Writer of the article here. If you've got any input/experience/questions/etc. on how discounts affect sales, let me know! The post is intended to be a living guide, so I'll updated it as I come across more useful information.
Great post. Random question: do the game storefronts offer much help with (or indeed, exert much control over) how to get value out of sales? I'm reminded of the famous "Dark side of Indie PR" article[1], where the author suggested (2nd comment) that devs selling through Steam don't necessarily control when or how much their games are discounted. Though your account of Jason Rohrer's game obviously tells a different story. Or is it something you can comment on?
Hmm. That's something I hadn't considered. It's clear you have the option of whether or not your game is included in a sales promotion, but I'm not sure how much influence Valve has when it comes to price. I'll reach out to the indie devs I wrote about and see what the word is.
Another angle to sales that I'd love to hear more about is how sales affect multiplayer games through their communities. When I'm considering purchasing an multiplayer game that has been out for a while I'll try to get a sense for the size and 'health' of the community. If the player base is small I know I'll only get in the occasional game and be learning to swim around hyper-experienced sharks. If the player base is larger I'll expect learning the game is more fun / less punishing.
Both as a newcomer to a older game and as an 'established' player my perception is that sales tend to bring in a bunch of new players juicing the number of active players/servers for a time (good thing). Because of network effects in MP games, I'd imagine that injecting some fresh new blood into a community is a good way to attract more players even after the sale is over.
Good point. The Castle Doctrine used sales promotions to build its initial player base, but not for injecting some fresh blood down the line. I'll do some digging!
Edmund McMillen (of The Binding of Isaac) surprised me by stating quite clearly that it isn't all roses!
> i have personally noticed a decline of sales and $ of both smb and isaac in the years we did humble bundles.
> for both games the next years sales were a lot higher than the year we put them in bundles.. so i do think for more well known games that bundles can actually hurt sales a bit.. other devs might find different numbers but for us this was the case
I think he hit the nail on the head: for games that already have plenty of exposure, promotions/discounts are more likely to cannibalize sales. Thanks for putting that on my radar!
This is why Nintendo rarely has sales. You completely destroy your brand when you say it's really only worth X percent of what you're normally charging. The same could be stated for anything, really. It's all in perceived value. Sounds a little crude, but we apply the same theories in dating that we do to IP. If something is more easily available we're not always willing to go out of our way to get it - or something to that effect. My coffee is still brewing.
