how make money with my game?

[Gian]

Yes,

that the question, how can make money with my game thats i make with rpg maker?

any idea?

Thanks!!!!!

 

[Andar]

I've moved this thread to Commercial Discussions. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

You can read about selling your game in our Commercial forums here.

However, one point of advice:

If this is your first game, forget it.

To successfully sell a game (like dozens of others here have done in the past), that game needs a minimum of quality. And in order to get that quality, you'll need experience in game making including bughunting and completing that game.

So make a complete game first, before looking for a way to make money with games.

 

[Indinera]

how can make money with my game thats i make with rpg maker?

sell it   

 

[Seriel]

Once you've made the game, Steam Greenlight would be a good idea.

 

[Kes]

I think rather than odd bits of info, it would be best to follow Andar's advice and read the extensive information that already exists.  I suggest starting with this thread which is all about the requirements for selling a game.  It sets out clearly what you need to do if you want to make money from your game.

 

[Ronove]

Finishing it is a good start.

 

[LostFonDrive]

Finishing it is a good start.

That's what they want you to believe...

 

[nio kasgami]

I approve with andar for most but let's me say you something : 

if you going to make a game just for make money forget it 

that's will scrap the main games.

People who just doing games or stories for the money make so many crappy games 

I mean you have in first intention to make a game for your pleasure not for the money you have to be here for the people will play the game for you you have to put all yourself in the game for show you not making the game only for taxe us money for this story you have to put all your heart in  it proof you love this concept this game you made a thing you are proof you  want us to play this game because it's good.

Unless that..if you just doing that for have money better forget it will be a scrap game

you have to think the people buy your game as a gift the people give you for your hard works

 

[bgillisp]

I'll add onto this discussion some. While it is for (most) of us a dream to sell our game for money (I still have my game that I'm developing as commercial release even), if you are in it for the big bucks, best go do something else. If you work out how long it takes to make a game, and how much you could have made at minimum wage working another job in the same time, it will (more than likely) be more than what you make selling this game.

I'll use myself as an example. Right now I'm averaging 20 hours a week on this game, and I've worked on it for 1 year (as of last week). At US minimum wage that would be:

20 * 52 * 7.25 = 7540.

That's just what I need to make selling my game to make more than I could have earned working a minimum wage job during those same hours. When you factor in that I plan to be working on the game for 2 more years, well, you get the picture.

Edit: Though I will say this: I would recommend starting out your game as commercial, and here is why. It is easier to change the game to non-commercial from commercial than the other way around, as all free to use commercial resources are still free to use for non-commercial, but not all non-commercial resources can be used commercially.

 

[Indinera]

But IMO it's priceless to live off a creative passion.

Besides:

At US minimum wage

Maybe Gian is from another country? The minimum wage varies immensely from one country to another.

In some countries selling 1 game is almost like a month's salary.     

 

[Gian]

But IMO it's priceless to live off a creative passion.

Besides:

Maybe Gian is from another country? The minimum wage varies immensely from one country to another.

In some countries selling 1 game is almost like a month's salary.     

Im from Portugal

Indinera
i see you have a webpage with your games for sell, it is works fine ?

Thanks!!!!

 

[GolfHacker]

Not that it can't be done, and I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but if you want to sell a game, you need to understand the reality of the computer game business.

I was an indie game developer for 10 years. Out of those 10 years, only 1 year generated any profits for me ... and it wasn't much. In 6 of the 10 years, I barely broke even (meaning the business paid its own expenses, and that was all), and 3 years were losses for me. Those 9 years tell the same story as probably 95% of indie game developers.

When you run a business, particularly an online one where your customers download digital products (e.g., games), you need a good web host with decent bandwidth and reliable up-time. You also need a decent computer - preferably several with different configurations and operating systems representative of the kinds of computers your customers are likely to be running (although it's a bit easier nowadays with good virtualization software to set up a single computer with multiple virtual machines on it). Only after those up-front expenses, plus paying the monthly web hosting fees, merchant fees, high-speed internet fees, advertising fees, etc, plus paying for high quality graphic/audio expenses for the games you make (to ensure they even have a chance to sell) - only after all of that, can you pocket any money for yourself.

