Comments on: (Indie) Business is Business http://orangeriverstudio.com/monksbrew/2009/02/indie-business-is-business/ Anecdotes on the adventure of indie game development Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:35:01 +0000 hourly 1 By: Rubes http://orangeriverstudio.com/monksbrew/2009/02/indie-business-is-business/comment-page-1/#comment-205 Rubes Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:57:00 +0000 http://orangeriverstudio.com/monksbrew/?p=92#comment-205 That sounds like a pretty good summary, or at least a fair estimate. So in that sense, 1500 unit sales would amount to somewhere around 150,000 visitors, which can certainly be a lot.<br/><br/>Coyote also pointed out that portals like BFG also take a pretty hefty cut of the sales, such that you would need plenty more than 1500 unit sales to break even. That sounds like a pretty good summary, or at least a fair estimate. So in that sense, 1500 unit sales would amount to somewhere around 150,000 visitors, which can certainly be a lot.

Coyote also pointed out that portals like BFG also take a pretty hefty cut of the sales, such that you would need plenty more than 1500 unit sales to break even.

]]> By: Mike Rozak http://orangeriverstudio.com/monksbrew/2009/02/indie-business-is-business/comment-page-1/#comment-204 Mike Rozak Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:19:00 +0000 http://orangeriverstudio.com/monksbrew/?p=92#comment-204 The usual estimate is that 1% of all downloads results in a sale.<br/><br/>I've been watching the numbers, and looking at my own unfinished game (with no sales), and come up with the following rough guestimate:<br/><br/>- About 10% of the people that visit my web site (and watch the videos) download my game.<br/><br/>- Only about 10% of them play for any amount of time. (Which tells me that my game isn't good enough yet.)<br/><br/>- From Runescape's numbers, only about 10% of the people that play for any amount of time will actually pay.<br/><br/>So, as a rough guestimate, you need 1000 people to visit your site for every paying customers.<br/><br/>IF you manage to develop a really good game, you might get 20% numbers at each stage (instead of 10%), and only need 125 visits per paying customer.<br/><br/>This 125:1 ratio is low enough that recommendations will create a positive-feedback recommend-to-friends cycle. At 1000:1, recommend-to-friends is insignificant, and you have to spend so much in advertising that it costs more to acquire a customer than they pay back. The usual estimate is that 1% of all downloads results in a sale.

I’ve been watching the numbers, and looking at my own unfinished game (with no sales), and come up with the following rough guestimate:

- About 10% of the people that visit my web site (and watch the videos) download my game.

- Only about 10% of them play for any amount of time. (Which tells me that my game isn’t good enough yet.)

- From Runescape’s numbers, only about 10% of the people that play for any amount of time will actually pay.

So, as a rough guestimate, you need 1000 people to visit your site for every paying customers.

IF you manage to develop a really good game, you might get 20% numbers at each stage (instead of 10%), and only need 125 visits per paying customer.

This 125:1 ratio is low enough that recommendations will create a positive-feedback recommend-to-friends cycle. At 1000:1, recommend-to-friends is insignificant, and you have to spend so much in advertising that it costs more to acquire a customer than they pay back.

]]>