CRUMB
CRUMB 2.0 as a new product?
Background: The developer posted news about update 2.0 and stated that it will become a new product at a price of $20 and $11 for old players. The news has been deleted later, so you can't see it now.
I still have screenshots in case I need them.
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Well, this is just great. Another developer made the free update, which was delayed over one year, into a new product and charged old players double.

Did you notice that your old product only received "very countable updates" in a "very countable period of time"?

After silence for more than a whole year (13 months precise), the very next actual news we hear about the "new update" is that you are making it into a new product and charging us more than the old product's full price even after your so-called "large" loyalty discount.

I understand that you want to make money, but not in this way. You can raise the product price if you are confident about the new update and even publish parts DLC at some stage. Many other games have done that for sustainable development, there is no reason you can't do the same.

I'll say that me and many others really really hate the whole "Guess what? The new update becomes a new product, and I'm gonna charge you twice" drama.

I hope this situation can be improved.
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
mike.bushell  [developer] Jan 3, 2024 @ 5:28am 
I have listened and I shall have a strong rethink on my plans.

Thank you for the feedback

Unfortunately 6 months have been wasted due to illness and I can only apologise
Mittens Jan 5, 2024 @ 1:49am 
Originally posted by George C. Barnes:
I understand that you want to make money, but not in this way.

I agree that it's a bad idea but mostly because it's PR suicide and will alienate customers, not because I think that it SHOULD be wrong to ask for new money for new work.

I think I know the developer's PoV, since I was a Steam developer once.
When the initial sales money runs out (but you're still working on updates), you're working at a loss from that point on. So you need to somehow get people to pay you for that work.

The tricky part is remembering that people today expect all games to be 'games as a service'
You don't put out a string of sequels, like in the good old days, you only build up the initial title forever.

This makes it really hard for developers to make sure their effort gets rewarded with new revenue.
Mike can't easily do the socially acceptable monetization of releasing Crumb 2.0 with a $10 Battlepass that adds rainbow paint to your Arduino nano's and puts fire particles on your oscilloscope display.

If the game is a significant refactoring of the base game, then you have to either have it all or none of it, which is the kind of changes that would usually deserve to be called a sequel
Last edited by Mittens; Jan 5, 2024 @ 1:53am
Chris Jan 5, 2024 @ 3:10pm 
To be fair, we're not talking about a $60+ title here. I certainly got my money's worth with Crumb and then some. I mean seriously, it's what, $10? Expecting a large scale update which has been over a year in development at that price point is just crazy talk.

It seems like the dev has been getting some heat recently, which IMO is totally undeserved for what amounts to a decision which as he stated has not even been made yet. Keep in mind this is a solo project which targets a very niche market and has no real competition. To even have as good a product as we do now at the current price is nothing short of amazing.

I for one would not be opposed to any large scale updates being released as new titles or DLC. Particularly if that helps get the ball rolling on getting the next version released. Even if it comes at an additional $20-30 I think that's still tremendous value compared to what has become the norm for games released in the last few years. In particular the addition of custom components neatly solves what is the current game's only real shortcoming of a somewhat small parts list. Yes, there are some nitpicks with the UI to be certain, and some usability tweaks would be most welcome; but at the end of the day the components list is the only real thing holding back the possibilities of what can be built.
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