[casual_games] selling game online

[Brian Robbins]

While Russel and James C Smith have straightened people out with
regards to Reflexive, Greg's post seems to be relatively accurate for
a lot of the publishers and portals.

One of the things developers really need to be clear about when
signing a deal is what deductions come off before the rev share. I
have myself dealt with examples where a 30% rev share deal actually
generated more revenue per sale than a 50% rev share that pulled out
affiliate, download, drm, extortion fees, etc off the top.

What's going to become more of a problem in the next several months is
the increasing push for discounts and package deals. As James
Gwertzman pointed out we're quickly going to a market where the
discounts and percentages aren't coming from an initial $20 sale, but
from a much lower number as part of a game bundle.

The solution right now is to change the business from a purely rev
share deal, which worked great a few years ago, to a wholesale deal.
In doing so developers will be able to fix their costs and revenues
without getting screwed over too badly, while Portals and Publishers
will gain a fixed COGS and can continue to compete in the marketplace.



-- 
Brian Robbins
Executive Producer and Gaming Evangelist
Fuel Industries - www.fuelgames.com