Selling Your Game?

Hi,

I was just thinking about the far off future and was curious as to how I am going to sell my game. When its done I do intend to sell it and when that happens I don't actually know where to sell it too. I know some people have their own websites but I don't know how to create my own website, so if someone could help me out please then I would be very grateful :)

Also when you sell your game, do you take the profits or do you have the profits go to charities?

When I sell my games all profits will be going to Alzheimer's charity.

Thanks.

Kindest regards,

Miffy6000.

What is this "profits" of which you speak? ;)

But seriously, that's a noble idea - just don't fall into the trap of assuming significant profits on the first try.

As far as how to sell the game - Steam seems a viable outlet, really. I mean, there are HOW many RPG Maker games on there by now? :)

Hey,

Thanks for your fast reply. Yeah I guess your right, Steam does have a heck of a lot of games on there now. Some of which are RPG games!

Thanks for your help A+++

:D

@Miffy:

A+++ reminds me of Ebay ;)

I think its good how you want proceeds to your game to go to charity, its always nice when somebody thinks like that :) ! Steams also a good place to go though. Just a suggestion, but maybe you should put your game on Humble Bundle? It's a game website where you buy games and your money goes to charity. I have bought games from there before :D

I can do websites, btw.

Regarding selling your game though, there are several outlets like Steam (as mentioned), Adorlea (dunno if I spelt that right) Games, and so on. As long as the contracts do not state exclusivity, you could also sell through your own website.

Advertising is a whole other matter though!

There is quite a bit of discussion about this in the Commercial Games section of the forum.  In particular, see this thread http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/3240-how-to-sell-your-game-boot-camp/ it's a guide to how to sell your game.

I agree with the posters above for a lot of things, but there some important tips that aren't mentioned yet.


If you're working on your first game project, then don't even try to sell it.


Any game that is intended for selling needs a minimum quality to get any sales, especially in the RPG-Maker-scene with its hundreds of free games (a lot of whose aren't even completed). To get that quality, you need experience not only in game making, but also in bughunting and storytelling. You will not have this experience on your first project, so consider that as a learning project - but don't abandon it, push it through including bughunting.


If you cannot bughunt and complete a game, then you won't have any chance of selling a game ever.


You might decide to put the game up for free and ask for a donation to charity after you completed it, but don't try to sell it. You need to know what you're doing before you can start planning for a commercial game.

Ah OK thank you ksjp17 and Adar. :)

Andar is right. It's a very good idea to learn the engine first and get a hang of game-making. You'll be surprised to see how each new project you make will be heaps better than your last. Whenever I look back at my previous projects, I see so many flaws and design decisions that could've been done better, which is a good sign, because if you can do that, it means you've gotten better.

As for selling, from what I read here on the forums, Steam is one of the harder places to get your game onto. You might want to develop a bit of reputation first and try some other outlets. Once things start looking up with those, then Steam is a good option to try as well. :)

@Matseb2611: Thanks a lot man, truly I am very grateful not only to you but everyone else who has helped me out :) . I'll see what I can do when it comes to me releasing my game. In the end I will probably end up creating my own website with Wordpress or something similar to that!

Thanks everyone!!! :D

I am able to make websites, I was actually thinking of offering my services as part of the community. Just let me know if you ever need help I currently only own one website(made by me) which is retaliationgaming.net it uses wordpress and phpb3 for forums. I can also code Html,CCS3 and some rubyrails. Just let me know if you ever want to go that route ^_^ Im sure we can make some sorta trade!

Hey there Commotion,

That all sounds fine to me. When the time comes for me to get a website I'll PM you, if your still available then of course :)

But for now my thoughts are all focused on tomorrow :|

See if you can find some friendly playtesters to run through your game.  You'll be amazed what bugs they find even if you think you've completely tested everything, just because they're going through the game very differently than you are.  Also you might learn a lot about what works and what doesn't.

And, Andar et al are right.  Your first game will be a great learning experience, but probably not a great game to play.  You'll really need to have a top notch story and game to sell anything.  I know some people have created their absolute best work, one they thought they could sell, then given it away for free to build a base of fans.    If their game was great, they'll get a lot of fans.  Of course, if it wasn't, they've just shot themselves in the foot.  But at the very least, you won't get as many harsh, negative comments on a free game. 

Their next game they charged for, but had some fans of their previous game as a potential customer base.

Looks like everything I can think of has been said already. I agree that keeping the game free and asking for donations would be wisest for now, since it is a first game. But hey, you never know

I like your plan for your revenue! :) I'll be keeping an eye out for your game!

I've moved this thread to Commercial Discussion. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.


We have a whole forum dedicated to getting your game released commercially. Take a look through and see how many of your questions it answers.

@jetpackgone:

Thank you. Hopefully I'll release my game soon, but before I even begin creating I am adding a very special feature/system/script to it!

Thanks for the support :)

@Shaz:

Thank you Shaz. I'll take a look through the forums in a bit. Thanks. :)

It's a minefield, but with enough determination you can make a name for yourself and learn how to market your games. Don't expect to make a living off your first release, unless it's YANTH calibre; concentrate on building some brand awareness. 

If you want to develop games but don't want to worry about running the business side of things, you can pitch your game to a 'proper' Publisher. I know some of them are willing to take on RM games; Steel & Steam use one.

On the other hand, I work with a couple of developers as a kind of Indie-Publisher. Feel free to give me a shout if you'd like to know more :)