I was one of the lucky few whose first game was a "hit". That is not the norm. My game was featured in the Independent Games Festival, a couple of national magazines, lots of shareware sites (which were still pretty big back then), tons of game review sites, and a number of other places. Plus it generated a good base of loyal customers that helped spread the word over social media and drive traffic to my site. Even with all of that going for me, I still didn't make any money. Why not? Because there's a vast difference between making a good game (which in itself is difficult to do) and selling a good game.

The PC game market is over-saturated with games and has been for many years now. The internet has made it easy for any Tom, Dick, or Harry to make a game and post it online with a price tag on it. Unfortunately, that same internet has made it extremely difficult to get noticed amongst all the noise. That's the problem I experienced, and many indie game developers would affirm it.

Even in a niche field like RPG Maker games, it can be tough to get noticed. Look at Amaranth's site or Aldorlea's site, and you'll see there are already hundreds of commercial games available that were made from RPG Maker. There are also hundreds, if not thousands, of free games that were made from RPG Maker. If you want to sell such a game, and make money doing it, it needs to be something truly special to stand out. You need to be very good at writing and crafting a compelling story with memorable characters. You need good mapping skills, and your maps need to look amazing. You need to spend a lot of time balancing out the game, in terms of pacing, experience curves, rewards vs challenge/difficulty, etc - if it isn't nearly perfect, players will notice. You probably need to use some custom graphics, sounds, and music (which will probably cost you), because with so many games already available, players want something new and different.

Amaranth and Aldorlea have proven that you can earn a living from RPG Maker games. But I'm sure they will be the first to tell you that they've had to work really hard to get where they are, and they've probably caught some lucky (and rare) breaks along the way. It didn't happen overnight.

 

[Indinera]

Im from Portugal

Congrats, it's a fabulous country to live off selling RM games. It's the best of two worlds, the country is beautiful and most things are fairly cheap (means you can buy a lot of things with your dollars )

i see you have a webpage with your games for sell, it is works fine ?

Yup, pretty well. Finish your game and then I'll release it.

 

[Shelby]

Getting a profile pic and being part of the group is also a good start...

 

[phoenix_rossy]

I was an indie game developer for 10 years. Out of those 10 years, only 1 year generated any profits for me

Wow, really? 

What would you have done differently, 10 years on?

 

[GolfHacker]

There are so many things I could say, but I suppose the biggest would be to have focused on a single genre, instead of a variety. I made the games I wanted to make, but if I had stuck with a single genre, I might have been able to build on previous successes more easily.

 

[SilentWyvern]

Finishing it is a good start.

EA would beg to differ.

 

[Flashhitter]

I like what Andar said in the beginning, 'you need a minimal of quality'.  Start off by first not using all the default stuff that comes with rpg maker.  Do some art and music yourself!  Show that you've put love and effort and a lot of time ( a loooot) and your potential costumers will appreciate it.

 

[Andar]

I like what Andar said in the beginning, 'you need a minimal of quality'.  Start off by first not using all the default stuff that comes with rpg maker.  Do some art and music yourself!  Show that you've put love and effort and a lot of time ( a loooot) and your potential costumers will appreciate it.

Quality is more than only art and music - that's why I didn't specify it.
You can make a successfull commercial game relying completely on RTP with absolutely no custom resources - if you have the experience to really use the resources and have good skills at mapping and storytelling.


I've seen too many cases where a few custom pictures were used to hide the fact that the maps themselves were horribly designed (the maps, not the art of the maps).


In some cases, the best-looking maps had become completely unplayable...

 

[Flashhitter]

True that, if you can use the default stuff and pull off a great game -kudos to you!  That's awesome!  Yeah, level design itself can really make or break a game regardless of everything else.  Now if someone can pull off their own work, great sound, story, playability, level mechanics and design they have a better chance for success.  Say that person puts their game on Steam -which is what a lot of people are doing lately- and a costumer sees a game with some pictures that look exactly like every other rpg or worse, see empty or badly made maps, they'll skim right on by.