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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperBusinessSteam Trading Cards and Badges: Do they help with sales?
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joe_eyemobi
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« on: April 14, 2015, 12:44:54 PM »

Hey Guys, we're just about to launch on Early Access, and I've been reading up a little about Steam Cards/Badges.  As a gamer, I don't usually pay much attention to them, but I do occasionally see people going nuts about them. 

Does anyone know if they actually boost sales measurably?  Do you think a couple of them are worth setting up for Launch day?
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ProgramGamer
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« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2015, 05:40:42 AM »

I don't know how they work, but I guess it's not that much trouble creating a few, right? Also, I think they're meant as more of an incentive to keep playing a game rather than attract new customers, so unless your game relies on micro transactions or a strong player base, my guess is that you can get away with not making any. However, I personally find it pretty cool for Steam to acknowledge your appreciation of a game by giving you a few cards after some hours of playtime.
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joe_eyemobi
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« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2015, 01:33:21 AM »

Yeah that seems to be the general trend of my ongoing research too.  It appears to assist more with retention than raw sales.
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oldblood
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« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2015, 10:55:05 AM »

Hard to define "measurably". As what someone deems measurable, another person may not. For the amount of work you put into the trading cards? Yes. It's totally worth it. Don't get me wrong, you wont double your sales by having trading cards, but you will get sales because of it.

It's really not very hard to create it all (can crank it out over a weekend) and there are a decent number of Steam users out there who want games simply for trading cards and XP. Plus its interesting to see the market around what value ends up being associated with your trading cards. I once had foil cards for a game I had made selling for $40+ on Steam for a $10 game. Now they sell for about $.50 but it was still interesting to watch... Stuff like that is why these people buy games with trading cards. I'm sure some of them even make a profit if they get lucky...

In short: Do it. Or if you can't get them in by launch date, include them in a post-launch update. You get some free marketing pushes from Valve so you could easily dedicate one of those "front page pushes" to an update that includes Trading Cards.
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oldblood
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« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2015, 10:58:09 AM »

(To clarify, you have to make more than just trading cards. You need a minimum number of trading cards, badges, emoticons and profile backgrounds created that Valve will personally review and approve. This could take a couple business days after submission, but they're pretty fast. If they want you to change something, they will tell you. So plan on it taking a few days to put together and at least a few more days for Valve to review).
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joe_eyemobi
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« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2015, 01:41:57 AM »

Good advice - thanks Oldblood!  Coffee

Yeah the effort does seen worthwhile if it attracts certain gamers and retains others who are into that sort of thing.  A couple of each to start with would be fairly easy for our artist to put together.

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rebelholic
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« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2015, 08:28:29 PM »

Hey Guys, we're just about to launch on Early Access, and I've been reading up a little about Steam Cards/Badges.  As a gamer, I don't usually pay much attention to them, but I do occasionally see people going nuts about them. 

Does anyone know if they actually boost sales measurably?  Do you think a couple of them are worth setting up for Launch day?

Why you don't set price just USD $1 for your game? Maybe trading cards just for game purchase only
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« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2015, 07:13:56 AM »

I see people say that it's not whole a lot of work, but how is it not? Trading cards require emoticons, badges, wallpapers (backgrounds), and cards themselves. All that needs to be created. Sure if one has a game full of sweet art and some extra left from production, it's not that much work to cut it all up and put over templates. Otherwise it needs to be designed and painted/rendered. It's quite some work involved especially when people really want to see unique and quality stuff on there.

Am I the only one who thinks that?
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Kot-in-Action Creative Artel
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« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2015, 08:42:58 AM »

If you're going for cheap cards, it's not hard. But if you're going for higher quality cards, then of course it's going to take a bit more work. It all depends on what you're after.

Also, if you have a dedicated artist on your team it's a lot better for this kind of thing.
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joe_eyemobi
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« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2015, 07:11:14 PM »

Yeah, there are a lot of assets to put together even for a bare minimum.  Luckily we do have a dedicated artist, so we'll probably wait until after Early Access is launched so we can do a little bit of planning.
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