Telepath Tactics - Brass Tacks and Sales Stats #2

[HiddenX]

Craig Stern with part #2 of his very interesting in depth-look in the finance-books:

[…]

Initial sales numbers

With that in mind, how is Telepath Tactics doing so far? Three months after release, I have sold approximately 3,000 copies total across all platforms, with gross sales revenue upwards of $36,660.

Net sales revenue, which accounts for the cut taken by the various distribution platforms, is a good deal lower than the gross–note that net is the amount I actually receive. Valve prohibits developers from disclosing data regarding sales made on Steam, so I cannot reveal my net revenue or otherwise break down my total sales by distribution channel. Ultimately, however, the breakdown doesn’t really matter for my purposes: regardless of what the distribution is, I (1) succeeded in fully recouping my out-of-pocket expenses, (2) made a small profit, and (3) failed to make enough money at launch to support myself making a game full-time over the next two years.

Is that good?

In a word: no. SteamSpy estimates that the average RPG on Steam alone has more than 10 times that number of owners. But more importantly, these sales numbers don’t meet my ultimate goal of allowing me to move into game development as a sustainable full-time job.

Someone unfamiliar with the games industry might think that $36,660 is pretty good for just the first three months of a game’s life span–and it would be, if I were a developer who was able to pump out games every 6 months, or even every year. But Telepath Tactics began development in 2009–$36,660 is not anything close to a sustainable amount of revenue for a game with such a lengthy development cycle.

And unfortunately, the fact that it’s only been 3 months since release isn’t a reason to expect much more in the way of sales revenue. Games mostly behave like movies opening in theaters, with launch week analogous to a movie’s opening weekend: traditionally, the bulk of a game’s profits are made at (and shortly after) launch, with a mere drip-feed of sales following from that point onward.

True to form, sales of Telepath Tactics have thus far followed this “L” trajectory. The vast majority of all money made by the game was made in its first week, before the game dropped too far off of Steam and GOG’s respective “new releases” charts for prospective buyers to easily find it. Telepath Tactics is now in what is traditionally referred to as “the long tail”–the flat, horizontal part of the “L.”

[…]

More information.

 

[HiddenX]

Here's link to part #1.

 

[gozioso]

I think that this game will get a nice revenue boost with a good discount during the Autumn/Winter sales.

 

[HiddenX]

The summer sale was too close to the initial release date for this game.

 

[Darkheart]

Wow, 3000 copies sold is not much. The game got good reviews iirc and I still intend to get it at some point. Sucks, that it didn't have more success.

 

[Unrestigered]

I think that this game will get a nice revenue boost with a good discount during the Autumn/Winter sales.

Or a discount during a release drought. Without like a 90% discount this game will probably be lost in the noise of a big steam-wide sale.

Also, I think PC gamers want something different than Fire Emblem and FFT. Having a game controlled character progression system is fine for consoles, but PC gamers want more meat and want to be able to have lots of choices. The more the better in a pc game. That's the carrot on the stick for pc gamers. Also, something to break up the linear gameplay like in xcom or JA. This game, to me, isn't an RPG, it is a strategy game.

It would probably do well if sold on the Wii store or DS store, since Fire Emblem seems to be a big deal on them. If I was trying to make money I'd go that route for a fire emblem/fft type game.

 

[mercy]

The hardest fact to acknowledge: the dream game that's in every indie developers mind and hopes and heart, the dream that "my game" will sell like Minecraft and THEN finally the developer can open a small studio and go full time.. the dream has been shattered by the sales figure fact. I'm dreading the same.

Its so easy to conjure up fantasies how great features "the game" will have and how beloved the dreamed up game will be. When it comes to actually create the first map filled with amazing destructible objects and art that everybody will praise, those fluffy dreams dissipate so fast, it seems the "dreamed up greatness" was never there.

 

[muhabor]

Almost all of the the negative reviews in steam have got valid points. The game was buggy, it took a long time to fix bugs, maps indeed take very long time to beat, without ability to save progress ( i am too old nowadays to sit all night like i did years ago)...It is a good game but it could be much better.

 

[lackblogger]

What made this game stand out from the crowd?

 

[forgottenlor]

I feel sorry for Craig, as he seems like a passionate RPG fan and developer. That said I didn't buy the game. I did take a chance on the Telepath RPG game, and while I liked some things about that game, some of its weaknesses, like long battles without saves and lack of character development as well as the huge number of good rpgs which have been recently released led me to spend my time and cash elsewhere.