The brighter side of XNA sales

by Justin McElroy { Apr 1st 2009 at 8:50AM }

We brought you a lot of doom and gloom on the day that XNA Community Sales numbers were initially released, but some more positive accounts have arrived in our inbox, and we thought we'd share them. For instance, we got a note from Zoomaroom developer Four Bros., which said that its game had nabbed 4,700 trial downloads and around 400 purchases, good for a 8.46% conversion rate.

Adam Holmes, the man behind Ocean Scenes, was pleased with his 2629 sales, though they came from around 48,000 trials. And, finally, there was Blue Rose Games of Dr. Popper fame, which wrote it sold 2,200 copies of its game at a 12 percent conversation rate, and that it was "happy" with how the game had done.

Things are looking up for some of you out there, and we're glad to hear it. Of course, it looks like there are still plenty of ways to improve Microsoft's service and pave the way to those XNA riches.

Tags: community-games, dr-popper, four-bros-studios, ocean-scenes, xbox-live, xna, zoomaroom

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Peter Moore @ Apr 1st 2009 9:05AM

Microsoft should offer a 99 cent (or 79 MS point) option for developers to choose. I bet sales would increase then.

It also doesn't help that the minimum payment is $6.50, since you have to buy points in bulk.

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 10:07AM

I disagree with having a free or 99-cent option.

It might drive a little more traffic to CG but do you really believe that it will be over twice as much? You can try all of the games for free already and that will remain the same. I don't think it will double the buy rates.

Plus, some of the games are worth the asking prices. Supercow looks amazing. Biology Battle and Carneyvale: Showtime are as professionally presented as the best XBLA titles. Miner Dig Deep is insanely addictive. Easy Golf allows you to create your own courses and share them over Xbox Live...most games don't have that kind of replay value no matter what they cost. Snake360 (my creation) has a 5-10 hour campaign that can be played in single-player or co-op, plus 3 other multiplayer modes. IMHO, all of them are at least worth the asking price, and possibly more.

It sucks that there's no easy way to find the good games, but the Popularity sort does help. Browsing by Popularity will help you find some of the gems more easily, and the option is pretty easy to find.

Archon @ Apr 1st 2009 9:17AM

Wow. And I thought that 40K sales for Noby Noby Boy was low a few weeks ago... It's almost 60K now, though!

yo @ Apr 1st 2009 1:12PM

shocking considering that game is pretty horrible, now flower is another story

Dave @ Apr 1st 2009 9:29AM

Obviously they can improve the system with reviews and maybe something like weekly featured games, but I still think they will have a hard time selling. I love a good game, but now that achievements exist I find it really difficult to pick a community game over a XBLA game. Achievements really get me to play a game longer and in different ways than I used to play. If they are well designed achievements, they really keep me interested in the game.

I would love it if Microsoft would allow developers to include 50-100 gamerscore with their games. Maybe even charge the developer a slightly higher percentage if they want gamerscore.

As an alternative, developers could try and add a lot of unlockables. Are there many community games out there with those?

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 10:01AM

Snake360 (PSA: I am its creator) has 12 unlockables. They are set up on something called the Goal Board and called Goals, and they function just like Achievements but have no associated Gamerscore.

There are several other Community Games that have similar goals/"fake achievements." I recall Biology Battle being one of them.

I would love it if CG could offer small amounts of Gamerscore, but I could see it offending or perhaps even turning away XBLA developers, because that's one of the few advantages they have over CG coming out of the gate, and yet they pay a much higher portion of their revenues to Microsoft (and pay much more for publishing, too). And that's why I don't believe CG will ever have Achievements. =(

WiNG [XBL&Steam: WiNGSPANTT] from lifeinagame.com @ Apr 1st 2009 9:30AM

XNA community sales would skyrocket if:

1. Achievements were included
2. Games could be priced at any range
3. There was more done to advertise them or highlight the standouts

Jerk Face @ Apr 1st 2009 9:37AM

4. Less shitty games.

Greyseal @ Apr 1st 2009 9:35AM

Joystiq seems to be taking this up as a pet concern these past few days... maybe they can launch a site or service dedicated to reviewing and promoting overlooked XNA gems? It'd be nice to see these developers given a chance to shine -- maybe sites like this can help.

PeacefulOutrage @ Apr 1st 2009 4:25PM

It would be nice if they did put more exposure out there for developers, but Target and the like don't advertise for all of their products. Developers have to be inventive, maybe having contests with popular sites for download keys or viral sites, ads or videos.

jaybird1905 @ Apr 1st 2009 9:41AM

April Fool's!

XNA still sucks.

Jcarpio @ Apr 1st 2009 10:58AM

And you're still a moron. So you win!

jaybird1905 @ Apr 1st 2009 11:04AM

How?

