Thanks for the replies, guys!! You raised some really interesting points and I will rethink this entire thing.
One thing I forgot to mention, I proposed this business model in the context of NES development alone.
tokumaru wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:53 am
That's a terrible name!
True... anything that has "pay-to..." doesn't sound right to the consumer.
How about "Releaseware"?
bngrybt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:44 am
Paying for something that is 95% complete and will be released for free is a tough sell. Pirates are never going to pay for your game anyway, so it's pointless to make any concessions for them in any serious business model.
I think piracy is something that will always be part of the ecosystem. I'd rather try and make use of that part of the user base, than try to eradicate it.
If someone is unable to / doesn't want to pay for my game, I'd still like for that person to contribute by making the game more popular (advertising, reviewing, posting, retweeting, blogging, liking).
bngrybt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:44 am
Nobody is going to buy something on Steam if it's available for free elsewhere.
People tend to lean towards the more convenient option rather then the cheapest one. That how Netflix defeated torrenting. It's easier to setup a Netflix account (which can be used on multiple devices) than search and download torrents (to a single device).
If the Steam option is the lazy option, people who don't mind spending a few dollars certainly will.
bngrybt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:44 am
Getting your game on consoles is always tougher to do than Steam, and if they see a game with low sales that's available for free elsewhere, they won't be particularly interested in giving you a dev kit. For Switch especially, you'll probably need to find a publisher willing to work with you. Nintendo is notoriously strict about handing out Switch dev kits to small studios alone. They want to know that you're serious about running a business and not just doing it as a hobby.
To be honest I'm not really familiar with the Nintendo ecosystem, I thought that since they have their own NES emulation (Virtual Console?) you could just add your game ROM to their store. Looks like I'll have to look into that and do some research.
bngrybt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:44 am
On the flip-side, if this is something that you're just doing for fun, and if you don't intend to make money from it, then by all means release it for free. Just keep in mind that your work has value to someone, even if it's something that you have fun producing. Basically, people will only take you as seriously as you take yourself.
You're absolutely right on this one. The danger of releasing something to free is the devaluation of your own work and the product itself.
People tend not to pay attention or even value free stuff, even if it's good stuff. I will reevaluate my idea. Thank you.
gauauu wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:10 am
One potential problem is that I, being a cheapskate, will see your model, and assume that my $5 contribution isn't likely to make or break the release, so I'll just hold onto my money and hope that the game gets released for free. (even if I would have otherwise been happy to spend $5 to buy the game)
Agreed, there must be some incentive to have someone spending those 5 dollars. Otherwise people will just wait.
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To sum up, I really want to come-up with a cool new business model that satisfies everyone without undervaluing the product... back to the drawing board!
