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[Archie]

http://www.coldbeamgames.com/3/post/2012/11/november-26th-2012.html

Some pertinent quotes:

My little Indie game has grossed $2,000,000! I’m completely blown away! Thank you so much to all those players out there that bought the game!.

I’m a 1 man indie developer. I was made redundant a few years ago after 15 years working for main stream studios. At that point I wanted to give indie development a go. So far it’s gone amazingly well!

So here we have the revenue for each platform. We have Steam, XBLIG, PS3 and iOS.

The first thing that jumps out is how Steam just kicks ass! Not only does the Steam version dwarf the income from other platforms, it keeps coming back to life like some lovable cash making zombie. Let’s look at how Valve helps developers make that happen:

Each spike on the Steam chart relates to a significant event:

(a) I added an iTunes support DLC a few months after the game came out. This was an ‘at cost’ DLC needed for the aac licence required to allow players to play iTunes files. Even though the add-on itself made no profit, you can see that the extra exposure gave the game a good kick.

(b) Beat Hazard was on sale during the Steam Xmas sale 2010. It was 50% off with one day at 70%. Also, Valve were giving away prizes for collecting special Xmas achievements. I added a survival achievement especially for the sale and that’s where a lot of the sales came from. Huge numbers of players bought the game at 70% off just to get the special achievement. (And a lot of those players went on to become true fans of the game)

(c) To get the game approved for PSN I had to add extra features to the game (new modes, enemies, perks, weapons etc). I released these changes as the Ultra DLC on Steam. Just after this Valve had a summer sale where I added a Gold Ship to the game as a special sale prize. The Gold Ship was hugely popular and generated a lot of sales.

(d) Another special Xmas sale involving collecting achievements to unlock prizes. This time I added an achievement where you had to survive 5 minutes while playing to Christmas music (Mwhahaha!) I think it drove some players up the wall with that one.

(e) The last summer sale. This was just a normal discount sale without special prizes etc.

What’s amazing it just how successful Steam sales are. They are just awesome. With a little extra work and a special version, Valve turns a normal sale into a buying and playing frenzy which everyone can enjoy. An important thing to note is that sales after a sale aren’t affected, if anything they go up due to the extra exposure.

Conclusions

Of course this is data from just one game, so I’d say don’t assume my data is general.

It’s easy to see how successful you can be if you get on Steam. Steam sales are not just the only thing Value do well though; I feel that a big part of their success is how well they treat their developers. For those that don’t know, Steam has an excellent API which is very easy to work with, they don’t have a certification process and you can upload new version any time you want. They treat you with respect and you’re allowed to make your own mistakes (and are free to sort it out when you do).

Console holders really need to take a leaf out of their book. They should lighten up and allow developers to more easily interact and respond to their community of players.

 

[Skyzard]

It was 50% off with one day at 70%. Also, Valve were giving away prizes for collecting special Xmas achievements. I added a survival achievement especially for the sale and that’s where a lot of the sales came from. Huge numbers of players bought the game at 70% off just to get the special achievement. (And a lot of those players went on to become true fans of the game)

I'm one of those. I suspect most were...could someone (through steam I think - my macs exploding) check the drop-off rate after getting that certain achievement?

Don't mean to besmirch the game, I do remember a lot of people enjoying it too.

Edit: I think this was the one:

Survive Christmas 10
23.6%

Surprising! Looks like normal achievement stats .. maybe it was tough..? Don't remember I'm afraid.

You can see them online here

 

[arts&crafts]

Although I own the game and have never played it I can say that I am winning at Steam.

 

[fluffydelusions]

But that piracy

 

[RocketDarkness]

Fantastic game, and I'm glad to see it's done so well for the creator. For the record, I really enjoyed the Christmas Survival challenge. I think I managed to finally unlock the 15-minute survival achievement from it, to boot.

 

[Tomat]

troll removed

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Two million?

Hats off, really. That's mighty impressive.

 

[MrDaravon]

I should give this another go. I tried playing it once or twice on 360, but I've never played a game that actually hurt my eyes until I played this.

 

[legend166]

Another point of interest from the comments:

The PSN version was by far the most expensive version to make. Ratings were about $3,000 (Lower as it's a digital title). I also had to buy 2 dev kits (for online play).

Also, the time to make the PSN version was about 5 times more due to complex Sony libs, rules & paper work

 

[grimshawish]

Steam sales do work! Who'd have think it.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

Steam sales do work! Who'd have think it.

There was a Gamasutra article where various developers discussed the benefits of Steam vs putting their games on other platforms. It's a good read and goes into detail how games on Steam are still profitable today even if they're years olds.

 

[chixdiggit]

Well deserved, game is a lot of fun.

 

[inky]

I own this game. I cheesed that XMAS achievement and never played it again. You are welcome.

 

[Toonami 99]

My hats off to the guy. I was one of many that bought back in 2010 then the DLC later. Still a great game to listen so some of my favorite music.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Outside of huge price decreases during sales it's done about the same on all platforms.

