Steam vs Gamejolt vs Itch.io

[SilverSpook]

I've currently got my game store set up on Itch.io, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with any or all of those sites, and would care to comment?  Since a lot of traffic for my game (Neofeud) is coming from social media or my own site, I wonder if it would make a big difference to add it to Gamejolt.  I'm a bit skittish since they have more KYC stuff.  Steam Greenlight I heard might be going away so I'm also reluctant to put up the $100 entry to jut get a shot at getting greenlit.

Anyway, just curious if any commercial devs might put in their two-cents on experiences with these sites, thanks!

[m0ds]

Think of it as "100 dollars to get on Steam" rather than to "have a shot at greenlight". Because you need a real train-wreck of a game to get rejected on Greenlight. Basically they greenlight everything and anything that looks and acts like a game, which Neofeud appears to do. It also means (well, it has until now) that you can put future games thru Greenlight for free. Granted, with the changes looming soon that could incur new costs, that point is becoming less valid as each day passes. But once you're on the system you're on it for life, why not do it sooner rather than later? I've had a peek at the others but don't use them, tbh, I prefer my income to come from one or two places rather than 10, and want to build better relationships with the fewer distributors I choose to use, but that's personal preference. There is absolutely no reason to assume traffic to your game is going to be any higher on Steam than any of the others. What matters there is mostly just how good a game you've made and whether people are going to spread the word about it.

[shaun9991]

Our game "A Date in the Park" got more downloads in its first couple of days on Steam than it did in 2 years on Gamejolt. Granted, the game is free, but still, Steam has a much bigger user base. Our games have always had waaay more downloads on Gamejolt than itch. Though again, they are free games.

I would get Neofeud up on Greenlight ASAP to be honest Though be prepared for a very critical audience.

[SilverSpook]

Yes, I have a free game up on Itch.io that I off-handedly made in a week with some AGS folks that has hundreds of downloads.

Once you start charging money, that number drops a magnitude, unfortunately.

As I understand it, Steam takes a bigger cut of the revenue, whereas Itch.io let's you set the revenue split (you can actually make it 100% for yourself, but that's a dick move).  I know it might be kind of a "hush-hush" thing, but can anyone hint at the Steam cut or *coughjustmessagemecough*?

[CaptainD]

I don't know if it would get anyone into trouble (potentially) giving out details like that?  Industry standard is around 30% so I guess it would be there or thereabouts.

[m0ds]

Yep, they're all 30. steam, gog, humble store, zodiac, gamersgate... it's no big secret. As CaptainD says, industry does industry standard. (revealing steam's sale dates however, IS a big secret, and that could very much get you penalized). Oh and that reminds me, humble widget is another one to look into. that's 5%. but as you say, you've got to pull in the numbers to make it worth it... When I used e-junkie (which was a monthly fee of 20 dollars, 100% revenue) the numbers were good, people were buying stuff thru our site. switched to humble widget (due to EU tax regulations, haha, fuck EU today!!) and now we're lucky to shift a few copies a month...gah! But in a way, humble widget is a bit like reselling steam keys...so as long as the steam figures churn, humble widget sales are less of an issue.

As a side note, here in the UK as of Jan 2015 it became mandatory to pay VAT on any digital item sold (until then you were able to sell £80,000 worth and then you would pay VAT) and alongside that it meant filing VAT returns for each individual EU state, several of which couldn't decide at the time if they were actually in the EU or not. This is a big reason I am pro-Brexit because the EU took away something that had been in place for decades, just when I reached it. Fuck 'em. Side side note, when I say "EU" I'm talking about the bureaucrats in Brussels that seem hell bent on a Europe-wide super-state of shared regulations laws and commerce, not the individual countries (which I would call "Europe") E-junkie did not do the VAT returns on your behalf (and still don't), thankfully all the big games distributors do. That said, this is mostly something UK/EU folks have to worry about. If you're not in that zone it probably doesn't apply to you.

[Danvzare]

As a side note, here in the UK as of Jan 2015 it became mandatory to pay VAT on any digital item sold

Only if you sell it to another country in the EU. If you sell it to somewhere else like America, then the old fashioned "you need to sell £80,000 worth of stuff first" rule applies. Which means you could avoid it by just not selling to any other EU country. Which if you think about it, is quite ironic.

Thankfully all of that will soon be behind us. The only decent thing to come out of Brexit is probably the only thing no one has actually mentioned.

[m0ds]

The only decent thing to come out of Brexit is probably the only thing no one has actually mentioned.

Yep, irony - but irony like a fist up the butt! What do you mean ^ there, the EU tax thing? Have you heard somewhere they may revert it back?

[Dave Gilbert]

Like it or lump it, Steam is THE place PC gamers get their games. There are other places, but Steam accounts for at least 90% of them. Getting your game on Steam is the bare minimum of what you need to do in order to sell your game. And like Mark says, passing through Greenlight is ridiculously easy now. You just pay the fee, submit it, and wait. Valve hands out Greenlight approvals like candy and it's rare that it will take more than a month or two. It's better you do this now than later, because Steam might be dropping Greenlight in favor of the more expensive Direct. So get on it soon. And for your next game, I would strongly suggest starting your Greenlight campaign before you launch!

[SilverSpook]

Well, I can't say no to that advice!  Thanks man!

Cool, that was fast!  Just added Neofeud to Steam Greenlight.

[Danvzare]

Yep, irony - but irony like a fist up the butt! What do you mean ^ there, the EU tax thing? Have you heard somewhere they may revert it back?

Well I've not heard that they'll revert it back. But considering it's enforced by the EU, and Britain will be leaving the EU in 2019 (I think), I presume it won't apply anymore. Of course I could be wrong. We'll have to wait and see.

Well, I can't say no to that advice!  Thanks man!

Cool, that was fast!  Just added Neofeud to Steam Greenlight.

Wow, congratulations. That was fast!
I bet you're glad you put it up there.

[Frodo]

If you can get your game on GOG, you're golden.   

Unlike steam, GOG has no nasty DRM to contend with.

[SilverSpook]

I have submitted to GOG as well.  You can get Neofeud DRM free already at the Itch.io store, right now.