October 13, 2009 at 16:36Space Arcade Osmos: an example of promotion through independent festivals
The gold rush around iPhone applications shows that independent developers can easily distribute their games on their own and make good money on it. For Windows, the situation is worse, but here things are moving off the ground.
There are already a number of examples of how small studios make themselves known at independent game festivals, and then distribute the distribution from their website and through various specialized services such as Steam and Direct2Drive . Forbes writes about new trends in the gaming market .
As a business case of an independent game, the magazine leads the space casual arcade Osmosproduced by the American studio Hemisphere Games. Plot: extraterrestrial creatures in the form of balls fly around space and absorb each other (the size of the ball increases), moving with the help of emission of dark matter (the size of the ball decreases). The game is different with unique gameplay and an excellent soundtrack. Ideal for relaxing office workers during a lunch break.
Osmos first exhibited at the IGF Independent Games Festival , where she won a $ 10,000 prize from Direct2Drive. In September, she was selected to the elite top ten independent games PAX 10 , and at another major IndieCade festival in early October, this game won in two categories at once, including the absolute one. As a result, the demo version of Osmos sold over 60,000 copies. Surely part of those who tried the game bought the full version for $ 10.
Thus, independent festivals become a real way to get started for beginner game developers for Windows. Although at the moment all the same, the iPhone platform probably looks more profitable for casual games. At least the same Osmos, which is now being ported to the iPhone, may well earn more money here than on its Windows version.
There are already a number of examples of how small studios make themselves known at independent game festivals, and then distribute the distribution from their website and through various specialized services such as Steam and Direct2Drive . Forbes writes about new trends in the gaming market .
As a business case of an independent game, the magazine leads the space casual arcade Osmosproduced by the American studio Hemisphere Games. Plot: extraterrestrial creatures in the form of balls fly around space and absorb each other (the size of the ball increases), moving with the help of emission of dark matter (the size of the ball decreases). The game is different with unique gameplay and an excellent soundtrack. Ideal for relaxing office workers during a lunch break.
Osmos first exhibited at the IGF Independent Games Festival , where she won a $ 10,000 prize from Direct2Drive. In September, she was selected to the elite top ten independent games PAX 10 , and at another major IndieCade festival in early October, this game won in two categories at once, including the absolute one. As a result, the demo version of Osmos sold over 60,000 copies. Surely part of those who tried the game bought the full version for $ 10.
Thus, independent festivals become a real way to get started for beginner game developers for Windows. Although at the moment all the same, the iPhone platform probably looks more profitable for casual games. At least the same Osmos, which is now being ported to the iPhone, may well earn more money here than on its Windows version.