[casual_games] Introduction and 5 BIG Questions

[Tom Gilleland]

Hello All,

My company, BeachWare has been making games and educational titles  
since 1990. We've been focused on retail and mail-order distribution,  
with a bit of contract work mixed in. I want to expand into the  
download arena, but I have a few questions that I haven't been able  
to track down good info on yet. So here goes...

1. How many downloads does a game get? (Best, typical, worst)

2. Which Publisher/Portal will sell the most units? (In retail I've  
sold more products to Walmart than all the CompUSAs, Best Buys and  
others combined, though royalties are low.)

3. For a major Publisher/Portal X, what ballpark percentage of sales  
is direct and what percentage is affiliate? (On direct sales I might  
get 30%, but I suspect affiliate sales would be only 30% of 30%, or  
about 1%.)

4. Are there any download publishers or portals to steer clear of? (I  
could list quite a few publisher/distributors in retail to stay away  
from...)

5. What is your cost (no profit) to make a top ten game? (In retail  
our development costs have been anywhere from $15,000 to $350,000! I  
would think a top ten casual game cost should be around $25,000 to  
$50,000)

I'm looking for ballpark numbers and information, so any input would  
be greatly appreciated. And if you give me some good information,  
I'll even send you a free "Zillion Sounds" CD for sound effects on  
your next title! We made this goofy sound effect collection some  
dozen years ago and we still use for every single title that we make.  
If there's some stuff that isn't appropriate to discuss openly on the  
list feel free to email me directly, though I prefer sharing  
information.

Thanks,

Tom Gilleland
tom at beachware.com
www.beachware.com