Game revenue and slaging of the Dec's. .

[[PBS] epsilonion]

I see some posts and reviews on here that complaining about prices and alpha released games that need patching to the hills before it can be considered a release productl. .

Let's look at the revenue made from releasing a game on steam.

50% of sales go to steam. 30% not 50% my bad.

Then you pay US taxes on the sale through steam.

Then there's local country taxes taken off what's left for the developer country sale tax.

(This outlines what is taken from the revenue of every sale and does not take, add or otherwise tax from the sale.)

(Outsourcing distribution. You still have to pay local tax rates)

That leaves about 25% of the whole sale price that the developers actually receive and that from using steam as a platform to sell your product.

Bugs and more bugs..
The developers will have xx number of testers with different rigs, as people's computersj are different specs and software they have on them they can not release a product that will be bug free it is impossible to do it..

Then combine the revenue pipeline with development, getting only 25% of sales limits the amount of available cash for development and been a small dev company with a very specific market and community only gives xx amount of time before they have to commit the product to release before there very close to the bread line
This means that there will be bugs in nearly every game these days as costs increase and bank balances reduce.

It's the price of been a small indie developer these days and for us buying games.

The difference with this company is that they will patch the product and stand by it and it's community that is more than the AAA companies do...

Wrote this on my mobile and I hate predicted text lop

[Daaki]

I think the sales cut from steam is 30% not 50%

[salzlaender]

30% is steam.
And if they actually pay US sales tax its better than German one ;)

btw. you can bug the game on GOG or directly at egosoft.

[Shifter]

It was put on Steam for more profit. Without X4 on steam. Not as much profit. Simple as that.

[Daaki]

Originally posted by Shifter:

It was put on Steam for more profit. Without X4 on steam. Not as much profit. Simple as that.

Yep you get a lot more from putting it on any digital distribuition. Selling physical copies takes a lot bigger cut out of what you can get.

[Malkuth]

Sales tax is added to the product. Not taken away.

[Malkuth]

Originally posted by Daaki:

Originally posted by Shifter:

It was put on Steam for more profit. Without X4 on steam. Not as much profit. Simple as that.

Yep you get a lot more from putting it on any digital distribuition. Selling physical copies takes a lot bigger cut out of what you can get.

It was about the same if Steam takes 30%.

[[PBS] epsilonion]

Originally posted by Malkuth:

Originally posted by Daaki:

Yep you get a lot more from putting it on any digital distribuition. Selling physical copies takes a lot bigger cut out of what you can get.

It was about the same if Steam takes 30%.

And this is the purpose of the thread..

Limited budget. .. and you can not release a peffect game...

BTW you still have to pay local tax if you outsource the distribution...

[Robbo (AR)]

Originally posted by Malkuth:

Sales tax is added to the product. Not taken away.

[Daaki]

Originally posted by epsilonion:

Originally posted by Malkuth:

It was about the same if Steam takes 30%.

And this is the purpose of the thread..

Limited budget. ..
BTW you still have to pay local tax if you outsource the distribution...

Your calculation was off by a whole 20% or more, i am not clear on the sales tax.

There is already something if the devs need money and time to finish a game. Its called early access. It provides funds, testers that you do not even have to pay with nearly unlimited variations of rigs and so on.

[Valetudin Arian]

Calling it early access or alpha or beta would have curbed some of the vitriol. Pricing it accordingly would have helped too.

Why do fan boys always claim mere bugs as all there is to be annoyed by, and only a few bugs at that?

Dishonesty seems to come naturally to those of us who are more focussed on what may be rather than what is, probably because dishonesty is a natural by product of making up stories to fit the future you want.

[[PBS] epsilonion]

Yeah I may have gotten the steam rates wrong by 20% but the point remains it's still a massive cut from revenue.

Yes it may be added in this instance but the 1st post obviously states.
Steam takes some then the tax man takes some then local taxes takes some.

Tax was never subtracted from the 1st post above.

Also if it's a private limited compay they don't have to includeal tax in the prices but have to display it in the total before confirming the purchase.

But it does outline that a fraction of the revenue stream actually goes to the developer.

If it using a physical or digital product makes no difference at 30% just for distributing a game on a platformap.

I admit there is early access and this does not suit every business plan as you tend to release into a early access program at a reduced rate so the developers get less funds from the revenue pipeline and is not available as an option for some business model.

[Cassian]

Originally posted by epsilonion:

I see some posts and reviews on here that complaining about prices and alpha released games that need patching to the hills before it can be considered a release productl. .

Let's look at the revenue made from releasing a game on steam.

50% of sales go to steam.
Then you pay US taxes on the sale through steam.
Then there's local country taxes taken off what's left for the developer country sale tax.

That leaves about 25% of the whole sale price that the developers actually receive and that from using steam as a platform to sell your product.

Bugs and more bugs..
The developers will have xx number of testers with different rigs, as people's computersj are different specs and software they have on them they can not release a product that will be bug free it is impossible to do it..

Then combine the revenue pipeline with development, getting only 25% of sales limits the amount of available cash for development and been a small dev company with a very specific market and community only gives xx amount of time before they have to commit the product to release before there very close to the bread line
This means that there will be bugs in nearly every game these days as costs increase and bank balances reduce.

It's the price of been a small indie developer these days and for us buying games.

The difference with this company is that they will patch the product and stand by it and it's community that is more than the AAA companies do...

Wrote this on my mobile and I hate predicted text lop

FAKE NEWS!!!!

Steam takes 30% to start.
Sales tax is added when you buy it.

Also valve lowers the cut as sales hit 10mil then again at 50 mil.

Starting from October 1, 2018 (i.e. revenues prior to that date are not included), when a game makes over $10 million on Steam, the revenue share for that application will adjust to 75%/25% on earnings beyond $10M. At $50 million, the revenue share will adjust to 80%/20% on earnings beyond $50M. Revenue includes game packages, DLC, in-game sales, and Community Marketplace game fees.

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks#announcements/detail/1697191267930157838

[[PBS] epsilonion]

The other thing the 1st posts outlines is that the developers stand by there product and the products community as seen in previous releases and will endeavor to path the game until it's a game we can enjoy.

They also respect the game community and are aware that it will be heavily modded by the community so that it can be changed into a totally different game that at the choice of it users.

In my opinion I enjoyed x3 but didn't spend many hours in it.
X rebirth I played but couldn't get into but x4 I am enjoying..

There are many bugs but they are been quickly ironed out and very few of them are game breaking for me at least.

[[PBS] epsilonion]

Let's face it will this game ever make 10 mil..

Very bespoke game and market

[IronHack]

Epsilonion I think you really should do a bit of research before posting... Because pulling out random numbers like that only makes you look like a fool and hurts the point you are trying to make. Egosoft has been around since 1988 and has released a number of games before the last two flops(3 if you count the VR release) Putting the game into EA would have done them far more justice then claiming its a near finished product like we've been seeing a lot of developers doing these days.

It's not lack of funding or short staffed, I mean hell look at rimworld. One man team made a game that sold over 1million copies before full release! People are just getting lazy and throwing out cash grabs to pull what they can from a fanbase before pulling the plug.