RPGDX > Forums > General Discussion > Who's Going (Gone?) Commercial?

RampantCoyote · Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:20 am Post subject: Who's Going (Gone?) Commercial?

How many of you have sold / are selling / are planning on selling your RPG?

I'm not talking a box in Big Box Mart with a major publisher or anything... I'm just talking not distributing it freeware. Going the indie / downloadable sales route? Like Cute Knight, Aveyond, Spiderweb's games, Depths of Peril, Morning's Wrath, Anito, Fastcrawl, etc. Or the upcoming Broken Hourglass, Eschelon: Book 1, Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest, and Age of Decadence (those are some I know of).

Just kinda curious about the prevailing winds around here, and people's thoughts on the subject.
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Adam · Mage Joined: 30 Dec 2002 Posts: 416 Location: Australia

I'd like to have some kind of income from my game wether it be google ads or subscriptions or whatnot. But i'd find it unlikely that i'd ever get the game to that stage :P.
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Hajo · Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:47 pm Post subject:

It's been a bit strange, two or three times I was contacted by publishers about distributing a game of mine (my only successful project ever), but I had given some people the promise to keep it freeware forever, so it wasn't possible. And it was no RPG either.

But it shows that, if you have an interesting product, there will be ways to sell it. Just it seems you need some success first, and then publishers will show interest ... so first you'll always have to go the freeware or shareware route until your product got some audience.

In case of RPGs I had no luck so far. None of my projects could attract more than a handful of interested people, far from being sellable. I think the RPG market is pretty difficult, there are good and cheap or even free games. To sell yours you must be better than those, which can be difficult. Look for example at all the free Ragnarok Online servers out there. Ragnarok is not bad, and if we look aside from the question how legal such servers are, they exist, often rather long, and you'll be in competiton with them if you want to sell your game.

My impression is that the best way to make money is to distribute the game for free, and sell addons for it. So you get people hooked with the free version and once they want more, you give them more, for a bit of a refund. Sounds fair to everyone and seems to work ;)

In case of online games, sales of items and features work well apparently, like custom portraits, custom avatars, or stylish equipment. People are vain and you can get to their purse if you support that ;)

Also I see features like character renames billed by some companies. It works apparently.

And there are services like "I level your characater to 80 with skills of your choice in one week for 20 bucks" which obviously sell too o.o

So my impression is, selling a RPG itself has little chances, but selling addons, items, services for a RPG works.

RampantCoyote · Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject:

I think you are right about the game really having to stand out. Though there are plenty of indie RPGs out there making money. Not "enough-to-retire-on" kind of money, but "steady monthly supplemental income" kind of money.

Amaranth Games & Spiderweb Software are full-time operations now. Though I know the creator of The Omega Syndrome has really struggled trying to find his audience.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

Hajo · Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject:

Yes, there are a few examples out there, and this forum has a few more projects shown that really have potential IMO. Your project sure is among them. It just looks like what most people want: A fun game :)

A not-so-standing out game might be Runescape, which offers a game world for free, and additonal content for paying players. It took a while to evolve, but seems to make some money, too.

http://www.runescape.com/

It seems to be always the same trick, offer something interesting for free, and then some more for money. Few people can stand the idea to have started a game, played it for weeks and then not be able to have all of it, be it items or areas to explore.

On a sidenote, I think money is dangerous for projects, since it brings a whole lot of new problems. If you are a group or team, it inadvertedly will lead to the questions who gets how much, and seldom such discussions are easy :(

It can lead you into a minefield. But then, having your own business is a great thing, too :)