Hopeful independent video game entrepreneurs have one less source to turn to for start-up money, as incubator Joystick Labs will no longer be funding new companies.
Started just over two years ago by a group that included Red Storm Entertainment co-founder Juan Beito, the group's program provided a small amount of funding and network support to get a new developer going, in exchange for a minority ownership in the company.
The group blamed a harsh independent video game climate for shutting down the program, saying that getting a digital game noticed is more difficult than it had realized.
"It has become very difficult for an independent developer to get noticed," managing director John Austin told local New England-area outlet The News & Observer. "For every Angry Birds, there are literally tens of thousands of great companies not getting noticed."
Since its inception, Joystick Labs funded seven game companies, three of which are still operational. The highest-profile game to come from Joystick funding is Mighty Rabbit Studios' Saturday Morning RPG, a mobile title that apparently has not been selling very well.
Totally agree. The setting of this game in itself is a very closed niche; even for someone like me who have grown in the 80's. They didn't helped themselves from start.
Just wanted to chime in - I'm the founder of Mighty Rabbit Studios. While Saturday Morning RPG didn't necessarily sell well on iOS we're still planning to launch on PC, Mac, Linux, and Android. We made a bad move in deciding that the first episode of SMRPG would be free on iOS with subsequent episodes being paid downloads. The inherent issue was that we gave away 1 - 2 hours of free content on a platform whose users typically only play any given game for 30 minutes (I'm not citing anything here, as this is just based on my own observations). The game has been reviewed well and has been downloaded close to 250,000 times. The problem is, we're facing standard freemium conversion rates of 2 - 3 percent. Niche games just don't work well with the business model we chose. I'm not entirely blaming the game's financial failure on that - it also wasn't everyone's cup of tea, that's the nature of something niche like this.
But honestly, saying targeting the 80s pop culture niche was an immediate failure is flat out wrong - just look at the success of Ready Player One. If anything it was our pairing of a niche genre with a niche topic - we made something that is ultra niche. The benefit of that is it really works with the people who fill both of those niches. It just doesn't make for financial success.
On a better note, my company is focusing more on contract work now. It pays well and keeps our doors open. Joystick may have closed their doors, but Mighty Rabbit will be around for the long haul.
Thanks for the insight Josh. I remember being surprised at how much free content you guys were giving out even at launch, I assumed a sort of "double niche" game like yours would have had a pay entry regardless of current trends. I feel like for something like Saturday Morning RPG, you either have a player with the concept immediately or you're just never going to have them at all.
Good luck to you guys, glad things seem to be going well!
But honestly, saying targeting the 80s pop culture niche was an immediate failure is flat out wrong - just look at the success of Ready Player One. If anything it was our pairing of a niche genre with a niche topic - we made something that is ultra niche. The benefit of that is it really works with the people who fill both of those niches. It just doesn't make for financial success.
On a better note, my company is focusing more on contract work now. It pays well and keeps our doors open. Joystick may have closed their doors, but Mighty Rabbit will be around for the long haul.
Good luck to you guys, glad things seem to be going well!