Sales Stats and Venture Africa, 1 year later
by Andy Schatz · 11/01/2006 (3:30 pm) · 31 comments
It's been 365 days and about 10 hours since Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa made its first sale via Trymedia to Josiah Pisciotta. Within 24 hours we had sold (only) 7 copies. A terribly stressful period, but exciting at the same time.
Original Sales Expectations: 1,000-10,000 units sold
Actual online sales (direct): 344
Additional affiliate sales: Can't say but it is a good bit more than 344.
ORIGINAL EXPECTATIONS MET (exceeded significantly when including retail sales)
My original sales expectations for the title (generated from pure guesswork) was 1,000 to 10,000 units sold. Add in affiliate sales and these numbers appear be pretty accurate. The retail version is helping us push the upper bound significantly upwards, though.
What does this suggest?
Since we make a higher percentage on our direct sales, we have been making similar amounts of money with our affiliate vs. direct sales. However, the affiliate sales are generally less work to make. Now that we have a second product going on sale, though, direct sales may increase since we can cross-sell the two titles.
Conclusion: For a first title, find as broad an audience as possible (re: affiliates). Once you can start to cross-sell, it's worth it to push the direct sales and build traffic to your site. Until then, a bare bones site is probably good enough.
For Venture Arctic, we'll be attempting to build significant traffic to our site so we can cross sell Venture Africa. When we initially launch the product, we'll be selling there exclusively. The thought is that we can find the market of people that WOULD HAVE bought the game from an affiliate and get them to buy it from our site instead.
Russ Carroll (of GameTunnel) is always saying that you are an idiot not to go with as broad a market as possible since the audiences of the portals often don't shop anywhere but their preferred portal. Our first two months of selling Venture Arctic should help to prove whether or not exclusive distribution can be successful.
Keep in mind that any strategic advice here is borne not from a successful title, but a somewhat unsuccesful one (online). Most companys that are truly "making it" receive a much higher percentage of their revenue from affiliates, though in my opinion, this isn't the only way to go.
More to come on sales, strategy, and shortcomings of the last year at Pocketwatch Games...
Original Sales Expectations: 1,000-10,000 units sold
Actual online sales (direct): 344
Additional affiliate sales: Can't say but it is a good bit more than 344.
ORIGINAL EXPECTATIONS MET (exceeded significantly when including retail sales)
My original sales expectations for the title (generated from pure guesswork) was 1,000 to 10,000 units sold. Add in affiliate sales and these numbers appear be pretty accurate. The retail version is helping us push the upper bound significantly upwards, though.
What does this suggest?
Since we make a higher percentage on our direct sales, we have been making similar amounts of money with our affiliate vs. direct sales. However, the affiliate sales are generally less work to make. Now that we have a second product going on sale, though, direct sales may increase since we can cross-sell the two titles.
Conclusion: For a first title, find as broad an audience as possible (re: affiliates). Once you can start to cross-sell, it's worth it to push the direct sales and build traffic to your site. Until then, a bare bones site is probably good enough.
For Venture Arctic, we'll be attempting to build significant traffic to our site so we can cross sell Venture Africa. When we initially launch the product, we'll be selling there exclusively. The thought is that we can find the market of people that WOULD HAVE bought the game from an affiliate and get them to buy it from our site instead.
Russ Carroll (of GameTunnel) is always saying that you are an idiot not to go with as broad a market as possible since the audiences of the portals often don't shop anywhere but their preferred portal. Our first two months of selling Venture Arctic should help to prove whether or not exclusive distribution can be successful.
Keep in mind that any strategic advice here is borne not from a successful title, but a somewhat unsuccesful one (online). Most companys that are truly "making it" receive a much higher percentage of their revenue from affiliates, though in my opinion, this isn't the only way to go.
More to come on sales, strategy, and shortcomings of the last year at Pocketwatch Games...
About the author
#2
11/01/2006 (4:46 pm)
Thanks for sharing Andy, Best of luck with the new release.
#3
I must be a bit thick but in the data you are providing, I really don't see where you match your expectations 1,000-10,000.
I just got 344+344=688 if I understood everything. And I'm not sure 'cause it's late here.
Do you have details on PC vs Mac sales?
Keep up good games coming.
