5 replies to this topic

[amysgames]

So I have this game I've been planning out for a very long time, and now it's finally starting to come together with GM. But more to the point, since I've been making this game for so long and have always considered it one of my most (if not my very most) major of projects, I'd really like to get a little money for it if I can. I wouldn't ask for much, just a little something to help pay the bills or whatnot, but I still think I'd like some payment for all my hard work.

However, this leaves me with a bit of a problem—I've worked for a long long time on the plot of this game, and I really want my dedicated fans to get to experience it... but I'm not sure how many of them are able and/or willing to actually purchase the game. And even besides, I know a lot of people in general who can't or won't buy things off the internet. I'm a writer at heart, and I really would like my friends to be able to learn the story of this game, but I'd really prefer people to actually play the game rather than resort to wikis or possibly-not-legal alternatives.

Leading me to my question! Does anyone know any good e-commerce services that, perhaps, offer some sort of alternative where their free download is payed for by a bunch of advertisements and promotions or something? At least something where I can offer a discount, maybe? Basically I'd like to get paid, but I also don't want the price tag deterring people from actually playing the game, so I'd like to weigh my options.

(On that note, if anyone knows any good services that support foreign currencies, that would be good too. One of my most dedicated fans lives in Canada, so. XD;)

Edited by amysgames, 27 July 2011 - 05:02 PM.

[deathnotedo]

Donations? Set up a pay pal, put up your game to download for free, and let people donate if they want to help you out, i know a few people that do this, they make a fair amount of cash to

-Death

[Desert Dog]

Couple of *sales* models you may not have considered.

-Pay what you want. From as little as $0 (Although usually a minimum of $1, to ensure SOME profit) to $infity, you purchase the full version.

There are a few games doing this now, it's quite a new model notably with GameMaker is Immortal Defense

It's been relatively successful, I know some games make some pretty good money off this sort of model. I understand that it's relatively easy to set up with FormSpring

-Donations: Games have varying success, but you can pretty much expect to get very little from this avenue.
Here's a few other dev's experiences with donations:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=11526.0

the GMC's own True Valhalla made a few hundred off donations, but then his is an online game, so you'd expect much different results. If you've got a good fan base, maybe it'd work. I doubt it'd make much, though.



I'm not sure about the in-game ad's one, you may be able to find some, but note that people can just pull the plug on their internet.. not that they don't want to support you necessarily, but, well, ad's can be very annoying.

The other alternative is a very generous demo. Also, I assume you have a website? Consider holding regular competitions/giveaways.. non paying fans of the game will stick around and snag freebie's, and hopefully that will generate some extra publicity for you&your game.

Edited by Desert Dog, 28 July 2011 - 12:05 AM.

[amysgames]

Thanks for the replies! That "pay what you want" option is interesting. Maybe I can look into that sometime.

As for the ads thing, I didn't mean in-game ads, per se. More of a... one of those things where your download is free if you check out some promotional thing? I mean, those are pretty annoying, but my sister mentioned it so I thought I'd throw it out there. XD;

At any rate, I'm most likely to stick a price tag on it and sell it either way, I was just trying to think of alternatives for people who don't have the cash on hand, if there are any.

[hpapillon]

If you mostly just want people to play it but you could use some expense-covering, you could set a fundraiser goal with something like kickstarter and then release the game free after people pay for it. This requires being good enough at marketing to convince people to donate the requested sum though.

[Mornez]

Give them a free demo...then charge no more than $3 for a complete download.

Note: For $3...the game will have to be really good (ex: Gray and Green) quality.

Link to Gray and Green: http://sandbox.yoyog...-gray-and-green

Edited by Mornez, 07 August 2011 - 06:57 AM.