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Microsoft Should Market Community Games More/ Better
Here’s an interesting question for you. How many of you have gone my the 360’s marketplace and spent time looking at it’s Community Games section? I can tell you truthfully that I’m probably only glanced through it a couple of times, and both times, I’ve left after a couple of minutes. Want to know why? Well I don’t really know, but this guy sure has some ideas; quite rightly, as he make Clover, one of the best of the best XBLCGs.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Clover’s Daniel Jones said:
“There’s an argument that maybe the games just aren’t good enough… And whilst there’s some truth in that, the fact is we have 20 million Xbox Live users, of whom 4 million regularly purchase content. That the top-selling XBLCG titles only sell around 10,000 units shows there’s something quite seriously wrong with the service’s marketing – namely a lack thereof.
“Clover cost around GBP 13,000 to make, and that was almost entirely on living costs – central London isn’t cheap! I know some developers who have sunk USD 30,000 into their XBLCG projects, and were still worryingly optimistic about making that back.
“I feel very sorry for them, but I hope that they can prove me wrong.”
Jesus, 10,000 units is hardly anything! I feel bad for these guys… Somehow Microsoft need to reorganize their Community Games section on the Market Place. Oh, wait, news just in: Microsoft are actually re-branding the whole service as “Indie Games” which is far more suitable, I believe. Also, according to GamesIndustry.biz :
The move is linked to the previously-announced addition of user ratings for Xbox Live content, which is set to arrive in Autumn this year. Those ratings will also include XBLA titles and various game add-ons, such as downloadable content – again, a move as a result of community feedback.
I’m intrigued, and hopefully this will help to address the problems that Community games have with actually making money on their products. Here’s hoping.
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