Steam Developer Pages
On Steam, every developer and publisher can create a page for players to follow their account. This has somewhat similar benefits to wishlisting or following a game, but the player will be shown the followed publisher or developer's future games as well. As such, it can be a great tool for studio building long-term. Games associated with that developer or publisher can then be linked to that page, so that [...]
Regional Pricing and VAT
In estimating the value of localizations in a region, or the return on investment of paid advertising, it's important to remember that units sold/wishlists added are not the end goal themselves. Instead, both the profitability and steam visibility result after release are dependent on sales revenue, and this differs greatly between countries.Regional PricingSteam has a suggested regional pricing structure. This can differ, but as a few examples:Players from Argentina will [...]
Steam Regions and China
How many Chinese players buy your game on Steam?This is an important question to ask in evaluating your marketing efforts, effects of localization, and similar topics. Seems simple enough to check--go to Steamworks finance, hit "Regional Sales Report", find where China is listed, and expand to see the number of wishlists and purchases.Unfortunately, that is going to miss a portion of Chinese players, who will instead be counted as being [...]
Publishing Negotiations
Negotiating with PublishersWhen a publisher reaches out, many indie game devs naturally feel excitement. It's a validation of the dedication and passion they've put into their game. They have clearly created something of value, and now a publisher wants in on the action.The problem is, most indie game publishers don't do much for their games, and often demand some rather harsh 'standard' contract terms. There are exceptions--and if I didn't [...]
Welcome
I started Hooded Horse because I believe in the potential of indie games. The goal of this blog is to share ideas that may be useful to the many indie devs out there trying to navigate the business side of games.First, a word on what this blog is not: broad analysis or introduction to game marketing. For that, there are many good choices, especially the GameDiscoverCo newsletter by Simon Carless. [...]
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