Topic: Are bundles good for indies?

[idolminds]

Article

This kind of ties in with what we were talking about in the indie game music bundle thread. I don't want to comment on the article directly, but the interesting part comes out of the comments section.

I agree 100% with the author! Steel Storm: Burning Retribution participated in the HIB3, we were promised super sales due to the bundle, huge marketing and the most important thing – the user base. We were paid fixed sum, ~0.5% from what HIB3 made. As I suspected, we got no extra sales (sales dipped everywhere because “thanks” to HIB our game’s market got saturated), virtually no extra helpful marketing and the worst thing ever – there is no way we have been able to reach people who got our game through HIB3. According to HIB people, those customers are their’s and unless it benefits HIB, they will not move a finger to reach those people and let them know about new stuff we have for the users. It sucks. I do not believe in all these charity bundles. The organizers make money using some one else’s product.

Checking the username against the devs, it appears to be the "Art Director / Artist / Level designer".

So it seems the HIB may not be as great for indies as we think. Also interesting is the last point, what he calls "the worst thing ever" is essentially the same thing EA was complaining about with Steam: not being able to talk to the customers. Every once in a while HIB will tweet that a new version of a game is available but thats about it. I had a look and Steel Storm has some new DLC out as well as a built in MOBA mod. I had no idea.

[Quemaqua]

Still, it begs the question... who would have bought your game otherwise? I have no interest in that game whatever and never would have bought it or looked at it at all had it not been for the bundle. I just don't have fucking time to keep up with every indie game out there, and a lot of them don't interest me enough to buy alone but I'll snag as part of a bundle that offers me something I do want. Plus, I question the validity of DLC for most indie games. I think they should stick to sequels. Give us a complete package. I don't want to micromanage the 10,000 indie games I have. I don't even want to do that with the big games, but at least there it tends to make more sense.

[Cools!]

Yeah, these bundles definitely give indie games exposure they might not have had otherwise, but if the devs don't have access to the user base afterwards (either directly or through HIB) to promote future products or updates that's a big deal. 

[Xessive]

Bundles certainly make a great launchpad for some indie developers. I know I wouldn't have been exposed to some fantastic, but obscure, title if it weren't bundled in a pack I bought.

It's tough to say but I read up on Desura's issues with Humble Indie Bundle and why they opted out and eventually struck up Indie Royale. I agree with Desura from a business standpoint but at the same time they cannot neglect that the Humble Bundle is (was?) first and foremost a charity event. People donate (to charities and developers alike) and as a good gesture they get some great indie games in return (that they would likely have never bought otherwise). In most cases I had the games but I donated anyway, I don't need the games, they're a bonus as far as I'm concerned.

From a business standpoint these charity events are not for profit, they're for exposure. A corporation doesn't support a charity for profit it's for Corporate Social Responsibility programs, good publicity, or a genuine concern (as rare as that would seem).

[idolminds]

While the Humble Bundle has a charity element to it, its not really a charity thing. The devs make money and the HB people make money. Some of it just gets sent to charity as well. Having Desura keys was a nice gesture but Desura got nothing out of it. Maybe some exposure but with the included Steam keys I'm sure most people just used those and ignored Desura.

[Xessive]

Honestly, if it weren't for HIB I wouldn't have reinstalled Desura I could have gone on living without it. I initially uninstalled since it was giving me errors and crashing all the time (early build).

Now that Desura is back on my system I check it regularly to keep track on the indie scene. My point is that HIB's exposure worked

Speaking of Desura, have you guys seen Kenshi?

[idolminds]

Yeah, Kenshi looks awesome. Though I'm holding off on buying into the alpha because...well...one of the upcoming Royale bundles is for alpha funding games and I'm sorta hoping that will be one of them.