Not good for the long-term health of a platform.

 

[x3sphere]

There was a Gamasutra article where various developers discussed the benefits of Steam vs putting their games on other platforms. It's a good read and goes into detail how games on Steam are still profitable today even if they're years olds.

Steam sales do a great job of bringing older content back into the spotlight. Content on XBL and PSN feels buried in comparison, to me anyway.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

So how do games on Steam which don't get front-page + shopper achievement bonuses during seasonal sales do by comparison?

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Never heard of the game before, but hats off to the dev.

And I see Tomat is trollin' again.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

this thread should prove interesting. not sure how I feel about encouraging cheese-mint whoring to boost sales as a marketing tactic but I guess it's up to you whether you get sucked in or not.

Wow Xbots and Sony Ponys, are you guys even trying?

It's hard to believe consoles are even relevant these days. Especially considering they lost their only relevant game once Dark Souls got ported.

sony ponies*

 

[RocketDarkness]

this thread should prove interesting. not sure how I feel about encouraging cheese-mint whoring to boost sales as a marketing tactic but I guess it's up to you whether you get sucked in or not.



sony ponies*

But the achievements were tied to an overarching event where you could receive various small bits of DLC for certain games for free, or have a chance at free games, etc. Which makes it a much more compelling promotion.

 

[Petrie]

Outside of huge price decreases during sales it's done about the same on all platforms.

Not good for the long-term health of a platform.

Giving discounts to older games to give them a longer profit tail is bad?

Dumbest shit I've ever heard.

 

[Protein]

I want to start a church of Gaben. He blesses you with inexpensive games and turns indie developers into millionaires.

 

[Deadbeat]

Outside of huge price decreases during sales it's done about the same on all platforms.

Not good for the long-term health of a platform.

Didnt read the thread title did you? It didnt do the same on all platforms.

 

[Eternia]

Good for Beat Hazard, enjoyed the short amount of time I spent with the Ultra DLC.

this thread should prove interesting. not sure how I feel about encouraging cheese-mint whoring to boost sales as a marketing tactic but I guess it's up to you whether you get sucked in or not.



sony ponies*

The way they used achievements for that single event was probably better than how any other platform holder has handled their own respective achievement systems to date.

 

[LQX]

The fact they practically give it away on Steam helps. Right now I sitting on a extra copy and I'm not even sure how I ended up with the copy in my library.

 

[Barbacoatl]

Love it, good to see it having some success.

 

[Salacious Crumb]

Outside of huge price decreases during sales it's done about the same on all platforms.

Not good for the long-term health of a platform.

I don't get what you mean. Are you saying that Steam is less healthy than PSN, iOS and XBLIG because it sells the same amount during non sale periods and massive amounts more during sale periods?

 

[jim-jam bongs]

But the achievements were tied to an overarching event where you could receive various small bits of DLC for certain games for free, or have a chance at free games, etc. Which makes it a much more compelling promotion.

The way they used achievements for that single event was probably better than how any other platform holder has handled their own respective achievement systems to date.

both true, and like I said I'm not sure how I really feel about it. it's one of those things which makes me feel slightly uncomfortable like having an npc selling dlc in your game, or one-click item purchases in f2p games. that type of stuff is pretty innocuous but I still get a kind of irrational gut reaction to it.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I don't get what you mean. Are you saying that Steam is less healthy than PSN, iOS and XBLIG because it sells the same amount during non sale periods and massive amounts more during sale periods?

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Never heard of this game, will download the demo.

 

[Alex]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

Is that you, EA?

 

[Petrie]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

Yet so many people buy it when it drops that it seems to be a positive for just about every Indie with a half decent game.

 

[Gannd]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

Because being able to play it today is worth $5 to me? I gain more utility playing the game today at $5 than waiting a few weeks and paying $.99. This isn't difficult. If I'm able to capture the $5 sales and then lower the price to capture the players money who want to buy my game but aren't interested in it enough to pay $5, why is that bad? There are whole theories in economics dedicated to these types of consumers. It's really interesting stuff.

 

[PixyJunket]

I feel gipped that this year's Summer Sale didn't have achievements with tickets and prizes.

Although I suspect most of it has now been subsequently released for separate sale, having unique to the event DLCs as prizes was so much fun.

 

[alr1ght]

Valve better bring back this meta game this winter sale.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

I like Beat Hazard, so congratulations to the developer!

I still prefer Audiosurf as my go-to music game, though it seems kind of stuck in limbo. The original was made on a shitty engine, so it was never ported to anything except the Zune, and while a sequel was announced, developed by someone not the original developer I believe http://air.audio-surf.com/(to be coming out in 2012), no updates have been made. It's clearly not releasing this year, if ever.

 

[-COOLIO-]

i just bought bastion and i probably wont get around to playing it for a year.

ive been programmed since i was 10 to see games as valuables. a game for 3.74 with decent reviews is a must buy regardless of whether or not i play it.

 

[Nabs]

The Ultra DLC was amazing. It really turned a meh game into a really good one.

