2. • Timeline
• History
• Distribution
• Make Money
• ?
- show ayim over time
- what i think is necessary to build a good game
- how to deal with partners and try to get fair partnership
- ways to get the game known
- yes, we all need to. how and where
- what we did wrong, right and why it still is great to have your own indie
studio
3.
4. And Yet It Moves over time Licensed Nintendo Developer Greenhouse Launch
IGF 2007 Gamersgate
IGF 2007 Deadline
Steam Broken Rules founded
Pitching to
online distributors Nintendo Contact Impulse Direct2Drive, MacGameStore
Deliver2Mac
Business Expert
(through subsidy) Zoo
WiiWare Version
Prototype Talk with a 1st Party
Support & Update
Game Design Course Full Version Part Time Full Version Full Time
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1.0.2 1.0.5
1.0.1 1.0.4
1.0 1.0.3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
WiiLoveIt
Subsidy 2nd Payment Subsidy 3rd Payment GeneralGames
Subsidy Entry Subsidy 1st Payment Garagegames
GamerLimit
Bytejacker
Lords of Zock
PR Mail to everyone Rock, Paper, Shotgun
3:40
quick rundown of the projects development:i know it’s really small, ill be showing more
details over the presentation, this is just meant as an overview
we started in 2006 at Vienna University of Technology, made a two level protoype there
in 5 month
goal of prototype was just to graduate NOT to be developed into a full version
which was part of igf student showcase 2007,after that we started to develop the full
version: 15 month part time, 8 month full time
money came from subsidy for creative industry startups
partnered with Steam and Greenhouse first for PC/Mac release and later own website,
Impulse, Direct2Drive and others
were part of IndieCade 2008 where Nintendo saw us -> authorized nintendo developer
currently supporting ayim pc/mac release and developing a wiiware version
6. And Yet It Moves over time
IGF 2007 Deadline IGF 2007
Prototype
Game Design Course Full Vers
2006 2007
we build our team through the game design course and tested it through the devel. of
the prototype
only after being part of igf 2007 we started to think about making a full version
and being at gdc 2007 was so motivating that we started building the full version
Subsidy E
8. igw
peter, doris, martin (+wilfried)
die erste ernsthafte auseinadersetzung mit games
vorträge + workshops
analoge prototypen
konzept + gruppenbildung -> 2 level prototyp
10. user test: zuerst challenges einzeln immer als collision objekte gebaut und
selbst probiert und getuned,
-> dann simpel ausgekleidet, also nur die basics und diese dann nacheinander
getestet (noch nicht in levels zusammengefügt)
-> herausgefunden wie schwierig sind die einzelnenchallenges
-> challenges aufgrund der schwierigkeit auf level aufgeteilt
-> nochmals getestet
16. Once you have a prototype use festivals/competitions to test how good your idea/prototype is
igf, igf student showcase, indiecade
tigsource competitions
if it fails at one fo them it doesn’t necessary mean it’s bad but if it’s passes chances are very high that it’s actually good and
worth the time and effort to make a real product out of it
17.
18. online distributors Nintendo Contact Impulse
Business Expert
(through subsidy)
Talk with a 1st Party
Suppor
Full Version Part Time Full Version Full Time
2008 2009
Subsidy 2nd Payment Subsidy 3rd Payment
Subsidy Entry Subsidy 1st Payment
19. Distribution
the decision is made: the game concept is good enough and the team starts
working on it.
now is the time to start lookign for distribution partners
20. 14
Go international, digital distribution means no more limits
especially true for non americans
once you have a prototype and some press, write to distributors
online distributors are more and more focused on indie games and have indie sections
but don’t wait for starting to work on your game until there is a contract, do these things in parallel
because vene if you don’t find a prtner as a last resort there’s always self publishing via ones own website
talk to distributors directly, we had the feeling that they like if they are approached by developers, rather than a
publisher
21. approximat
e
units sold
we started with Steam and shortly after that Greenhouse (and our own site)
we only actively asked for at steam and greenhouse. the others approached us after we launched on these two services
Steam has most attention, but Greenhouse has a good foothold in indie market despite their obvious DRM
later on: impulse, D2D, MacGameStore, GamersGate, Deliver2Mac, etc.
