French independent game creator Arkedo Studios, developer of Xbox Live Indie Games JUMP, SWAP and PIXEL!, has released official sales figures for its suite of downloadable games before outlining the opportunities that have arisen out of their success on the service.
Arkedo turned to Xbox Live Indie Games after releasing DS puzzle games including Nervous Brickdown and Big Bang Mini.
In a post on Gamasutra sister site GamerBytes.com, the firm revealed that the trial for JUMP, the studio's first game, released in September 2009, was downloaded 42,974 times, with 4,990 sales made, a conversion rate of 11.61 percent.
Meanwhile SWAP, released in October 2009, performed less well, with 20,278 trials downloaded, converting to 4,369 sales.
In a period after September 10th, SWAP was featured as a deal of the week on the service, selling for 80MSP, reduced from 240MSP. For that month 3,987 trials were downloaded, selling 2,334 copies, a conversion rate of 58.54 percent.
PIXEL!, released November 2009, has been the studio's strongest performer, with 62,636 trials and 11,432 sales made over the course of the game's lifespan.
Camille Guermonprez, owner of Arkedo Studios, originally revealed the figures on gaming site NeoGAF, admitting that the company failed to turn a profit on the suite.
"The 3 Arkedo Series cost approx $50K altogether to make and XNA sales went approx. $50K combined," he wrote. "Costs and revenue are comparable in this example. So having 3 games on the Xbox, even on the Indie Games section (which must be less than 1% of the general traffic) does help you get noticed."
However, Guermonprez was quick to point out that there have been various benefits to having games on XBLIG. "In a nutshell, it's all about having your studio being noticed by gamers, and help it appear on the industry radar," he wrote before pointing out that, as a direct result of the suite, Arkedo received a "paid deal with Microsoft Games Studios for the launch of Windows Phone 7, with OMG - Our Manic Game."
Likewise, Guermonprez attributes a subsequent deal to make a game for a Japanese publisher on XBLA/ PSN, and a deal with Intel to have the Arkedo series featured on its AppUp platform (an App store for PC notebooks) directly to the studio's XBLIG titles.
"So in a nutshell," he wrote, "what looked like 'only' $50K turned out in the end being a few hundred thousand Euros in indirect -yet closely related- sales, and built some hype around our current game."
"I really recommend XNA for everyone", he concluded. "It's simple, it's easy, and it allows you to have a new audience while getting some attention from the industry."
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Here's to hoping the marketing benefits help persuade Arkedo to produce another XBLIG game - they're very much appreciated! Out of interest, is there any chance of OMG being ported over to XBLIG? I'm assume it was written in XNA...
In our books, an indie-studio-who-wants-to-keep-its-IP is successful... when it manages to stay alive for quite some time :)
Also, we are currently in our learning phase. So as long as we recoup our investment and can invest it back onto our next game, while learning stuff and making a profit, we are happy.
Don't get me wrong. I will welcome success with open arms if/when it will come. But making games the way we do is a luxury, and we know it.
To answer more specifically your question, OMG on XBLIG is doubtful at best. The reason behind this is that we always try and make specific games for specific environments. We look at user interface and ergonomics for quite some time before thinking of concepts. Nervous Brickdown was done for a portable system with dual screens, a thin-stylus touch-based interface, and a microphone. Same for Big Bang Mini: it would not make sense as is on home consoles. Or much less sense, unless we change the gameplay (in which case, why not simply make a new game?).
For OMG, you need to be able to touch your enemies to enrage them. It's all about the risk/reward, and you must be able to decide at the very last moment if you want to do it or not. With a pad, it would be quite different. So again, why not, but then again, why not make another Arkedo Series instead?
:)
Still, I recently praised it here on Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JamieMann/20101117/6452/XBLIG_inspection_ Arkedo_J
ump_or_how_to_make_a_good_retrostyled_platfomer.php), as well as sticking it on the big screen at a retro gaming event, so there's hope yet ;)
Regarding OMG: in truth, I haven't actually seen it yet, for the simple reason that I've not got a WM phone ;) Though on a similar note, is there any chance of Pix'n'Love being ported to XBLIG? I liked what I saw on the iPhone, but the "tilting" control mechanism just isn't my thing :(
In any case, any further Arkedo Series games will be welcome!
I want to agree with you, but the numbers don't lie.
If we are talking about exposure and "street cred" then it's all good. If you have bills to pay, clearly we have only seen 1 success story so far. I am hoping for slightly better odds than 1:1000000 =). Shave off the top 1-5 all-time XBLIG developers and you'll have a much more realistic median of success.
Admittedly, this is still a long way away from millionaire land, but it is a sign that things have improved.
Unfortunately, XBLIG is stuck in an unfortunate position: it's effectively competing with XBLA (and now it's also competing with the full-priced titles Microsoft have released as DLC). This is in stark contrast to the "flat" model used by the App Store, where a free Bejewelled clone can rub shoulders with the likes of Rock Band or Assassin's Creed, and it's unlikely that Microsoft will ever have a reason to promote XBLIG above it's other, higher-revenue channels.
OTOH, this also helps to "protect" XBLIG to a degree from being just another commercial distribution channel, and there's been some genuinely unique, experimental and interesting games released as a result. It's just a shame that so few people get to see them!
For instance, if they'd done the same with PC focused games, would they have done better sales-wise AND gotten the same knock-on benefits? Etc?
It's ultimately not really possible to say, but, when Xbox Indie seems good for only (hopefully) cost recoupment and some notice, there seem to be better ways of going about that.
But the simple fact that the studio was able to pick up a contract with MS, Sony, and a few others is encouraging because it allows them to grow and continue to do what they love doing.
And kudos to Microsoft for making it all possible. Let's face it, no one else has provided a platform as easy to develop games into as Microsoft. Apple has a better store, but the tools MS provide are way better. I just hope their investment will pay off too, otherwise in the end they will shut it down and that can only be a bad thing for the indie community and people doing games as a hobby.