08-16-2012, 03:32 AM
Hey Amplified, thanks for the kind words.
I tried that in the past years ago. I always broke even or lost money. Advertising is quite expensive, and while it was hard to guage just how many additional sales an advertising campaign brought in, it never seemed to bring in much, and breaking even was the best it ever did (i.e. if I spent $300 on banner ads at Inside Mac Games, I'd get, tops, $300 additional sales.) That means $0 profit, and yet more customers to support. Not good.
I'd tried advertising at download.com (pay-per-click), Google, and Tidbits in addition to InsideMacGames. Other game developers will tell you a similar story. Only if a game is *really* good, and would get tons of sales anyway, does advertising pay off. (i.e. Angry Birds, or Brian Greenstone's games, etc.)
That was my intent when I ported Midnight Mansion HD to Windows. Because they won't accept any games that are Mac-only. So I ported it. And then submitted it. It was flatly rejected, along with
As you can imagine, I was disappointed. I've sold probably less than 100 copies of Midnight Mansion HD for Windows. With Steam distribution, I'm sure I would've done much better. So it was quite disappointing that they rejected it, despite the fact that they carry lots of indy titles. Very odd and frustrating. Yet it was mounting frustrations like this that helped me realize I need to get a day job. You just can't sustain a business when the doors keep getting closed in you face. (BigFishGames also rejected the game several years ago.)
The odd thing is Steam *did* accept Insectoid a few years ago. But it sold so badly in the first place that I never went through the additional work to get it onto Steam.
-Vern
465458465E5059415A5B350 wrote: I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Vern. I just wonder if- Maybe after raising a little extra money- if you might consider investing in advertisement for the games you've made. They're all fantastic- Well programmed, very aesthetic, and fun to play. I think if you just got it out there, you'd start to really see some good income. Granted, I'm not sure how you'd get it out there, but I'd really love to see your games flourish as I think they should be.
I tried that in the past years ago. I always broke even or lost money. Advertising is quite expensive, and while it was hard to guage just how many additional sales an advertising campaign brought in, it never seemed to bring in much, and breaking even was the best it ever did (i.e. if I spent $300 on banner ads at Inside Mac Games, I'd get, tops, $300 additional sales.) That means $0 profit, and yet more customers to support. Not good.
I'd tried advertising at download.com (pay-per-click), Google, and Tidbits in addition to InsideMacGames. Other game developers will tell you a similar story. Only if a game is *really* good, and would get tons of sales anyway, does advertising pay off. (i.e. Angry Birds, or Brian Greenstone's games, etc.)
465458465E5059415A5B350 wrote: I'm not sure how this works, exactly, but is there any way you could get your game on thatSteamprogram? That has all those video games you can buy? I think that would be another way to help get it noticed, I've noticed that becoming very popular with people who play video games on their computer.
That was my intent when I ported Midnight Mansion HD to Windows. Because they won't accept any games that are Mac-only. So I ported it. And then submitted it. It was flatly rejected, along with
Our policy is to not explain why a product was rejected.
As you can imagine, I was disappointed. I've sold probably less than 100 copies of Midnight Mansion HD for Windows. With Steam distribution, I'm sure I would've done much better. So it was quite disappointing that they rejected it, despite the fact that they carry lots of indy titles. Very odd and frustrating. Yet it was mounting frustrations like this that helped me realize I need to get a day job. You just can't sustain a business when the doors keep getting closed in you face. (BigFishGames also rejected the game several years ago.)
The odd thing is Steam *did* accept Insectoid a few years ago. But it sold so badly in the first place that I never went through the additional work to get it onto Steam.
-Vern