Take away all this recession malarkey, and if you're a game developer looking to make a living you'd have to feel like you've got a couple of options. Option 1: work at a publisher-owned studio with a modicum of job security and the chance to work on "big games". Option 2: strike out with a mate or two and see if you can rock the charts with your own concept.
Option 2 used to be wrought with peril. For every success story that would filter through, there'd be vast masses of talented mod makers, garage game developers or level designers whose work you'd never hear of. Then along came Xbox and Sony with their siren calls - publishing your small games digitally to a vast audience of punters. With payment and distribution sorted out, surely it made it more likely your awesome game would be picked up or rejected strictly on the basis of quality, right?
The jury is still out on that. And for players like Mommy's Best Games developer Nathan Fouts, the verdict is looking grim. Fouts related his reaction to his game's (Weapons of Choice) sales results, and the disappointment (the game has sold around 10,000 copies to date) is very evident:
At GDC 2009, Microsoft stated that “Several Community Games top sellers will be taking home more income from four months of sales than the average U.S. citizen earns in a full year.” According to the US Census 2005, “median annual earnings were $32,000.” Based on this, it is fair to say that Weapon of Choice is a top seller. Although this number may look enticing to a hobbyist, we can only look at sales data and what it means for Mommy’s Best Games, taking into consideration (not necessarily in this order):
1. Microsoft’s baseline cut of 30% and remittance rate.
2. Microsoft’s potential additional 10% to 30% cut depending on the amount of Microsoft promotion for the game.
3. Royalties owed to our contractors.
4. State and federal taxes.
5. Cost of development, not including salaries, i.e. membership, software licenses, travel, hardware and marketing.
6. Although this is only 4 months of sales, except by the grace of God or a divine new marketing strategy, we do not anticipate seeing sales staying this strong.
What all that means to our bottom-line, we do not yet know, but it does not feel great.
It certainly explains why Braid received so much attention if selling around 10,000 copies of a game on Xbox Live is considered 'top selling'.
What's your call: are developers being lead up the garden path or is it more a case of 'read the fine print'? Having sold the dream, just how much responsibility does Microsoft have to its community developers to push their stuff? And with both Sony and Xbox offering incentives for developers to play in their sandboxes... is 2009 going to be the year of the hard luck story?
To get Fouts' full spiel, check the link.
Big fish in a shallow pond [Mommy's Best Games]
