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[Oddball]

You are wrong. Of course it will depend on the quality of the game, but a decent game on Steam will make a lot more than $5k in a year, a lot more.

[Makai]

Deviator,

Your numbers are way off.

Steam is not the app store, you won't and shouldn't be selling your stuff for $1. Steam's cut, even if you get a bad deal, is also nowhere close to 80%.

[moi]

did anyone notice how deviator can't even make a multiplication right?

2.500.000*1*0.2=$5000.

[ANtY]

did anyone notice how deviator can't even make a multiplication right?

2.500.000*1*0.2=$5000.

on top of that he doesn't know how to count percents

sales percentage - 0.2%.

[Moczan]

2 500 000 * 0.002 = 5000, he just wrote it wrong lol.

[moi]

yeah he forgot the "%" sign

[Moczan]

Still, 0.2% conversion rate sounds too low for Steam, with all the sales and impulsive buying stuff I guess most game get more than 5k sales lifetime on Steam.

[moi]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/174587/Steam_sales_How_deep_discounts_really_affect_your_games.php

[Deviator]

Still, 0.2% conversion rate sounds too low for Steam, with all the sales and impulsive buying stuff I guess most game get more than 5k sales lifetime on Steam.

Oki, so does this number 5k copies applies for average "advertised" game on steam when you see it on the main screen, or for no name game which can be found only by browsing "games under $5" or maybe by searching by "genres->indie"?

Presumably if average quality game makes 5k copies and we sell a game for $5 then we get like $2 profit:
5000*$2 = $10k profit
Your development/promotion time takes 1 year and expenses for an art designers are(from -$2000 to -$5000)
So profit is about $5k a year. (10k-5k=5k)

Please don't think that I can only criticize, since it is the easiest thing to do in business planning, yes, I actually believe that average games like clones of a "tower defense", "puzzle quest" or "dungeon crawler" can earn $20k considering all selling networks.

P.S. Why I don't like examples of "super meat boy"/"the binding of Isaac" and other "good quality games", because it is success stories from the books like "how to get rich and happy in simple 5 steps" - it is a fairy tale (for us - average developers), not a plan which likely will be achieved. In other words be realists.

[TeeGee]

Those numbers are way off. Why $2 (or even $1) profit from a $5 game? Steam cut is usually around 30%, so that would make it $3.5 per copy. Also, $5 would be a very cheap game for Steam standards, unless it's in a sale. Most games there cost at least 10 bucks.

5k copies seems too low for an average okay game too. Christine Love recently said on her twitter that she sold about 20k copies of Analogue. And that's a niche VN, not Super Meat Boy.

[Oddball]

P.S. Why I don't like examples of "super meat boy"/"the binding of Isaac" and other "good quality games", because it is success stories from the books like "how to get rich and happy in simple 5 steps" - it is a fairy tale (for us - average developers), not a plan which likely will be achieved. In other words be realists.

I don't really like talking about sales figures, it feels like bragging, but you're just not getting it. My game is far from one of the 'big' indie games and it sold easily in excess of 5,000 units in it's first day on Steam. Even my direct sales are well over 5k, and the game is only six month old. So you don't need to be one of the big boys to make a living from indie games.

[Deviator]

Those numbers are way off. Why $2 (or even $1) profit from a $5 game?

It's just me... I like to understate numbers in process, some other people applying the -50% onto profit after the main calculation, well you know, your results are usually worst then planned.

$5 would be a very cheap game for Steam standards

From what I saw $5 could be an OK price for a game. I also tend to agree that $10 maybe is better as marketing policy, since good indie games are usually around $10. But it's just my first impression.
Also I have no idea how and why Analogue was sold in 20k copies, that is very good news actually

and it sold easily in excess of 5,000 units in it's first day on Steam

wow m8, that is a real accomplishment!  So I see your game name is "Hack, Slash, Loot"... I could never imagine that game without good art designers could be so well sold on Steam, please don't take it as offence, opposite it's like to take part in space race with having $1000 budget , your example is very inspiring. Besides I see like only 6 topics on Steam forum. Summarizing all: Game is not popular but it is still very profitable and therefore successful.

Have Steam placed you on the first page when you started sales (you know, when they announce games on the very fist page of a Store)?

[Oddball]

Have Steam placed you on the first page when you started sales (you know, when they announce games on the very fist page of a Store)?

It didn't go on the top banner, but all new releases go on the front page until they get knocked off by newer releases.

[Deviator]

It didn't go on the top banner, but all new releases go on the front page until they get knocked off by newer releases.

Thank you very much for the info! 
Your whole story with the numbers is very promising. Before that I was bit more pessimistic 

[Camel]

P.S. Why I don't like examples of "super meat boy"/"the binding of Isaac" and other "good quality games", because it is success stories from the books like "how to get rich and happy in simple 5 steps" - it is a fairy tale (for us - average developers), not a plan which likely will be achieved. In other words be realists.

I don't really like talking about sales figures, it feels like bragging, but you're just not getting it. My game is far from one of the 'big' indie games and it sold easily in excess of 5,000 units in it's first day on Steam. Even my direct sales are well over 5k, and the game is only six month old. So you don't need to be one of the big boys to make a living from indie games.

Your direct sales are way over 5k units ? How long is the game on the market ?
I have to say those numbers for direct sales are quite impressive, how did you manage to do that ? the usual route of tryng to get previews/reviews ?
thanks
Bruno