Hello Games’ inaugural venture into the digital distribution arena has been a resounding success. Joe Danger, with his audacious stunt antics and engaging gameplay, has not only struck a chord with critics, but ranked up some impressive sales for a PSN-only title.
Speaking at Develop in Brighton today, Hello Games’ Sean Murray has commented on the decision to go PSN-exclusive along with the whole thorny topic of distributing a game without the backing of a publisher.
While extolling the virtues of the self-publishing model along with how the PSN operates in general, Murray was less than complimentary about rival network Xbox Live. He stated:
“XBLA is kind of a slaughterhouse for smaller developers. There are games that do amazingly well, but there’s two titles released every week and a lot of those are falling in that 25,000 or less category.”
Murray quotes some startling XBLA figures, claiming 47% of all XBLA titles sell less than 25,000 copies. Only a select few (17%) sell over 200,000. As stated earlier, Joe Danger managed to crawl back its development cost on its very first day of release, chalking up an impressive 50,000 units downloaded at that day alone.
Murray goes further and describes the self-publishing model as something small companies pretty much have to follow in order to retain creative freedom. Painting a bleak picture of how publishers view small developers, Murray suggests third-party publishers still view indie houses as “the ginger step-child” of the industry.
Comically, the studio lead regaled the crowd with some astonishing stories about pitching Joe Danger to the large distributors. Dealing with monkeys is putting it lightly, with one publisher apparently stating: “Name me one popular game with motorbikes. Can Joe be a monkey? We like monkeys.”
The studio are now moving forward with their next game, while suggesting that doubling the size of the team (from a whole four to an almost mind-boggling eight) could have significant impact on what their next game could be. Murray claims:
“What we could do with eight people could be f***ing amazing”.
Source: Eurogamer
GeneralJeeb
“What we could do with eight people could be f***ing amazing”.
I love this comment. Hope their next game is just as fun and charming as Joe Danger!
GeneralJeeb
Oh also, considering the day Joe Danger was release was the day PSN went down for a very very long time, those sales are pretty darn good no, congrats to the devs!
cc_star
I’d say that the PSN titles aren’t better than XBLA titles – its pretty even, so the fact there is more titles released on XBLA makes me a bit jealous… not that I’d be able to afford more purchases.
and to the publisher who said: “Name me one popular game with motorbikes. Can Joe be a monkey? We like monkeys.”
I say Road Rash… now get it remade!
wuntunzee
can you imagine playing this –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvHz2u-33Y4
while listening to Go With The Flow –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE
Typhoon
I disagree, all but one of my PSN games are only availiable on PSN, and the only LIVE exclusive game that I can think of that i’d want is that South Park one, and that’s only because it’s South Park.
beneddy
i love joe danger and would be interested in what ever they make next
either in a four or eight man team im sure it will be awesome
bunimomike
“the ginger step-child” – Hahahahahaha! Really, quite superb! :-)
wuntunzee
I cannot extol Joe Danger enough, looking forward to at least a sequel, but more enticingly, something completely different.
upselo
Great that they were able to cover development costs during the first day. I’m still struggling a bit with the game (I find it hard to play for too long at a time), but it’s stille quite good.
I thought I heard they would release a patch to enable custom soundtrack, does anyone have info on this ?
theDAZBOMEGATRON
Hello Games going from strength to strength already.
How many others are doing well due to PSN’s marketing model?
Thatgamecompany
Pixeljunk
Hello Games
Liverpool studios – Now Sony
Small entertaining playable games work, not just the behemoth £45 titles.
I also think it’s a good idea for devs to follow the GT:P suit and release a massive playable cut down game BEFORE the main title.
hazelam
i’d love to know who wanted the monkeys. :)
bunimomike
Cavia?
Lord_Gremlin
Of what I’m sure is that any more or less impressive game that appears in PS store gets a lot of attention.