Jeff Vogel: More On Indie RPG Sales
As promised, Jeff Vogel returns with more on making (and selling) his ever popular indie RPGs - specifically Geneforge 4.

An excerpt:

'And here's the sad truth. Suppose I spent a bunch of money, busted my hump, and wrote a game with graphics as good as, say, Eschalon. Then people who really care about graphics wouldn't look at my game and go, "Wow! He's really doing good now!" They'd go, "His graphics suck. They haven't improved at all." And then they'd go play Fallout 3.'

He follows up by saying, "And, once again, I make good money overall. So who knows? Maybe I'm onto something. After all, I'm more profitable than Electronic Arts right now."

He also talks about how he prices his games - why they cost $28 instead of $10. And the advantage of owning your own intellectual property (HUGE!!! New game developers, do not underestimate this!), and oodles of straight-talkin' goodness.

Now, I guess many gamers could not care less about what goes on to make these games. I'm kinda weird that way. Even before I became a professional game developer, I was hooked on "behind the scenes" views like this (often found in the pages of Computer Gaming World back in the early 90's). I guess not everyone likes to peek into the sausage factory to see how their food is made. But I'll keep sharing what I find for those weirdos like me who find the process almost as fascinating as the game itself.

Incidentally, I am also one of those strange people who actually listen to the DVD commentary track of my favorite movies, and Almost Famous is one of them... That might explain a lot.

Anyway, here you go:

The Bottom Feeder: How Many Games I Sell, Part Two

Labels: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Roleplaying Games

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