M.4 Week 2: Creating a Viable Game Product

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Creating a Viable Game Product

  1. Estimate revenues of competitor games.
  2. Identify unmet market needs.
  3. Produce a Lean Canvas for a games business.
  4. Optimise a game’s sale price.


Week 2: Spark Forum

Failed Release

Game:  My first published indie-game. (I prefer not to be exposed.)

Developer: Me and my friend.

Sales: 6687 Sales, 32 Refunds

Lifetime itch.io Revenue (gross): $37270 + £82395

Expectations

  • 100,000 sales

What Actually Happened (on itch.io)

  • 6687 sales
  • 32 refunds
  • 748 reviews

What they did right

  • Successful Kickstarter in 2021. £16811
  • Successful ZecZec in 2021. $32954
  • Successful Patreon founding 2021 $33251

What they did wrong

  • Argued with Steam's testing team and was eventually kicked off Steam permanently.
  • The price is not cheap.

What Would They Do In Hindsight?

  • Do nothing, say goodbye to Steam.

 

Successful Release

Game: Dream Daddy

Developers: Game Grumps

Steam Reviews: 4879

Sales: might be 97,580 units sold

(In the Taiwanese gaming industry, there is a formula for estimating Steam game sales, which involves multiplying the number of reviews by 20.)

Lifetime Steam Revenue (gross): could be at least $833,000

What they did right

  • Successful launch on Steam
  • Excellent game content
  • Attractive character art for target audience
  • Excellent story and plot
  • Effective marketing and promotion (the game developer itself runs a highly subscribed Youtube channel).
  • Cheap sale price.

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