I will have to write to you to explain how my little 3.5 years boy crashed the iBook screen while playing YOUR game... :-/
And... if you want to plocalize it in french, you got my email.
STef
11/01/2006 (4:47 pm)
Andy: good to hear.I must be a bit thick but in the data you are providing, I really don't see where you match your expectations 1,000-10,000.
I just got 344+344=688 if I understood everything. And I'm not sure 'cause it's late here.
Do you have details on PC vs Mac sales?
Keep up good games coming.
I will have to write to you to explain how my little 3.5 years boy crashed the iBook screen while playing YOUR game... :-/
And... if you want to plocalize it in french, you got my email.
STef
#4
11/01/2006 (4:52 pm)
@Stephen- 344 direct sales + (affiliate sales which are significantly higher than 344) = 1000-10000. I can't share affiliate sales.
#5
11/01/2006 (5:15 pm)
Thanks for sharing this Andy. This should be a sobering read for developers interested in "making it big" out of the gate on a first-time product with thousands of sales. This is especially relevant since few first-time games are ready for the "prime-time" of portals. Without portals (which most first-time games won't make it on) you sold 344 copies. I know that's good, but many newcomers would think that's not very much. Expectation is key, it's long been handed out to "develop a portfolio of products" and that really is important. Your strategy to brand "Venture" from the get-go was smart and should really pay off as you continue to build the series.
#6
11/01/2006 (5:16 pm)
thanks for sharing Andy. sales expectations met...congratulations! youve done what most people here only dream of. 
#7
Hall Of Worlds - For Gamers
EdM|GPGT
11/01/2006 (5:16 pm)
@Andy - Thanks for sharing this with us. Your success is a real inspiration for me (and for others too I'm sure.) I wish you success on Venture Arctic and on cross-selling with Venture Africa.EdM|GPGT
#8
How many affiliates are selling Venture Africa? (Don't mean to be too nosy, but since you put up the post).
11/01/2006 (7:58 pm)
Congratulations. Your work serves as an ongoing inspiration. Good luck moving forward. How many affiliates are selling Venture Africa? (Don't mean to be too nosy, but since you put up the post).
#9
11/01/2006 (8:32 pm)
@Randy- To be honest, I'm not sure how many affiliates are selling it. Somewhere in the realm of 30-50 I believe. My distributors handle it mostly. 
#10
Gives me more initiative to work on my game and see if I can get some return on my investments.. :)
while sharing the indie spirit.. :)
TomFeni
11/01/2006 (11:01 pm)
I see it at Target here in Beaverton Oregon, and it seems to be on the shelves all the time so either it is selling well or is just sitting there I couldnt say.. but if it was doing poorly I am sure it would have been discounted and discontinued. If I was still working there as a stocker I could say for sure. I cant believe its been a year.. just seemed like yesterday I say your initial blog about making the game.. :)Gives me more initiative to work on my game and see if I can get some return on my investments.. :)
while sharing the indie spirit.. :)
TomFeni
#11
11/02/2006 (12:28 am)
@Tom- It has done very well at Target, which is why they continue to stock it. It has also done well at Apple stores. It performed a little more poorly at Best Buy and Walmart, which is why it was pulled after 6 months at those stores.
#12
Thanks so much for sharing this. Invaluable info for the up-and-coming Indie. Congrats, and good luck with your new title.
11/02/2006 (7:03 am)
Andy,Thanks so much for sharing this. Invaluable info for the up-and-coming Indie. Congrats, and good luck with your new title.
#13
@Andy - congrats on your good fortune - thanks for sharing your figures, it's very inspirational. Good luck with the next game - but I'm dumb and have to ask "Dahhh what's an affiliate?" Is that like MSN.Com or download.com or something? How do you approach them and do they want a cut? How much is the cut?
EDIT - @Andy - put http:// on your links as they are not resolving correctly - I think GG just changed it recently.
11/02/2006 (7:50 am)
@Tom - shelf space is precious - if it does sell, then something that does would take it's place verrrry quickly. @Andy - congrats on your good fortune - thanks for sharing your figures, it's very inspirational. Good luck with the next game - but I'm dumb and have to ask "Dahhh what's an affiliate?" Is that like MSN.Com or download.com or something? How do you approach them and do they want a cut? How much is the cut?
