not sure though. Great question. Is it, ironically, a stronger message to buy something on steam, than it is to buy from the developers own store (porters notwithstanding, of course, since they know that their sales are because the game doesn't exist out with their efforts).
I think it will come down to the developer's own curiosity.
0 Likes
cRaZy-bisCuiT 13 Dec 2016
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know only Steam Sales played on Linux will be count as a Linux Sale. At least by Steam. I had the same question when I was considering buying boxed versions of games. For sure, this system sucks.
0 Likes
Well I buy most of the games on steam, because Valve deserves their share, too - for helping Linux gaming to get where it is now. But sometimes the game has a nice physical edition and it's always nice to have a tangible map, artbook or other collectibles, so it would suck if that automatically counted as a "Windows purchase" just because it's not tracked.
0 Likes
drvictor666 13 Dec 2016
I bought this one quite some time ago, it does look very nice. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to play it for more than few minutes. For some reasons, it gave me motion sickness every time I've tried. I've alternated between different monitors and tv screen, but nothing helped to mitigate the nausea :( I don't blame developers though as this is a very subjective feeling. Also, this game might not be for everyone, my plan was to play through it with my kids.
0 Likes
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know only Steam Sales played on Linux will be count as a Linux Sale. At least by Steam. I had the same question when I was considering buying boxed versions of games. For sure, this system sucks.
Steam stats can accurately show the devs how many people buy and (separately) play the game on Linux, but that's beside the point. What you wrote (only Steam Sales played on Linux will be count as a Linux Sale) matters when Win and Linux versions have different publishers - then the stats are used to determine which company will get the money from a given sale. That's nort the case here either. Shadow Tactics have a single publisher, and also the same publisher for digital and physical copies - so the money will always find their way home. I was just wondering if and how they count physical / out of steam purchases as far as Linux stats go - I just want to make sure we're properly represented in the coloured tables they will analyse when deciding on future releases. ;-)
Last edited by pb on 13 Dec 2016 at 5:15 pm UTC
0 Likes
oldrocker99 13 Dec 2016
I bought it, too, and I'm happy that it helped earn a profit.
0 Likes
But I have a question. I will probably buy Shadow Tactics from a retail store, as it comes with some collectibles. Since it's an in-house multi-platform release, the money will go the right way, but will they know to count it as a Linux purchase? How does it "work" when companies release multi-platform - do they count "Linux sales" (as reported by stores) or "Linux players" (on Steam) / "Linux downloads" (on GOG) to know the numbers?
When companies release mutliplatform, there is no relevance for "Linux sales", since sale goes on all versions at once. They can count Linux downloads however, assuming you are downloading the version that you intend to use. But if you buy a retail version, I suppose it's either for specific OS, and you bought that OS disk, or if it's for all platforms on that disk - they won't have any way of knowing what OS you bought it for.
Last edited by Shmerl on 13 Dec 2016 at 5:29 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
I bought it for my daughter and actually found it was really great.
0 Likes
If I were a game developer, and the physical sales were an undifferentiated shmoo, and I were trying to figure out how much money I made from Linux sales, I would get the percentage of Linux sales on Steam, assume that the percentage for physical sales was roughly the same, and count the cash as if that assumption was correct. Same-same for any other sales method I didn't have platform breakdown data for.
0 Likes
What are you talking about?
https://www.gog.com/game/the_last_tinker_city_of_colors
Honestly, did you even look at that link? Needless to say I visited their official homepage. There is only Steam(tm) widget.
I'm afraid I'm right on this. Better luck next time, friend!
0 Likes
orochi_kyo 13 Dec 2016
Another Steam-exclusive game... Pass.Keep passing until you realize that hipsters who play on GOG will still starving of games on five years, lol.
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