Hey guys, just thought I'd point out an amazing idea a few indie game developers have come up with to get some money and get their products out there.
You can check out the site here: humblebundle.com
Basically, a few developers got together and decided to put up their games and let buyers choose the price they want to pay for it. This probably sounds familiar to a lot of you, because a few bands have done it with their albums and had some big success with it.
The bundle is doing incredibly well. They had one earlier this year, and it generated over $1,000,000 for the developers. This one is still going, and it looks like it might break $2,000,000.
I'm going to go over a few aspects of the website that I think is really impressive. These guys know what they're doing.
Video Introduction - The youtube video cracks me up. It's well put together, and it makes you want to share it with people. The youtube video itself has over 350,000 views on youtube in less than ten days.
Pay What You Want - Apparently, people who buy indie games are a bunch of cheap asses. Even though indie games run on such a low budget, a large percentage of people pirate them anyways. This can be pretty devastating to small developers. Pirating products can be a pain, though, so if you provide the customers ways that they can easily access your game and pay whatever they want, you take away any buyers remorse they have, and make sure that your method is the easiest way to get the bundle.
Guilt - If you try and enter less than a dollar, a picture pops up showing an indie developer slaving away for no wages. During the first bundle, I put a dollar in at first, but when I saw the picture, I changed $1 into $10. Yes, I felt guilty.
A Battle For Pride - If you went to the website, you can see that they display several statistics. All the games are cross platform, meaning you can play the games on Linux, Mac, or Windows. They have statistics tracking how much each platform is donating. This encourages people to pay more for the OS they support. Linux users, for example, donate more than twice as much as Windows users on average.
Top Contributors - The website has a list of top contributors, and the amount they donate. With the mass amounts of traffic that visit the site in such a short time, people realized they could use this list for advertising. Companies donate huge amounts of money ($1,000-5,000) to have their name and website listed as a top donator. Best of all, this is competitive, so if you want your name up higher, you simply need to donate more.
Last of all, it supports charity, which is always a good idea for a promotion.
I am seriously impressed with the way these developers are using the idea of a humble bundle. Since they are so effective, it seems like they can do at least two each year, and if sales continue to rise, it could be anywhere from $4,000,000 - $6,000,000 in extra yearly revenue for INDIE game designers. These guys have inspired me, and they're a great example of how to think outside the box. Most people think that you can't make good money as an indie developer. Well, these guys are showing that you can.
If you'd like more information on the humble bundles, I suggest you check out the wolfire blog.
You can check out the site here: humblebundle.com
Basically, a few developers got together and decided to put up their games and let buyers choose the price they want to pay for it. This probably sounds familiar to a lot of you, because a few bands have done it with their albums and had some big success with it.
The bundle is doing incredibly well. They had one earlier this year, and it generated over $1,000,000 for the developers. This one is still going, and it looks like it might break $2,000,000.
I'm going to go over a few aspects of the website that I think is really impressive. These guys know what they're doing.
Video Introduction - The youtube video cracks me up. It's well put together, and it makes you want to share it with people. The youtube video itself has over 350,000 views on youtube in less than ten days.
Pay What You Want - Apparently, people who buy indie games are a bunch of cheap asses. Even though indie games run on such a low budget, a large percentage of people pirate them anyways. This can be pretty devastating to small developers. Pirating products can be a pain, though, so if you provide the customers ways that they can easily access your game and pay whatever they want, you take away any buyers remorse they have, and make sure that your method is the easiest way to get the bundle.
Guilt - If you try and enter less than a dollar, a picture pops up showing an indie developer slaving away for no wages. During the first bundle, I put a dollar in at first, but when I saw the picture, I changed $1 into $10. Yes, I felt guilty.
A Battle For Pride - If you went to the website, you can see that they display several statistics. All the games are cross platform, meaning you can play the games on Linux, Mac, or Windows. They have statistics tracking how much each platform is donating. This encourages people to pay more for the OS they support. Linux users, for example, donate more than twice as much as Windows users on average.
Top Contributors - The website has a list of top contributors, and the amount they donate. With the mass amounts of traffic that visit the site in such a short time, people realized they could use this list for advertising. Companies donate huge amounts of money ($1,000-5,000) to have their name and website listed as a top donator. Best of all, this is competitive, so if you want your name up higher, you simply need to donate more.
Last of all, it supports charity, which is always a good idea for a promotion.
I am seriously impressed with the way these developers are using the idea of a humble bundle. Since they are so effective, it seems like they can do at least two each year, and if sales continue to rise, it could be anywhere from $4,000,000 - $6,000,000 in extra yearly revenue for INDIE game designers. These guys have inspired me, and they're a great example of how to think outside the box. Most people think that you can't make good money as an indie developer. Well, these guys are showing that you can.
If you'd like more information on the humble bundles, I suggest you check out the wolfire blog.
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