The indie games are too damn cheap

An average indie title these days is priced $8.72 on Steam. During the last Summer Sale the price went down to the mind-boggling $4.63 and yet the average sales are at their lowest at 21,000 copies.

Small indie titles usually have a smaller audience save for a few outliers. The problem with our approach is that people seem to normalize extremely successful breakout hits while assuming everything that didn’t sell north of a million copies is a complete failure.

This is simply not true. It’s understandable to follow the famous American dream “get rich or die trying”, but to have a sustainable market for indie titles we need to accept the fact that most of them will not sell hundreds of thousands of copies. Therefore, indie developers need to ensure their games are still profitable with a smaller audience.

And here lies the problem outlined in the title. The indie games are too damn cheap.

You can find indies in any other big entertainment market: movies, comics, music. Everywhere else small creators face the same problem: making the ends meet with a relatively small audience. It’s never easy for a small guy and it will never be, but in most other industries indie products are still sold at the same price as big AAA titles from established brands and companies.

It’s a simple math, really. Say, you’re an indie rock band and your next indie album will only sell 20,000 copies. All the while J Lo’s newest hit will move millions. Do you think her fans are avoiding your album because they can’t afford it? Do you think they’ll give it a try if you discount it to death?

You’re already at a disadvantage because you have a smaller audience, so why would you reduce your chances of survival by charging your fans less for your product?

While 21,000 copies on average doesn’t sound like a lot, it actually is. I’ve worked for a magazine that at its lowest had a similar circulation with almost no ads. Yet its sales were able to support a team of several talented individuals and pay the bills for a modest office and printing services. And our magazine wasn’t priced cheaper than, say, Vogue or Men’s Health. It was actually a bit more expensive.

Yes, your indie title may only appeal to a small subset of gamers. Yes, you might not be ready to charge $59.99 for it like the big guys do— and they actually charge more per user with their collector’s editions, in-app purchases and season passes. So please, stop undermining your game because somehow you think it’s not worth the asking price. Add value if you think that is the case, not lower the price.

I applaud Jonathan Blow’s decision to sell The Witness for $39.99. The game is sitting at 460 thousand owners on Steam Spy right now with discounts, sales and everything — and it never went below $19.99 on Steam! Do you really think it would’ve sold 4 times more if he charged $9.99 from the start? Somehow, I doubt it.

Instead of discounting your title from the start, maybe invest some time into explaining why it’s worth the price you are charging for it. It’s obviously harder than just slapping $9.99 tag on it like everyone else does.

This is especially true for pre-orders. I see many indie companies offering discounts for pre-orders, sometimes going as high as 33%. Why would you charge your most loyal fans less? Maybe, instead of asking for a lower price, add more value to the pre-order, like the big guys are doing? Early access to the game, extra content like a soundtrack or a playable prototype, even an exclusive achievement is better for your fans than just charging them couple of dollars less. They’re pre-ordering your title not because it’s cheap, but because they believe in you and want you to succeed, so let them help you.

I understand the repercussions you might face. Some people will claim they can’t afford to pay extra $10 for your game. Some will write long opinion pieces or forum posts about how wrong you are by making money from your hard work — just look at reactions to The Witness launch price, mentioned above. And it’s fine. Just remind yourself that if someone can’t afford your game right now, they can always buy it several months later when Steam Sale will inevitably encourage you to discount it.

If the game is worth the gamers’ time, it’s also worth their money.