next »

[increpare]

So I want to sell a game.  What things might bite me in the ass?

Things I can think of:

Taxes.
If I sell using paypal, or google checkout, or the like, I have to do VAT calculations myself I think, on a per-country basis.

Upgrading.
Distributing upgrades can be annoying, especially if you have drm.  Letting the right people know that an upgrade is available can be important.  If the game's essentially non-replayable, notifying everyone who's ever bought the game might seem a bit futile (unless more content is added).

Support/bugfixing
This is fine, and expected.  Giving people an easy way to report bugs is important though.  With the App Store, people seem to only communicate using reviews, if at all which is rather scary.  With Steam, on the other hand, there are forums, which makes direct communication a lot easier.  Having dedicated forums on your website is also smart for certain sorts of games.

Re-downloading
I've heard of people who still get requests for download links for Fastspring-sold games, years after purchase, because that website doesn't handle it automatically.  This is obviously a hassle, given that one things it should be easy enough to automate.

Sending out copies to reviewers
Can't forget to do this!

How many portals to upload it to?
There are so many, each takes a bit of work, and then what do you do with upgrades on each one?  Can see it getting very messy.

I'd be interested in hearing from people who've sold stuff, comments on the above, or other things I'm missing out on...

[vdek]

You can always use a merchant account that will handle VAT for you.  Doing it yourself and keeping track of all the countries sounds like its going to be a major pain.  Something like Plimus or the like.

[Fallsburg]

Re: Upgrading: I think the best option (for the user) would be to have the game check for updates when they load it up.  They can then choose to update or not (or do it seamlessly, without them realizing if possible).  That way you wouldn't have to worry about notifying everyone, you would just notify those people who were still playing your game.

[larsiusprime]

Definitely use a payment provider (FastSpring/BMT Micro) instead of something like paypal/google checkout - the % charge is slightly higher but you get much better customer service, and someone who can help you out with problems, and auto-handle hassle like currencies / tax, etc.

As for upgrading, the best sure-fire way is to build that right into your game and have it dial a server or something. Less elegant solutions include popping in a timer that expires and prompts the user to visit your website. Super cheap-o solution is just to put a link to your website in the game so users actively searching for an update can find one.

Support:
Why not include something in your game like "Report bug!" that sends you an e-mail or something?

Portals / Reviewers:
Keep a big spread-sheet 

[increpare]

Something like Plimus or the like.

People on tigsource like saying "don't use plimus they have very poor support". 

Definitely use a payment provider (FastSpring/BMT Micro) instead of something like paypal/google checkout - the % charge is slightly higher

Quite a lot higher - 3-ish% vs 8-ish%.  But yeah, looking like it's worth it.

I've sent off a request to fastspring to set up an account with some queries (on the download link expiry thing mainly).

As for upgrading, the best sure-fire way is to build that right into your game and have it dial a server or something. Less elegant solutions include popping in a timer that expires and prompts the user to visit your website. Super cheap-o solution is just to put a link to your website in the game so users actively searching for an update can find one.

Another sure-fire way is to make it only available on things like steam/app store/&c..   I think I'll be okay with email notifications letting people know to upgrade.

Why not include something in your game like "Report bug!" that sends you an e-mail or something?

Increased engineering complexity.  I want the game to be a game, I'd rather not have to make it a download client, or an email client, or all this other stuff.

[CowBoyDan]

My approach will (soon) be offer download on my site, download functions as the demo until license is purchased from fastspring and pasted into the game.

For updates, I might do a simple call home and check current version from a static web page, notify player that a new version is available.

You could create a website for the game,

^ This should be a must.  My local chinese place has a web site, I don't think I'd buy a game from someone who didn't have one.