kickstarting and profit

[jackyjackyjackychan]

is obsidian making money hand over fist with this game? since the game development was funded by donations, and it was the top selling game on steam for awhile (not to mention all the GoG sales) at $45+ per product, is everything they make now just tons of profit since they don't need to pay investors?

[dancingcrab]

Hopefully!! That would be great. More for the expansion and PoE2, not to mention better support for patches.

[MattSanderson]

I hope so. They were close to going out of business before the PoE Kickstarter. I hope they find some stability now with their very own IP. In fact, I'd like to see them make spin-offs and sequels and expansions set in the PoE universe galore, and even make another new IP of their own. They have made some good games using other people's IPs, but they'll find true security and artistic license with their own.

[Leferd]

I actually, genuinely hope that Feargus, Darren, and the three Chris's get rich out of this.

 

Then we can truly see more of these types of games again.

[Tigranes]

Everything they make is theirs except for the customary cut to Steam and GOG, and a little bit to Paradox as distributor. This is contrast to publisher model, where the publisher would take all the money then maybe give Obsidian a bonus. 

 

We don't know how many units have sold, and they'll have lost at least 100k sales due to KS backers and their friends, but it does seem like they're poised to make a very healthy profit. I'd think that 500k+ sales would represent a slam dunk.

[Silverstar]

Any sale outside of the Kickstarter donations should basically be profit. Paradox and Goodoldgames takes a cut of course, steam an even bigger one, but overall each sale is good for them. And there's a lot of sales...

[illathid]

Any sale outside of the Kickstarter donations should basically be profit. Paradox and Goodoldgames takes a cut of course, steam an even bigger one, but overall each sale is good for them. And there's a lot of sales...

 

Both steam and GoG take a 30% cut.

[Ink Blot]

Any sale outside of the Kickstarter donations should basically be profit. Paradox and Goodoldgames takes a cut of course, steam an even bigger one, but overall each sale is good for them. And there's a lot of sales...

From what I've read on the GOG forums, GOG takes the same cut as Steam.

[Stereophobia]

I really hope that they do. We need companies that are selling what we ask for rather than what a board of investors says we want.

[Suna]

Well I work in a grocery store & this is how it works.

 

1. The producers of the Food/Soda/Candy/Fruit/Vegetables/Chips products pay my grocery store 1 time fee each year.

2. I sell the products & the producers of these products takes the profit from what is sold.

 

My profit comes from their 1 time payment fee each year. In case you guys are wondering. Each producers are paying me 2 million dollars each year. And in return I sell their products and the producers keeps all profit from what is sold. I do not know how the game industry works. What I am talking about is the grocery store industry. 

[Valsuelm]

Well I work in a grocery store & this is how it works.

 

1. The producers of the Food/Soda/Candy/Fruit/Vegetables/Chips products pay my grocery store 1 time fee each year.

2. I sell the products & the producers of these products takes the profit from what is sold.

 

My profit comes from their 1 time payment fee each year. In case you guys are wondering. Each producers are paying me 2 million dollars each year. And in return I sell their products and the producers keeps all profit from what is sold. I do not know how the game industry works. What I am talking about is the grocery store industry. 

 

That's an interesting business model for a grocery store.

 

The one's I'm familiar with mostly have a more traditional buy from producer or supplier and mark things up to cover expenses and profit.

 

Which brings up the point that there are often many potential ways one can go about running a business. Not all businesses within any given industry have the same business model.

 

Insofar as Obsidian making nothing but profit. That's doubtful. They may have a larger share of the revenue than they would if they were financed through more traditional means, but they still have operating expenses, as well as their own monetary investment to recoup.

[draek]

Well I work in a grocery store & this is how it works.

 

1. The producers of the Food/Soda/Candy/Fruit/Vegetables/Chips products pay my grocery store 1 time fee each year.

2. I sell the products & the producers of these products takes the profit from what is sold.

 

My profit comes from their 1 time payment fee each year. In case you guys are wondering. Each producers are paying me 2 million dollars each year. And in return I sell their products and the producers keeps all profit from what is sold. I do not know how the game industry works. What I am talking about is the grocery store industry. 

That is really interesting - thanks for sharing. I was always wondering about that

==

 

Online industry is complicated + 1.

 

Majority of online distributors take a flat cut of 30% off the top. From there it gets cut multiple ways with all the parties involved. 

In a publisher model it can still vary heavily - based on the type of relationship the studio has with the publisher.

 

If the Studio is licensing the IP \ or if the Publisher is funding them and don't have rights to the IP \ if the publisher paid for development of the game partially or completely. Each type of contract varies considerably and the cut each party gets is generally kept as a trade secret. 

 

If you remember a little while back Obsidian CEO was complaining about how Publishers wanted to take advantage of PoE's success.

 

“We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter,” Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart revealed in a Q&A on the Project Eternity Kickstarter page. “I said to them ‘So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don’t get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits.’ They said, ‘Yes’.

Edited March 29, 2015 by draek