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[Ramos]

Does it all make Shardpunk a nice source of passive income for (hopefully) the few next years? Yes.

I am happy to hear this Bryku, Shardpunk is a good game so it will have a long tail as long as the discount strategy is made smart.
May I ask how many units you sold in the first month and how many WL you had before release?

Does it mean that I can focus on working on another game? Not really.

I am really sorry to hear this ...

Shardpunk did break even recently. However, I assume the amount of money that I will be getting from it won't be enough for me to start working on another game full-time - so it is time to start over. I will be slowly working on the next game in my free time while having a steady source of income from a day job. Maybe in the future, I will be able to find a publisher/investor who will be willing to work with me on my second game - or I will release it myself, even if it takes a long time.

A tip for indie devs that rely on external funding when creating your game: remember that it will probably take months until the game costs get recouped and you will see some money, and build your plans with that in mind. Surely, it might be that you will hit the jackpot and your game will earn you lots of $$$ in the first month, but that does not happen very often.

If I could do one thing differently, I would consider going back to a day job/finding another source of income faster than I did - even if the development time of the post-launch content would take longer. A man has a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, so yeah; do not hope that you will strike the next publishing deal immediately after you release your game.

Yes Bryku, I was very aware of this, I spent like 10 years working with publishers + self-publish until I managed to quit my job and go full-time, and even now things can go insane very fast.
This is how I see it if you want max stability in this industry:
A. make 1 HIT VIRAL game
B. make 10 good games
C. make 1000 decent/bad games

Anyhow, I was close to working with RetroVibe as well but I placed my money in the long run so I invested all in personal branding and I have 0 regrets.
I am not rich but I have a bit of stability now and a perspective for the future.

All that being said, working on Shardpunk was a blast. I can see that I can create a game that the players enjoy, and I do want to keep doing it.

Take care everyone! Good luck in your gamedev journey!

Yes, that's what matters the most, the joy in the art of creation, everything else is a bonus.

Do you have a concept for your next project ?

Also if you ever want to chat about it you can always find me on Discord

[Alain]

Thank you for sharing your summary! Shardpunk was a huge success in my eyes and even if you can't continue with another title full time right away, I am sure your next game will do even better!

[bryku]

I am happy to hear this Bryku, Shardpunk is a good game so it will have a long tail as long as the discount strategy is made smart.

Yeah, we do count on the long tail. I don't know how much the game will still make in the next, say, 5 years, but I know that I should have a source of income from it for that whole time.

May I ask how many units you sold in the first month and how many WL you had before release?

Nearly 27k wishlists upon going live, currently it sits on around 70k.

I'm not sure I can disclose sales numbers, but after 30 days the sales recouped around 75% of the total costs.

Yes Bryku, I was very aware of this, I spent like 10 years working with publishers + self-publish until I managed to quit my job and go full-time, and even now things can go insane very fast.
This is how I see it if you want max stability in this industry:
A. make 1 HIT VIRAL game
B. make 10 good games
C. make 1000 decent/bad games

Yeah, it is all about being consistent and producing more products, I guess. After some time the sales will stack up and increase the income.

Still, gamedev is a crazy market. And I'm not talking about direct competition, but the sole fact that one can never be sure whether your game will be well received at the start and gain proper attention. Of course, you can do a number of things to reduce the risk of being ignored on release day, but still.

Then, maybe that is true for any market type in which you are trying to introduce a new product.

Yes, that's what matters the most, the joy in the art of creation, everything else is a bonus.

Indeed. The sole fact that I was able to release a game, and many people all over the world are enjoying it is totally awesome.

Do you have a concept for your next project ?

I do have a few. Probably it would be a sequel to Shardpunk, or at least another turn-based title.

[bryku]

Thank you for sharing your summary! Shardpunk was a huge success in my eyes and even if you can't continue with another title full time right away, I am sure your next game will do even better!

Thanks! Yup, it definitely will