I like Beat Hazard, so congratulations to the developer!

I still prefer Audiosurf as my go-to music game, though it seems kind of stuck in limbo. The original was made on a shitty engine, so it was never ported to anything except the Zune, and while a sequel was announced, developed by someone not the original developer I believe http://air.audio-surf.com/(to be coming out in 2012), no updates have been made. It's clearly not releasing this year, if ever.

Air is being developed by the same guy who made the original (Dylan). Audiosurf is still the best music game on Steam.

 

[RocketDarkness]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

All it does is open the game up to be accessible to various levels of affordability and interest. People that are really interested in the game will still purchase it close to launch, while people more on the fence will eventually be drawn in when there's a price cut or minor sell. And then you get a ton of people buying on a whim when on deep discount, after which the word of mouth helps drive sales even after the price returns to normal.

More money for developers, more games for consumers.

 

[Sciz]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

Fortunately modern society as a whole has been conditioned to value instant gratification over long-term savings. That's not healthy for the future of the society, but it's great if you're trying to sell people stuff.

I still prefer Audiosurf as my go-to music game, though it seems kind of stuck in limbo. The original was made on a shitty engine, so it was never ported to anything except the Zune, and while a sequel was announced, developed by someone not the original developer I believe http://air.audio-surf.com/(to be coming out in 2012), no updates have been made. It's clearly not releasing this year, if ever.

Same guy.

 

[Alex]

Yet so many people buy it when it drops that it seems to be a positive for just about every Indie with a half decent game.

And, as noted by the dev and valve on several occasions, the sales maintain post price drop due to exposure and resurgence.

Because being able to play it today is worth $5 to me? I gain more utility playing the game today at $5 than waiting a few weeks and paying $.99. This isn't difficult. If I'm able to capture the $5 sales and then lower the price to capture the players money who want to buy my game but aren't interested in it enough to pay $5, why is that bad? There are whole theories in economics dedicated to these types of consumers. It's really interesting stuff.

Also this, there have been huge blowouts on steam concurrencies this year quite often, this implied dropoff for new games isnt happening. Not everyone is comfortable just waiting for the bargain rack. By that logic no one should ever buy anything new and just wait for black Friday.

 

[Sober]

both true, and like I said I'm not sure how I really feel about it. it's one of those things which makes me feel slightly uncomfortable like having an npc selling dlc in your game, or one-click item purchases in f2p games. that type of stuff is pretty innocuous but I still get a kind of irrational gut reaction to it.

Double-edged sword, if anything. It's still up to the dev to make an interesting achievement for a sales/achievement event that helps highlight why you should continue playing their game and not just get it and check out.

There were a few games where the achievements were just insane for the sake of it and were catered to the crowd that already had the game while others were just so simple you literally didn't learn a thing and just got it and then uninstalled before the game got to 'hook' them, besides the initial appeal of "another achievement for something, less than 5$"

That being said, Beat Hazard Ultra is fun as hell, but most of the music I have isn't much for what the game offers. At least they have streaming radios, which is nice. Or it's telling me I have terrible taste in music

 

[Jintor]

Outside of huge price decreases during sales it's done about the same on all platforms.

Not good for the long-term health of a platform.

This is in terms of revenue, not total sales.

 

[RocketDarkness]

The Ultra DLC was amazing. It really turned a meh game into a really good one.



Air is being developed by the same guy who made the original (Dylan). Audiosurf is still the best music game on Steam.

This is true. I burned out on the original fairly quickly, but Ultra completely overhauled it and made it way more enjoyable and replayable.

 

[morningbus]

Love this guy, love this game, love his success. I can't wait to see what he does next.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

What kind of game is it btw? Google seems to indicate it's a shmup where you use your own music to power up your ship? So I could rip my CDs to my PS3 and listen to them in-game?

 

[Aselith]

No. The same happens on iOS, and to a lesser extent on XBLA. People have become conditioned to wait for deep discounts, which I believe is not healthy for the future of a platform going forward. Why would people pay $5 on a game that may be 99c in a few weeks?

Why do people buy at release for console games when it will be deeply discounted in a month or two?

I think the bigger problem is on the DD side of the console space where they typically do sales for games that are ALREADY doing well. You don't often see underdog games getting sales and that is much less healthy than offering discounts and incentives for your entire catalog.

What kind of game is it btw? Google seems to indicate it's a shmup where you use your own music to power up your ship? So I could rip my CDs to my PS3 and listen to them in-game?

Yes, it's an arena-shmup that dynamically creates levels based on the songs you put into it.

 

[GoofsterStud]

I wanted to love this game, but the effects caused my eyes to burn >.>

Seriously, I couldn't stomach it for long.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

damn, steam really is something else.

 

[Gannd]

damn, steam really is something else.

It is. But, only because brick and mortar retailers abandoned PC Gaming in the early 2000's and left the developers to do it themselves. The problem with the way console manufacturers handle digital distribution is that they still do most of their business through the traditional retailers.