How is Public Acceptance in Your Country / Region?

[Faherya]

When we talk about sales, we often worry about marketing a lot, but we forget to observe who the marketing is headed for. In some places, no matter how well you try to sell your product, no one will buy. Having said that I would like to know how the reception of the public in your countries in relation to RPG Maker games is. To exemplify what I am saying, let us analyze the Brazilian public. There are two types of games that are awfully hard to sell around here:

- "Bad" games, which we all know for the laziness of the developer, bad maps, bugs, etc. The term is relative, but you can imagine what I'm talking about, I think this type of game is "bad" everywhere.
- Games with RTP graphics. No matter how good your game is, how long you've invested in it: if you use RTP graphics you will not be able to sell your game easily here. Not that we consider RTP bad, what we consider bad is the developer's laziness to even buy a DLC to disguise. "Oh, I do not have the money to buy a DLC." No excuses, learning how to create your own graphics is free and you find free programs for that.

This subject came to my mind when I told a friend that if I were to launch a commercial project, I could invest just over five hundred dollars in the product (not counting marketing, license fees from sales platforms, etc.), to sell each copy by a dollar or less (One dollar is equivalent to something between 1.5 / 3.5 reais. The price varies a lot.). And yes, it is perfectly possible to produce a quality game with low cost. And you do not even have to be the best artist / programmer in the world. Fulfill your offer, please the customer. End.

It sounds crazy because it is. I believe that entering the market is a risk that you should be ready to face. In addition, I am of the believe that a quality product works by itself. I've been in the publishing business for two years and I see it happen here: an excellent book is released overseas. When we finally offer a translation, few tens of Reais are spent on marketing because the product knowledge has already reached the local audience. The public reviews by itself, releases the book ahead and sales remain high for weeks after launch. And if you sell a lot, you can sell it cheap. Consequently you sell more. However, books are not games. It is clear that you do not enter the market knowing that you will lose. Stupidity is still stupid anywhere and the market is unpredictable. And that's why I'd like your opinion. How does (currently) the market work in your region?

 

[Kes]

Because my games are in English, my sales are very international. For me, therefore, restricting it just to sales in the UK would give a totally false impression and would be somewhat meaningless. The largest number of sales is in the US - but that is partly because the US is the largest English speaking market.

I think that most devs releasing games in English would find a similar thing.

 

[Hudell]

As a brazilian dev, I have Brazil as the second country where my game sells the most, with 11% of sales. The first is US with 45% of sales. After Brazil I have Germany (9%), Canada (8%), UK (6%) and Australia (4%) as places where it sells well.

The difference is that I've had a lot of exposure in Brazil. I presented the game in gamedev events, I had it played by a big brazilian youtuber and I also have had a presence in gaming and gamedev communities for years. If it weren't for all that, Brazil probably wouldn't have 1% of sales, even with the game being available in portuguese.

But that is not because the game isn't liked here, it's just that most people don't pay for small indie games here. Brazil is also in second place in the number of players who pirated the game (first being China).

 

[Faherya]

@Kes English is, in fact, the best option for main language in just about anything.
@Hudell Some say your case is an exception, but I think you only knew how to sell well. So far I think you're the most successful developer using RPG Maker in Brazil, it's hard to find someone in the area who does not know your game, but even so I did not expect you to sell so much around here.. Piracy is really complicated here. Mainly for computer games that are more easily hacked compared to the current consoles.

 

[Bricabrac]

I live in Italy, where the market for indies is non-existent, so I'm not even bothering to translate the game in my native tongue. I've made some calculations, and it's simply not worth it - I expect the sales would be very low.

Italy is one of the countries with the highest median age in the whole world! We may look like a big nation, but most of the population is very old and don't even know how to use a computer. The public is very small.

 

[Faherya]

@Bricabrac Quite curious situation, I can not imagine how the game market in general holds up there. Would you know if the same happens in your neighbors?

 

[JosephSeraph]

As a brazilian, I love RTP games that choose to embrace the RTP as the game's identity, as a choice, as opposed to games which are (obviously) "stuck" with it.