EDIT - @Andy - put http:// on your links as they are not resolving correctly - I think GG just changed it recently.
#14
11/02/2006 (8:27 am)
@AHawkins - Links fixed... Affiliates are portals, I use the term here to refer to portals that sell my game through a distributor such as Trymedia or GarageGames. That could include BigFish or ArcadeTown, or much smaller places as well. If you work with a distributor, the affiliate takes the first cut (generally around 50 percent), then the distributor takes their cut (often around 30-40 percent of what's left), and then you get your cut, which is anywhere from 25-40 percent, generally. You CAN approach many portals directly, but it increases your workload... that's exactly why the distributors exist. Also, a few of the top portals will ONLY accept games through a major distributor, they won't speak with small, unproven dev studios.
#15
tycoon games out there like railroad tycoon, monopoly tycoon, zoo tycoon and of course wildlife tycoon. Are their any copyright concerns with using tycoon?
11/02/2006 (12:26 pm)
I'm pretty sure you can't copyright what I'm about to ask, but figured you'd know for sure. You see a lot of
#16
For empirical proof, go to USPTO.gov and type Tycoon into the trademark search engine. What you'll find is literally a hundred games, mostly by different companies that use the word Tycoon in the title. The original users of that terms probably could have protected it when the first one came out (I think Railroad Tycoon was the first?), but at this point, the term is in general usage, so there's no was they could legally re-claim it. That's not to say you can't protect a name or part of a name. The Tetris folks are very aggressive about going after anyone who uses any variant on the word Tetris. I would also bet you would draw fire if you used the word Sim in a title (although it's perfectly acceptable to use the word "Sim" as a descriptive term.
11/02/2006 (12:38 pm)
@Jonathon- I've been asked that question about a million times :)For empirical proof, go to USPTO.gov and type Tycoon into the trademark search engine. What you'll find is literally a hundred games, mostly by different companies that use the word Tycoon in the title. The original users of that terms probably could have protected it when the first one came out (I think Railroad Tycoon was the first?), but at this point, the term is in general usage, so there's no was they could legally re-claim it. That's not to say you can't protect a name or part of a name. The Tetris folks are very aggressive about going after anyone who uses any variant on the word Tetris. I would also bet you would draw fire if you used the word Sim in a title (although it's perfectly acceptable to use the word "Sim" as a descriptive term.
#17
-It imbues a certain "branding" on the product
-It communicated very clearly what type of game it is (which is very important considering that many people that buy Tycoon games don't follow games closely)
-It has immediate appeal to publishers since since sales numbers for Tycoon games are on average quite high for PC games.
It comes down to this:
The game is art, the title is marketing.
11/02/2006 (1:10 pm)
By the way, keep in mind that a name is just a name. Some may scoff at the word since there are many "Tycoon" names out there. But think about the benefits of the word Tycoon:-It imbues a certain "branding" on the product
-It communicated very clearly what type of game it is (which is very important considering that many people that buy Tycoon games don't follow games closely)
-It has immediate appeal to publishers since since sales numbers for Tycoon games are on average quite high for PC games.
It comes down to this:
The game is art, the title is marketing.
#18
tycoon or attempt at something else.
I believe Rollercoaster Tycoon was the first Tycoon game, but I may be wrong.
11/02/2006 (2:03 pm)
I agree completely. I was simply asking because I thought of a 'tycoon' game and was wondering if I should name it I believe Rollercoaster Tycoon was the first Tycoon game, but I may be wrong.
#19
in partnership with Chris Sawyer.
And it's still one of my fav games since it's release and till now :)
btw, in "game notes" of TrT I found the following:
11/02/2006 (2:40 pm)
"Transport Tycoon" by Microprose. Released on Nov 3, 1994in partnership with Chris Sawyer.
And it's still one of my fav games since it's release and till now :)
btw, in "game notes" of TrT I found the following:
Quote:Transport Tycoon is the sequel to the popular Railroad Tycoon from our favorite strategy game designing team. Tycoon lets you build a huge transport empire from the ground up. Enjoy the intuitive interface, clean graphics, and addictive gameplay of a release that's sure to be an instant classic.
Torque Owner Edward Smith
Silencersoft