5 ms·

I'm a developer who sells on Steam. With a 12% commission instead of 30%, my actual profits would be about 50% higher and I would invest more money into post-re

I'm a developer who sells on Steam. With a 12% commission instead of 30%, my actual profits would be about 50% higher and I would invest more money into post-release updates and support, and pay my staff bonuses. People are generally supportive of gamedev workers getting better deals and paid more - let me tell you the quickest way that could happen is if all these platform commissions were lowered.

screpy 6y ago
Yes, but unfortunately there is no power to control the commissions of all these platforms yet.
je42 6y ago
If you sell on steam you could also, not sell there and sell directly to you customers, right ? Could you host your own webstore and implement a cheap key system. That way you need to a lot less for the transactions.
- ArkVark 6y ago
  There are many things you can do like that - that basically just represent increased overhead and non-game activities. If you follow all of that logically enough - you start to wonder, why even work in game development? Indie development right now is basically a mirage, because the only people making sustainably good profits are those with access to lower commissions by owning their own platforms or by getting better deals from platform owners due to their size. There is a huge survivor bias. I am only still operational because I am in Ukraine. It would be impossible in a 1st world country.
  - je42 6y ago
    True, but then steam does provide value to you. I would assume a revenue share of 30% is acceptable albeit painful in your case, since otherwise you wouldn't do it.
  - solipsism 6y ago
    > the only people making sustainably good profits are those with access to lower commissions by owning their own platforms What are some examples of this? What do you mean by "platform"?
    - ArkVark 6y ago
      Ubisoft - Blizzard - Valve - CDPR - Microsoft - Sony - EA - Paradox All publish their own games and either own their own platforms or are big enough to negotiate lower commissions from other platforms.

screpy 6y ago

Yes, but unfortunately there is no power to control the commissions of all these platforms yet.

je42 6y ago

If you sell on steam you could also, not sell there and sell directly to you customers, right ? Could you host your own webstore and implement a cheap key system. That way you need to a lot less for the transactions.

ArkVark 6y ago
There are many things you can do like that - that basically just represent increased overhead and non-game activities. If you follow all of that logically enough - you start to wonder, why even work in game development? Indie development right now is basically a mirage, because the only people making sustainably good profits are those with access to lower commissions by owning their own platforms or by getting better deals from platform owners due to their size. There is a huge survivor bias. I am only still operational because I am in Ukraine. It would be impossible in a 1st world country.
- je42 6y ago
  True, but then steam does provide value to you. I would assume a revenue share of 30% is acceptable albeit painful in your case, since otherwise you wouldn't do it.
- solipsism 6y ago
  > the only people making sustainably good profits are those with access to lower commissions by owning their own platforms What are some examples of this? What do you mean by "platform"?
  - ArkVark 6y ago
    Ubisoft - Blizzard - Valve - CDPR - Microsoft - Sony - EA - Paradox All publish their own games and either own their own platforms or are big enough to negotiate lower commissions from other platforms.