A game that wears the RTP with pride and that I ADORE and never miss a chance to mention is Helen's Mysterious Castle. Craze's delicious games come to mind too. The RTP is an amazing flavor that can do a lot when embraced and has its own identity! Original graphics are great, but they're great when they serve an identity and aesthetic, as opposed to the idea that "anything is better than the RTP" that I see around here and there.

I will treat most DLCs and the RTP the same, by the way. DLC graphics / RTP are as good as the games using them embrace their identity as their own. (That is to say though, DLC graphics can often have a very different identity from the RTP, from Celianna's gorgeous moody tiles to Time Fantasy's colorful on-your-face retro aesthetic)

But hey! I can't quite answer for the rest of Brazil. I guess RPG Maker horror games are a fad here? During my experience as an English Teacher a lot of students knew IB / witch's house / etc but had no idea what RPG Maker is

 

[Faherya]

Hey, @JosephSeraph here. o/
The "problem" we see a lot with RTPs and DLC is not how much the quality of resources, it is just about the visual identity. For the most part, people like to have a unique or minimally recognizable look for their designs. RTP and the most common DLCs allow this identity, but "industrialize" it in series. Okay, the whole game is harmonious, the visual works very well in every detail. Only that it works the same way in another three thousand games, that is, no matter how good your game, it will hardly stand out at first sight.

During my experience as an English Teacher a lot of students knew IB / witch's house / etc but had no idea what RPG Maker is

As for this I must be well outdated. Personally I do not know a single person who has played a game created in the engine without knowing it. I mean, mostly it always seemed to me that the RM player audience is made up of RM users.

 

[starlight dream]

I have no idea how the Canadian market it. But since I'm developing in English I guess it doesn't matter, because I'm aiming to sell to players around the world.
I'll probably have a French version too, because I see a lot of rpg maker games in French. It's a separate market than the English one, so if I can be a part of that one too, why not?

 

[Faherya]

An extra language is always welcome. English is universal, but I begin to wonder how the market will be in relation to Spanish. Perhaps, when possible, launch the product in three languages to help. English, Spanish and the local language most used, if different from these.

 

[starlight dream]

I would've loved a Japanese version too, to see how it is received, but it will require hiring a translator. Still, I'm very curious how rpg maker games do commercially in Japan...

 

[peq42_]

I know many already talked about Brazil here but I would like to add some information on top of that:

-As any big country, nothing gets popular over night here. It's necessary to have some effort sharing the game, but it's not that hard. We've(for example) a big online store called "Nuuvem" which is kinda easy to have your game added there(You send the game's link to download, a gameplay/trailer, name/email and if they like it, you can sell there) and really big(After Steam, probably the biggest in latin america)

-Brazilians almost always give atention and help to games made here(or that at least, that had devs from here and are indie) when they come to know those games(I'm an example of that: my profile pic is a character of a Brazilian game called "Guerreiros Folclóricos" which is under development).

-Brazilians like games well translated to portuguese. When a developer create a good translation for portuguese(Having Subtitles and voices both well game) showing effort and care about the public, it's really well seen here. But if the translation is not that good, the opposite happens: The developer valour, for most that bought the game, goes all the way down, way lower than it would be if the game was english only.

-Piracy is a common thing here, but not when the game is liked and accessible to the public. People tend to download pirate games only when the enterprise show no care about the public(Not bringing translations, bad performance, bugs,etc), and are overpriced (like almost every E.A. game). If the public see the enterprise as indifferent and unfair, they tend to respond the same way about their products.


But, as anywhere in the world, what each individual person will do vary from one to another. It's not 100%, just my view point.

 

[starlight dream]

Do RPG maker games sell well in Brazil if they're in English, or is the market mostly interested in Portuguese games?

 

[Faherya]

Of the projects I took, those who were or had a Portuguese version sold better. In fact, the people like translations here.

 

[starlight dream]

Thanks! It's something I should consider then, given that Brazil is a good market for rpg maker games.