next »

[Armitage1982]

Hi

I would like to ask you some advises on dealing with a Distributor (not a publisher).
I looked at the How to Start an Indie Game Business and some other threads but couldn't find any relevant information on this.

• 1. What ratio of the net receipts is commonly asked for both novice and professional?
• 2. Does Distributors pay royalties?
• 3. If YES, I guess we should deal with both separately? (meaning royalties are not included in the net receipts, acting as a regular income)
• 4. Does Distributors asking a disadvantageous big ratio AND the exclusivity (except for your website) is still fair even if it's a big company?
• 5. Any advises I should be aware of before signing anything?

Thanks for your help.
I may be okay in making games but don't know much about distribution

[GeoffW]

Is this a core or casual game?  What platform is it on?  Are you talking about a physical or downloadable product?

[Armitage1982]

Downloadable product.
Action Indie Game, not so Casual and not Core either.
Windows, MacOs, Linux supported.

[Christian Knudsen]

I'm curious, why do you need a distributor for a downloadable product?

[GeoffW]

OK, I'm a little bit unclear what you mean by 'distributor' as opposed to 'publisher' (the two terms are pretty muddled to me), but here goes...

I've heard that Steam offer royalties of around 60-70% on profits (after deductions for returns, taxes etc).  My experiences with other sites are roughly in line with that, though I think a few indie focused sites do offer a little bit more (and casual portals generally offer much less!)

As for exclusivity, I would not sign an exclusive deal with anyone except Steam because they're your largest potential distributor and they often pick up games that are doing well on other sites.  Steam don't offer exclusive deals, so basically, I'd say no to an exclusive offer unless maybe it was for a very short time span (a month at most).

[Armitage1982]

Thanks for the tips.
I feel a bit the same about the exclusivity clauses.

@Christian
It's not really that I absolutely need a distributor (I already have my own store and partners) but one came to me with an offer and I like to study any opportunities. I also prefer working on making games & updates rather than spending time on Marketing. That's pretty much all the reasons

[Christian Knudsen]

Ah, yeah I suppose it can make sense for marketing. Thanks for the answer.