Unhealthy interest in sales figures

[Big Wrangle]

Sounds about what I assumed then. Don't mind that part, it is worded somewhat poorly. Thanks for the answer.

 

[DavidBVal]

Sorry if this was answered before VD, but the "units sold" figure you are giving does not include refunded units, does it?

I suppose it doesn't because of the way Steamworks gives you the refund data (they just tell you the number of refunds)

 

[Martyr]

"There is too much for me to understand." & "i dont have the brainpower for this game"

I lol'd

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sorry if this was answered before VD, but the "units sold" figure you are giving does not include refunded units, does it?

It doesn't.

 

[some funny shit]

Vault Dweller are you happy with the sales? What do you think about games market today?

 

[DavidBVal]

"There is too much for me to understand." & "i dont have the brainpower for this game"

I lol'd

Actually, I find the honesty refreshing. Most people just call it unbalanced and blame the game, not themselves.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Vault Dweller are you happy with the sales? What do you think about games market today?

I didn't think we'd sell more than 40-50k copies, so yes, I'm happy. I don't think much about the gaming market as thinking about it serves absolutely no purpose. We serve a tiny percentage of that market (0.003% last I checked) and have no ambitions to change that. Even if The New World sells twice as much, our 'market share' would probably get smaller as the market grows bigger with every year. So our marketing strategy is to make games we want to make without worrying about the market and then letting the players who like RPGs decide if they like our games.

 

[some funny shit]

Even if The New World sells twice as much,

But what if New World will sell much less?

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's always a possibility and I certainly don't expect it to do well simply because AoD did.

As I said before, when you change the recipe, there’s always a chance that you’ll lose some players, especially since AoD was different things to different people. Quite a few people liked this ‘unraveling the centuries old mystery’ aspect just like quite a few people liked the fantasy aspect and were disappointed when they realized that there’s more to it. We all know that the gaming industry always favored fantasy over sci-fi and I assume that they were convinced that fantasy has a much higher appeal. I guess we’ll find out the hard way. Plus politics will play a bigger role in the game, which isn't what many people look for in an RPG either.

Thus, there's a possibility that The New World won't sell well at all and will be our last game, but worrying about won't serve any purpose either. Basically, either we try to figure out what sells best or better and let the sales concern affect design, which isn't what we want to do, or we make games we want to make without any concerns about what the market wants and hope for the best.

 

[DavidBVal]

If AoD seems to have been given them enough profit to pay for 4-5 years of development, I'd say they have a very reasonable safety margin even if they get half the AoD sales. Still sounds too risky? Tell me what other (honest) IT area is safer in the mid-term and pays better, I've worked at many of them (consulting, e-commerce, security) and all of them are more volatile and risky than videogames.

 

[Sitra Achara]

Most of the AoD team lives in 3rd world shitholes anyway, so relatively speaking they're already rich.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

So when can I give my shekels for new world?

 

[Vault Dweller]

So when can I give my shekels for new world?

When you play the demo and see the game for yourself (instead of taking my word for it). Then if you still like it and feel like supporting us, we'll gladly take your pre-order and thank you for your patronage.

 

[Martyr]

Actually, I find the honesty refreshing. Most people just call it unbalanced and blame the game, not themselves.

refreshing indeed, but amusing nonetheless.

 

[Fenix]

"There is too much for me to understand." & "i dont have the brainpower for this game"

I lol'd

Actually, I find the honesty refreshing. Most people just call it unbalanced and blame the game, not themselves.

Agree with both of you.

 

[LESS T_T]

Vault Dweller Going slightly off-topic here, I wonder if you're going to apply for Unreal Dev Grant.

It just came to mind while reading about another investment program for Unreal developers. This new program seems more like finding the next runaway indie hit (involving big names, fund ranges from $1m to $5m per project, revenue sharing) so I guess it won't be a good fit for Iron Tower.

But Dev Grant, while the range of grants much smaller (from $5,000 to $50,000), just seems to exist for a project like yours (no restrictions or obligations, etc.).

 

[Vault Dweller]

My guess is they're looking for cool new things that make the engine look good. I don't think that's us.

 

[Goral]

My guess is they're looking for cool new things that make the engine look good. I don't think that's us.

It doesn't hurt to try though. But yeah, most likely once they see that you already have a game on Steam they will choose another firm.

 

[LESS T_T]

My guess is they're looking for cool new things that make the engine look good. I don't think that's us.

I think they are also looking for "promising" projects that can use some boost for more polishing (means more sales potential, which means more potential royalty to them).

As I see it, not all recipients are for shiny showcase. There were recipients in similar genre like All Walls Must Fall and Legion 1917: Rise of the Bolsheviks.

You can see past recipients here:
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-over-200-000-in-new-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/...-275-000-in-latest-round-of-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/...nd-of-unreal-dev-grants-totaling-over-200-000
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-150000-in-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-seventy-five-thousand-in-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-80k-in-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-71k-in-unreal-dev-grants
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-awards-100k-in-unreal-dev-grants-sept16

(Also I get the feeling isometric RPGs are relatively unique in Unreal Engine scene, compare to Unity's. )

Worth a try in my opinion. Well, maybe at least when your game is more polished.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Reached the next level: 140,000 copies sold.

 

[AbounI]

What about Dungeon Rats too ? 140k copies sold is only for AoD, no ?
edit: just Big Up ITS !

 

[Vault Dweller]

AoD: 140,069
DR: 38,180

 

[axedice]

According to the famous Ars Technica Steam Leak (# of people who at least have 1 achievement from any steam game , so basically the number of people who own the game and played it for at least a few minutes), Age of Decadence has 96.114 players as of July 4th.

If non-steam users amount to 10k, 35k people bought Age of Decadence but never played enough to get the first achivement?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Non-Steam users (in our case GOG, GamersGate, and direct sales) amount to a lot more than that. I'm not sure what I can and can't disclose but roughly we sold 10% more on Steam than the leak indicates. Considering that it was leaked right after the summer sale, I doubt that many people who bought the game had a chance to play it.

 

[DavidBVal]

That 10% is consistent with my own data. Many people that purchase games during sales play them months later... or never.