Support us on Patreon
PayPalThe developer of the game 'Steam Marines' [Official Site, Steam] has been talking about sales of the game, and Linux represented 2% of the total.
Here's a reminder on what the game is:
Direct Link
It's worth noting that Mac only hit 3%, considering their marketshare on Steam is a lot higher than ours, that's surprising.
Steam Marines 1 lifetime sales are (approximately) 3% Mac and 2% Linux.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
So. It's generally not profitable for me to support them.
The developer did say that they will continue to support us, even if it's not financially sound for them to do so. That alone should be applauded.
The developer also noted that Linux users didn't generally need much help:
Linux users almost never contact me for tech support. And the 95% of Windows users represent less than 50% of my tech support issues.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
One Tweet in particular caught my attention:
95% of the sales came from Windows users. This was despite Linux users arguing that lots would buy if a Linux version was made available.
— Steamed Buns Bums (@Worthless_Bums) November 8, 2016
I've said it before, and I will say it again, don't bug developers for a Linux version if you aren't personally interested and plan to buy it. It can create situations like this, but it's also worth noting that the developer may have overestimated how much they would make from Linux.
Linux only represents currently 0.89% of the Steam user-base, so 2% of your overall sales to have come from Linux is actually quite healthy. To me, that says the developer expected a little too much. That 2% figure is more than other developers have seen.
It's also worth noting that Steam Marines came to Linux around a year after the original Windows release. Games that don't get a day-1 Linux release often tend to see lower Linux sales as a result of many factors. The first being that Windows obviously had around a year extra to bring in sales, Linux as mentioned above is a smaller market, dual-booters often become impatient and buy a Windows copy, some people use Wine and so on. A day-1 Linux release is generally a must-do if you want to see good sales and support from Linux gamers.
Still, it's great to see developers speaking about this in the open and if you like the look of Steam Marines go pick up a copy and support an indie developer.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
raverrebel Nov 8, 2016
Quoting: veccherhe said 3% of mac users represents 50% of his support issues, 2 options: he have a problem with his mac version or mac users are quite annoyng.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
I think he meant that 50% of the reported issues by Windows users are actually not issues but user caused problems. The other 50% are technical issues.
On a more serious note, the fact we're not so taxing on support should be another reason just for supporting us. And as for the other issue of people buying the windows version: don't buy the windows version. Then there's of course the group that has played through wine and lost interest altogether.
QuoteI've said it before, and I will say it again, don't bug developers for a Linux version if you aren't personally interested and plan to buy it. It can create situations like this, but it's also worth noting that the developer may have overestimated how much they would make from Linux.
Well, according Steamspy the game has sold more or less 100.000 units (on Steam, or activated or played on Steam) which leads to approximatively 2.000 units accounted for Linux players (which is not that bad for a 20€ game - not a cheap one - with mixed reviews). From Steam forum I would say that there is less than 2.000 Linux players who were asking for a Linux version. ^^
Quoting: raverrebelQuoting: veccherhe said 3% of mac users represents 50% of his support issues, 2 options: he have a problem with his mac version or mac users are quite annoyng.
but 2% for linux even after being launched 1 year after the windows version is quite a good number actually.
I think he meant that 50% of the reported issues by Windows users are actually not issues but user caused problems. The other 50% are technical issues.
QuoteAnd btw, that 3% of Mac users represents over 50% of my support issues. So extra bad for Mac.
Source
;)
If you believe steamspy, this got 111,707 ± 8,641 sales. Lets just imagine 111k players, of which 2% would be 2220 Linux players. Then lets assume a bizarre idea that they all got it for its lowest price on humble bundle (90% off), at 2eur, which I believe does not even count as Linux sale. It would be 4440Eur at that, which for such a simplistic and easy to port game should already be a tad less than extra money, ooor if we approximate and take 50% off (10eur), and get like 22,2k euros. I need about a couple years to earn this kind of money. And it came only from Linux. How long should it take to port to Linux, or how much should you pay Valve for this money to be dismissable? It really looks to me like 1-2 developers could easily spawn a game like this.
Edit: was typing too long lol, someone already tried imagining the money. But still, I find it very realistic, and I believe he just imagined overtaking Linux with a delayed port and bask in riches and fame.
Last edited by valgusk on 8 November 2016 at 4:17 pm UTC
1mHfoksd1Z Nov 8, 2016
I did that a few times as well, BUT most of the time was because I lost interest in the game in the meantime... and that is a good enough excuse IMO... Of course people are going to lose interest in your product if you take a year or more to release it for their platform.
It may also be the case that many people already owned the game and wanted a Linux version for it. The dev might have assumed those people would buy the game, or in some cases people could have said they would (lied) just to trick the dev. And yes, I really think some people lie about that... too many people say they "are going to buy another copy for their friends"... I mean come on, this probably does happen, buy not THAT much. In my case I barely have any friends that use Linux let alone use it for gaming.
Anyway, at the end of the day 2% still sounds good considering the small percentage of Linux users on Steam. Let's say the dev wanted a little more and it still looks small for it... it's ok, a little overconfident but ok. But then you look at the 3% Mac sales and those too don't seem to be enough... together they sum up to 5%.... Now if 5% of your sales are not worth it (that means you could do without them just as well) then I don't know what to say... You either have a very costly porting process and support (tho they did say, Linux users did not need any support) or you are just plain greedy.
I'm sorry if I sounded harsh but that's what I feel. I'm also taking nobody's side here. I don't know anything about the games, never promised to buy this game (didn't even knew it existed until now) and I also don't try to take the side of the users since I am not one of them (again, I don't own the game).
I am just throwing my 2 cents after reading an article just because it had financial info about Linux sales inside (which is of interest for me)
PS: My comment is based on the assumption that all the numbers/percentages posted by the dev are accurate. Tho, I think that the way Steam counts platform-specific sales is anything BUT accurate.
Last edited by 1mHfoksd1Z on 8 November 2016 at 4:22 pm UTC
Quoting: liamdaweThe thing about SteamSpy, is that you shouldn't entirely trust their data. I've seen multiple reports of it being way off. Just something to think about when quoting numbers :)
Well, for above 15.000 units it begins to give orders of magnitude (about +/- 50%) if you take data with a (large) pinch of salt (and know how Steamspy works), and above 100.000 it begins to be relatively accurate (about +/- 10%). Taking SOMA as example you find more or less what you can expect from the 450.000 units the dev' have sold (including PS4 units) in Steamspy. Note that in some cases dev' have pretended that Steamspy wasn't accurate... and some months later Steamspy was indeed right when dev' were forced to give actual numbers (that was the case for Kerbal Space Program). :)
Quoting: valguskWow either Valve or this guy is greedy.
Valve takes 30% of incomes. :)
Last edited by riusma on 8 November 2016 at 4:27 pm UTC
1mHfoksd1Z Nov 8, 2016
Quoting: riusmaQuoting: valguskWow either Valve or this guy is greedy.
Valve takes 30% of incomes. :)
Still, this is not the customer's problem or concern.
It partially comes from limited options, but still, if we reach 10℅ users publishers can expect sales of more than that.
See more from me