Hi Philip, While I think that is a good idea I think charging a single license for say $150 is too low considering the market potential for a reasonable accessible game the commercial developer will make far more off that single title than the actual cost of the single license. Back when Montezuma's Revenge was in preorder status, before it became Mysteries of the Ancients, I grossed roughly $1,500 in sales and James North had grossed something like $2,000 off that title. Altogether, that's roughly $3,500 in preorder sales alone. When Mysteries of the Ancients eventually reaches a stable release I expect to make more in sales off the game. So with that in mind $150 is getting off pretty cheap all things considered. Anyway, what I think you might want to do is some sort of payment plan where by someone can buy the unlimited license version but do it on a monthly basis. Maybe do it in monthly installments of $100 over say an 8 month period. That way in half a year someone on a fixed income could feasably afford the unlimited license and still not have to pay $800 up front. Come to think of it there is another posibility I just thought of. With FMOD they have a limited sshareware license for $150. You can sell a few thousand copies of a single title using the FMOD API but it can't be any more than $10 or something like that. It is kind of a nice way to allow a game developer to test the market potential of a title without the FMOD developers under charging the game developer for the use of their API. Perhaps you could think of something similar for BGT. The beauty of this type of licence, from a strictly business point of view, is a game developer can make a couple of thousand or so off his her games, but only pay out $150 for a limited distribution licence. However, if they want to charge $30 and have unlimited sales then they have to purchase the Pro or Enterprise version of the software.
Cheers! On 7/1/10, Philip Bennefall <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi folks, > > I have been doing some thinking regarding the pro version of BGT. While an > unlimited distribution license obviously offers the greatest flexibility and > freedom, as has been discussed previously the price tag is way too high for > many when paying up front. So I've thought of another method. What are your > opinions of a single product license, which would allow you to make and sell > as many copies as you could manage, of one single game? This license would > be somewhere around the $150 mark, and would let you sort of test the waters > commercially. If that first game sold well, you could then get pro at a > later date or get another single product license for the next title as well > if prefered, etc. > > I'd be greatful for any feedback on this. > > Kind regards, > > Philip Bennefall > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
