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mikejkelley
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« on: October 19, 2011, 07:30:36 PM » |
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I've recently finished the text portion of my business plan. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. Now it's on the Pro Forma portion.
My problem, and I'm sure it's a common one, is finding hard figures for sales (units, price, duration), presale, ad-revenue, DLC, etc.
I propose we build a repository with facts, figures, and links so that we all have a better picture of the market terrain. This is the Business section after all.
While I'm here, what ad-revenue middle-ware would you recommend for mobile games and where can I get a sense of the revenue it would generate?
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deathtotheweird
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« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2011, 07:43:21 PM » |
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does this look like indiegamer.com to you?
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2011, 07:01:04 PM » |
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Right, obviously this has no pla-... wait a sec... "Gabe’s Hypocrisy," "How to earn £12,000 in one year from game development?," etc., posted both here and at indiegamer.com.
It's almost as if posts at the business forums there are relevant in the business forums here.
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Leroy Binks
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« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2011, 07:45:39 PM » |
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Do share if you find something useful. I found a little data, but nothing that I felt worthy of a business plan. There was a good amount of data for the sale of sponsored flash games at flashgameslicense.com and I'm sure Steam might have it's own set of sales data that might provide a broad spectrum set of data that might be worth taking to a bank when looking for a small business loan.
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There are plenty of pixelated programmers pounding out products of peculiar playability at a prolific pace with purported profits.
This reply has been brought to you today by the letter "P"
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MattG
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« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2011, 08:33:40 PM » |
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if you light your business plan on fire the ashes will be more accurate than the text that once was written on the paper IMO
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ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)
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« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2011, 09:58:04 PM » |
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if you light your business plan on fire the ashes will be more accurate than the text that once was written on the paper IMO i agree; i've written one before and found it useless. the *only* reason to write a business plan imo is if you are seeking funding or a loan of some kind. then having one can show that bank or investor that you mean business. but don't write them otherwise, they're next to useless on their own for indies |
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Uykered
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« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2011, 10:47:20 PM » |
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"Try and make great games" is my business plan and goal.
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Bishop
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« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2011, 07:23:21 AM » |
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"Try and make great games" is my business plan and goal.
I read a several studies that indicated that money stifles creativity. The most reassuring one interviewed artists while they were students and then 20 years later, about their attitudes towards money and art and the relation between the two. Those that thought more about money and tried to make things commercially viable, did worse. Those that didn't really think about money and just made things that are good were more successful. This is also Valve's policy, they look at business models after they've made the game. |
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2011, 11:04:09 AM » |
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if you light your business plan on fire the ashes will be more accurate than the text that once was written on the paper IMO Speak for your own business plan, not mine. the *only* reason to write a business plan imo is if you are seeking funding or a loan of some kind. I'm applying for a seed fund. But, I think if you extrapolate their importance to banks, VC, fund mngrs, etc.,... you can begin to see how they might be of value regardless of whether or not you're seeking funding. Those that didn't really think about money and just made things that are good were more successful. This is also Valve's policy, they look at business models after they've made the game. "Good" and "successful" here are vague and subjective. I can tell you after many years in the modding community, those who weren't motivated by money innovated less than the marketplace ( http://www.moddb.com/members/mikejkelley/blogs/moty-2008-the-abridged-version). Modders overwhelmingly created copyright rip-offs of existing games. Now that there's a clearer path to commercialization, that trend is down. I assure you that Valve is profit-driven and have their business models (some of which are none-too legal) firmly in-place at all times. Given people's aversion to having a plan for their business, I think we'll be seeing more and more "Quitting game development" threads. |
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dustin
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« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2011, 12:59:15 PM » |
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I'm going to have to go with the whole business plans aren't accurate side of the argument here. I'm only really chiming in to ask about this.... I assure you that Valve is profit-driven and have their business models (some of which are none-too legal) firmly in-place at all times.
what type of illegal business models does valve have?  |
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MattG
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« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2011, 01:43:06 PM » |
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if you light your business plan on fire the ashes will be more accurate than the text that once was written on the paper IMO Speak for your own business plan, not mine. the *only* reason to write a business plan imo is if you are seeking funding or a loan of some kind. I'm applying for a seed fund. But, I think if you extrapolate their importance to banks, VC, fund mngrs, etc.,... you can begin to see how they might be of value regardless of whether or not you're seeking funding. Those that didn't really think about money and just made things that are good were more successful. This is also Valve's policy, they look at business models after they've made the game. "Good" and "successful" here are vague and subjective. I can tell you after many years in the modding community, those who weren't motivated by money innovated less than the marketplace ( http://www.moddb.com/members/mikejkelley/blogs/moty-2008-the-abridged-version). Modders overwhelmingly created copyright rip-offs of existing games. Now that there's a clearer path to commercialization, that trend is down. I assure you that Valve is profit-driven and have their business models (some of which are none-too legal) firmly in-place at all times. Given people's aversion to having a plan for their business, I think we'll be seeing more and more "Quitting game development" threads. I have never seen a business plan where reality followed the plan. Having a plan is smart. Accurately predicting your numbers isnt possible for the largest banks on earth with thousands of accountants. Please post your bplan targets for one year so we can have a good laugh in a year |
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2011, 02:03:32 PM » |
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what type of illegal business models does valve have? Shocked IMHO, they have an un-written vicarious copyright infringement model (not as bad as Desura/moddb.com's of course). Their sales are driven, in-part, by the replay-ability of their games as mods. Many of these mods are copyright infringing. So the model goes smthg like this; buy HL2 *and get several dozen Star Wars/Trek/Gate mods for one low price* = more sales. This is in stark contrast to Epic's model, whose "Make Something Unreal Contest" actively encourages and monetarily rewards modders for creating original IP. Vicarious copyright infringement in the video game industry IS smthg that's been successfully "litigated." Please post your bplan targets for one year so we can have a good laugh in a year What's rly laughable is that you think I would post confidential trade secrets in a public forum. Which, btw, might constitute an offer of sale/public offering and result in the SEC litigating my business out of existence. Savvy? |
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Eponasoft
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« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2011, 02:17:13 PM » |
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Business plans are just that... plans. They're not written in stone. Things change. And that's how you survive... by adapting to the changes. Business plans can be very useful... as long as you don't try to use it as an absolute guide.
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Eponasoft develops commercial PC Engine games.
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2011, 03:36:24 PM » |
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2011, 06:38:43 PM » |
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Gabe Newell; "We don’t understand what’s going on." Lol, I guess I'm in good company! Excellent article, thanks once again. More than enough numbers to point to. |
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mikejkelley
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« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2012, 12:11:15 PM » |
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A lot of times ppl won't or are contractually prohibited from discussing what kind of cuts they give to portals and outlets, etc., here are some rough figures I've come across, feel free to add/correct me. Some of these may be out of date.
Apple Store: 30%
Amazon's Android Mkt: 30%
Desura: 30%
XBLA: Sets price, 30%?
Kickstarter: 5%
Amazon payments: 3-5%
openFeint OFX (DLC): 15%
Direct Sales (from you site, not incld. up front costs): 9%
Usually these stores waive their account fees for the first year.
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« Last Edit: June 20, 2012, 10:29:52 AM by mikejkelley »
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Developer