Look at iPhone development vs. XBLA development ... people are making buttloads of cash with Apple compared to the mediocre sales on XBLA.

I'm a 360 fanboy, but using XNA to get to XBLA sucks.

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 11:32AM

You say that people are making buttloads of cash on iPhone, but the reality is that most iPhone developers do not make very much at all. Now that there are so many thousands of games on it selling for $1 and $2, it has become extremely difficult for most new devs to get noticed. Some don't get noticed at all.

One XNA developer who had modest sales claimed that he had four iPhone apps currently out (one free, three paid). He said that he made more money on the single Community Game he wrote than from all of his iPhone work combined.

Yes, the top-selling iPhone devs made more than the top-selling CG devs. But that doesn't paint the whole picture.

jaybird1905 @ Apr 1st 2009 11:38AM

My balls are the size of grapefruits.

I win.

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 1:20PM

Well, if we start with that hypothesis and then analyze the ...

... I've got nothing. =) lol

Rhamsey @ Apr 1st 2009 9:43AM

i would try moving my games to the 360, but until the allow 1 dollar pricing, and a better system, i will keep mine on windows live and the zune. people love your product so much more if the dont have to pay for it (or its really cheap), but i make no money...

Outinthedark @ Apr 1st 2009 12:18PM

The only thing that can win me over to the XNA community games is if the DRM restrictions of having to be connected to XBL are removed. I find the community games to be cripple ware thanks to the DRM.

It's hard to support those indi developers when their backbone is so broken. The XNA needs an overhaul to promote those games properly, better organization, and give full functional licenses.

Without those things we are left, as consumers, unsatisfied with the community games. Having to jump through hoops to just find a decent game is well too many hoops. I have found plenty of games that warrant their price tag [mostly puzzle] but I want to be able to play those games wherever and whenever not just when I'm connected to XBL.

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 1:37PM

Community Games require that you're signed into XBL at the time that you launch them; my theory is that this happens because they're not ESRB-rated, and your age can be verified this way. After the initial launch, you can disconnect if you wish. But what's the big deal anyway? Why would you not want to be connected to Live? And since you needed to be connected to download the games in the first place, connectivity should be a given.

As a Community Game creator, I'm happy that a good DRM system is in place. Many iPhone devs may lose much of their potential profit because their apps are pirated; new iPhone apps are cracked and distributed via torrents almost immediately. The DRM systems on today's consoles are necessary to protect content creators, and Microsoft's is the system that gets in a user's way the least, as long as you have an Internet connection where you go to play your games.

Outinthedark @ Apr 1st 2009 1:45PM

yyr plain and simple. I bought ZP2K9 to support James Silva. I took my box to a friends house to play and was given this ugly screen saying I needed to connect to XBL to play. I couldn't because he does not have a cable or dsl.

That is frustrating when I bought the game I should be able to play it whenever I want. It's silly a game I just bought I could not play because I am required to have an internet connection. XBLA games do not require an internet connection why must community games?

DRM is one thing but this really cripples the community games in my opinion. Read the flak on the xbox.com forums about mandatory live connection for the community games. I would love to take my 1600 point cards and blow them on the community games but I can't because I'm not really buying the game.

Look at it from a consumer point of view.

Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Apr 1st 2009 2:03PM

yyr

Outinthedark makes a valid point and if it keeps him from purchasing your product then it's probably the same as many other consumers. Why buy something you don't really own? Gaming has always been a social activity and if he can't share this great game with his buddy then how do you (as a developer) expect word of mouth to get around so people will check out your game?

yyr @ Apr 1st 2009 4:36PM

I'm not saying that it's good that you have to be connected to XBL to run CG. Yeah, it sucks, and it has turned out to be inconvenient for me at least once before. I'm just saying that there's no need to get angry at the DRM. There was a specific reason for this: parental controls.

Anyway, despite the fact that it sucks, there's nothing we as creators can do except deal with it, and try to make our games enjoyable enough that folks will buy them despite their shortcomings.

Levi @ Apr 1st 2009 1:09PM

So many ideas, so little time. Thank you, MultiMedia Fusion... Maybe I'll get to learning XNA someday.

Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Apr 1st 2009 1:58PM

I think the problem with community games is that because they are off in their own little spot and don't have achievements that people get the impression they are inferior crap compared to true XBLA titles. It's like a big billboard reading "EXPERIMENTAL CRAP MADE BY NOVICES" though it couldn't be further from the truth. It's a cool feature and a great way for some to have an avenue to release an actual game but something needs to be done to remove the stigma attached with the games.

I've seen developers of those community games try and do incentives to get people to purchase the game like cash prizes for getting all the acievement equivelant but they can't seem to get noticed or get any press. It seems MS isn't interested in it and the media and blogs in general don't seem to be all that interested in promoting these products either. It could be a simple review of the new CG's each week like we get with XBLA titles.