According to indie developer Jake Birkett, the man behind Grey Alien Games, the average good indie game barely reaches $25,000 in the first year of sale. Indeed, unlike big names, indie games have a hard time generating a positive income. When you take into account the dev expenses and marketing strategies, it’s easy to see that the average indie game doesn’t manage to recoup its costs within the first year.
However, it doesn’t mean that there is no money in the indie game market. There is a lot of potential in growing your game business, as long as you understand that there is very little chance of an overnight success. As such, the indie game industry is all about longevity and reaching out to the masses. Indeed, making money with a budgeted game – indie games are considerably more affordable than big names – needs strategic planning. As some game developers put it, the money is enough to live on. But it’s not always enough to get medical insurance. Others rely on grants and supportive followers to make a living. And a lucky few can make it work sustainably. So if you are looking into the indie gaming industry, here is how the guys make their money.
They look for payable add-ons
Indie games tend to run with a low price tag to appeal to a broad audience. With some games starting from $5, it’s hard to imagine how developers can make it work. The reason low-cost is an excellent strategy for some development studios is because they include chargeable add-ons into the game. For smartphone games, for instance, players can buy extra equipment or lives to carry on the game, rather than wait for your character’s assets to regenerate. Onstream or gaming consoles, games are sometimes divided into chapters. Players pay for a chapter at a time, which means that in the long run, the whole game can cost as much as a big brand’s game. But this approach allows developers to spread the content produced over a period of time, rather than release everything in one day. The current payment strategy is to charge it on your mobile contract for console games, through your credit card on smartphones, consoles, and streaming, or to use Paypal. However, this can expose players to hacking vulnerabilities, which is why many indie developers are looking forward to the addition of cryptocurrency payment in the future. Chain block technology could provide higher security and fast-paced payments, which could encourage more players.
They create external content
You can merchandize your game idea outside of a gaming platform. Creative developers can diversify their activities to boost their income. For instance, just as you can find superhero-inspired workout plans, the audience could also enjoy similar products for their favorite game characters. Indie games can promote cooking books inspired by the region in which their game is set. They can create a fitness plan for each of their characters. There is a lot of content that you can develop to promote your game.