22. sales per distributor
7%
13%
16%
64%
Steam Ayim Site Greenhouse Others
roughly october 2009
23. sales per distributor
4%
5%
47%
44%
Steam Ayim Site Greenhouse Others
april 2010 after steam holiday sale & the indie love bundle (part of ayim site
sales)
24. points to look out for in a contract
example contract that kind of shows a common denominator of a fair deal
meant for a simple online distribution deal
25. • Royality Rate in the developers favor
• of net receipts = ( revenues
• – costs of returns, refunds, fraud, charge-backs
• – sale processing fees
• – applicable sales taxes )
21:
that means > 50 for you up to 70
we foudn royality rates to be fair and consistent throughout
but still: watch out what the source of your royalitie rates are from (lets call it
the net receipts)
26. • at least quarterly payment, reports monthly
• NONexclusive
• duration: 1 - 3 years
• fair termination
you should also have audit rights, although usually these are quite risky because exepnsive if
no fraud has been found -> you’ll have to trust your partner
check that most of the stuff is nonexclusive
especially IP, but also game, marketing material, etc., except of course if you want exclusivity
duration usually has an automatic renewal process
termination should be possible for both parties und equal circumstances (look for the word
MUTUAL)
27. Make
Money :)
Although I believe in Purrhos statement:
“When making the game is more important than selling it, then you know you're
actually creating an indie game. Which is one of the reasons why indies are such
horrible business people”
it is something all indies need to think about as well, because otherwise we
soon wont be able to develop more games.
28. Get Professional Help!
Get a business expert
Trust him/her
Dont be afraid to go mass market
use non standard distribution channels
white labels
we are trying to go more for the casual market now as well
29. 60 000 € 7500 €
if you are in europe: check out state fundings, subsidies, etc. don’t know about
the US
we received a subsidy for the creative industry that supports startups and
innovative projects, called impulse:
60.000 €
and a subsidy that paid half the payment for an expert: 7500 € for martin
sirlinger
30. 20.000 € payment / 7400 manhours
2.7 € / hour
37
we got a subsidy which fulfilled most of our money needs
and during the development of ayim we have paid eah one of us roughly 5000 euros of actual payment
how did we live? off our parents and the republic of austria (study funds): remember we were still students
31. 1000 € / month = ~ 600 € / month into our pocket
We haven’t though that much about money during the development...
but after founding a company we have realized how much money actual is
necessary to pay a decent living to each one of us
we have stopped studying and went full time so the company needs to support
our living:
that is our pay for now....
without the starting money, that is only through sales, we could not even afford
to pay us these sums
other costs: office: 300 euros, tax-expert: ~2500/year
32. Support & Update
Full Version Full Time
08 2009 201
1.0.2 1.0.5
1.0.1 1.0.4
1.0 1.0.3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
WiiLoveIt
GeneralGames
Garagegames
GamerLimit
Bytejacker
Lords of Zock
PR Mail to everyone Rock, Paper, Shotgun
33: Plan your release date
watch out for conferences, other games (we originally had same release date like braid pc and change it because of that
Contact the Press prior to release date
plan ahead, talking to the media takes a lot of time
write to everyone you know or trust first (exclusivity)
then mass mail to everyone else on the planet who writes about games
we didn’t talk to anyone before the launch -> few people knew the game -> had to build interest AFTER the launch -> BAD
33. eh klar man braucht öffentlichkeit: twitter, facebook, blog
und journalisten...wegen kurzer zeit jetzt lieber zu etwas anderem.
34. competitions: not many users who play them, roughly 5 unique users,
BUT links from the other developers blogs bring new users: yeah!
still i’m actually not sure how much the online leaderboards where of help for ayim: hard to
develop, not that many use it.
37. 31
the graph shows units sold, not profit
go for special deals and bundles.
especially on steam many people are waiting for bundles! wheter this is good or not remains for a talk on
its own :)
bundles even better you get bonus users that buy bundles for other games than your own
38. 31
the graph shows units sold, not profit
go for special deals and bundles.
especially on steam many people are waiting for bundles! wheter this is good or not remains for a talk on
its own :)
bundles even better you get bonus users that buy bundles for other games than your own
39. sales per distributor
1%
2%
13%
85%
Steam Ayim Site Greenhouse Others
May 2010 after steam mac launch and steam indie pack
40. Steam Holiday Sale: ~1500 units
The Indie Love Bundle: 2734 units
SteamPlay Indie Pack: 15882 units
44. Wolfire has one full time PR & Marketing guy
great idea: make people feel more like they donate than buy.
CHARITY for Indies:
ties in to new ideas like Community Funding, Kickstarter, etc.
45. • facebook: 4956 fans
• twitter: 1523 followers
• youtube: 2496 subscribers; 811 000 views
• mod db: 1570 members
Wolfire games community stats
46.
47. 5
after that what is important I think is that one dares to go for it. Of course one needs a good game concept at hand but if
that’s there: dare to do it!
And yes, it’s not going to be as easy as working for a bigger company but at the end more (that does not includ money) can
come out of it for the daring ones.
if one is afraid of risks, going indie is not the right thing to do
