next »

[Klaim]

Imagine: Fashion Designer (2007)

I've worked on this one!

By the way, those games are made by little companies that are not related and sometimes (like for this one) don't start as an Imagine game but get rebranded by the editor. This one isn't even called that in France...

[hanako]

Imagine: Fashion Designer (2007)

I've worked on this one!

By the way, those games are made by little companies that are not related and sometimes (like for this one) don't start as an Imagine game but get rebranded by the editor. This one isn't even called that in France...

And the one that I have played had nothing to do with Ubisoft originally. It's not part of their line in its country of origin, they just got the English license.

Last I looked into it, there was at least one specifically inhouse developer making some of the Imagine games (which as best as I could tell were some of the worst received) but others were coming from all over the place. Not that this was particularly easy for a user to figure out! Pretty much nobody reviews those games that I can see, making it hard to know which ones are acceptable for their intended purpose, and which ones should have been drowned at birth.

I do not doubt the assessment of how terrible the development process was for some of them.

[SaturnineGames]

Last I looked into it, there was at least one specifically inhouse developer making some of the Imagine games (which as best as I could tell were some of the worst received) but others were coming from all over the place. Not that this was particularly easy for a user to figure out! Pretty much nobody reviews those games that I can see, making it hard to know which ones are acceptable for their intended purpose, and which ones should have been drowned at birth.

I wasn't aware that Ubisoft made any Imagine games inhouse. The impression I had was they did the AAA games in house and outsourced the lower end stuff. I know Petz, Imagine, Ener-G, and My Coach were almost all done by 3rd party developers.

I know Petz and Ener-G were higher budget product lines. The games created from scratch for the Imagine line were ultra low budget. I'm not sure that Ubisoft had a clear vision for the My Coach line. Ener-G was very short lived though, as the first round of titles weren't received well. The ones still in development got rebranded as Imagine games.

[Klaim]

To get back on the Steam subject, here are the feedback from Team Meat :

How To Get Your Game On Steam

McMillen: If you can get a lot of attention, and get people to care about your game, try to do interviews, show what your game's about. And if Steam keep saying no, then just release it, and then if it does really well, then show Steam.

I think Steam is getting more accepting of indie games because they're doing really well with indie games. Indie games are doing really fantastic on Steam.

So yeah, persistence... make the best game you can, and talk about your game.

Refenes: And also when talking to Steam, listen to them when it comes to price. Because they really know what they're talking about. Use them as a resource, and talk to them.

McMillen: But don't give up too -- that's like a big thing. We used to hear of a lot of people saying "I emailed Steam and they didn't get back to me", and then they just fucking give up. If we gave up, we wouldn't be on anything. We had to fucking fight. You have to fight for these things.

I would say persistence and drive are the two most crucial things about being a successful indie developer.

Source : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37028/

[Masakari]

Interesting read, this thread. I have read articles about getting on Steam before, but I didn't know it was this "obscure" or "difficult", for lack of a better work. I always thought they were pretty friendly to indies and indie games.

What has always bothered me a bit is the criteria through which they accept titles, there are a few out there which surprise me as either having been accepted (Defy Gravity for example, and no disrespect towards the game, I like it and bought it), or not being on the service due to rejection/lack of interest (Gemini Rue for example).

[Hangedman]

They are just a bunch of people.
Sometimes they go by metrics as to which game types they should go for, and sometimes they go by what they think at the time, most likely.
Getting on Steam is just a matter of visibility and viability, and a bit of luck (sometimes it's just the right time) and persistence (for when it's not just the right time). Making noise is all-round important.
But it's slowly getting easier, as they've seen the commercial viability of indie games they took chances on before.

[MattG]

fuck steam. steam is so 2008

[Masakari]

fuck steam. steam is so 2008

Go tell that to all the "OMG If a game isn't on Steam, I'm not buying it! BF3 sucks EA sucks blah blah" whiners.

[Schwiggy]

Generally it's easier to sell to someone that has already given their credit card information than to ask for it to complete the purchase. And steam is frankly the best of these platforms for games, even now.

After reading this I'm more interested in how easy it is to get on other big portals like Big Fish, Desura, or Gamersgate- and once you're there how you actually get noticed..

[MattG]

fuck steam. steam is so 2008

Go tell that to all the "OMG If a game isn't on Steam, I'm not buying it! BF3 sucks EA sucks blah blah" whiners.

LOL real people dont post shit like that, only men with breasts or those who worship men with breasts

[TeeGee]

Generally it's easier to sell to someone that has already given their credit card information than to ask for it to complete the purchase. And steam is frankly the best of these platforms for games, even now.

After reading this I'm more interested in how easy it is to get on other big portals like Big Fish, Desura, or Gamersgate- and once you're there how you actually get noticed..

Desura is easy to get into, but it's nowhere near Steam sales-wise. BigFish can be very profitable and not too hard to get onto, but works only for casual games (only one kind of them at this point), and only if your game can get to the top-10. Also, Big Fish's revenue share is pretty much the opposite of Steam's.

[Craig Stern]

Also, Big Fish's revenue share is pretty much the opposite of Steam's.

They take 70%?

[TeeGee]

Yeah, around that. Specific numbers may vary depending on the agreement. And yup --  .

[moi]

People should stop bending over for gatekeepers and create their own businesses by selling direct and going after the customers.
Yeah it's more difficult and a full time job, but I feel that the horizon is starting to become clouded for all the people who want to mak gam but no sell

[Christian Knudsen]

create their own businesses by selling themselves

So, prostitution?

[moi]

"selling direct" if you prefer

[Christian Knudsen]

Nah, I prefer prostitution.

[ANtY]

Also, Big Fish's revenue share is pretty much the opposite of Steam's.

They take 70%?

20-45% from what I read.

@Christian: 

[TeeGee]

No, they take around 70%. Depends on exclusivity and your relationship with them, but not too much.

[hanako]

Also, Big Fish's revenue share is pretty much the opposite of Steam's.

They take 70%?

20-45% from what I read.

@Christian: 

I suspect you misread - 20-45% is more what the developer gets from BFG.