But from a business perspective on THEIR part, it makes total sense. They need new customers, and new revenue streams. And this new model is, lets be honest, a great way of getting them.
Unfortunately, it will alienate a great portion of their existing customer base.....but that customer base has already given them their money....so from a purely monetary point of view, those people are spent....and of course there WILL be some who move over to the new model too.
I think there are good and bad sides to this change.
1. Having their own submission system outside of apple and giving us things for free means they will want to make money from us to use their system even if our games do not sell. How they do this, we have to wait and see. I just hope it does not backfire on them. 2. If we get version 1.0 as a polished product with no memory leaks and crashes and the performance really improves to the point you could make a reasonable shooter or other game with lots of actors on screen then any additional cost may seem worth it.
Any new developers looking for a game system are going to read these forum messages and not like the fact that Gamesald do not communicate very well with their user base. Stopping users from being independents and forcing the GS store/iTunes route could damage their reputation with their games having the GS logo. Once branded with a bad rep, it's very hard to recover. Very few people on this forum who talk to other game devs will admit to using gamesalad. They may say they use box2d and who can blame them.
@beyondthetech: Until the community sees proof that GameSalad can even step into the role of a publisher; pretty much everything you stated is nothing more than rhetoric.
While I believe they need a business model to stay afloat, I am not sure there is value solely in what (little) was shared here today. Unless you know something that the rest of us don't...
I think the funny part is that their tagline, especially if they go the route of vetting apps like you suggest, really fits with their business strategy:
"game creation for the rest of us ™"
Is it really? Seems like another EA in the making so far...
@Sparkyidr: I understand from a "Business" perspective that they needed to do this. Clearly if they didn't, there would be no more Gamesalad, otherwise there wouldn't be such a drastic change.
It doesn't mean I have to like it.
Gamesalad is not going to be the only drag and drop tool around in the future. What will they do then?
This is in no way a competitive model, and they will pigeon hole themselves in a corner once other tools start to come out with a similar interface to theirs.
forklift said: If my app is no longer my IP, I will lose the right to make a sequel, change the game brand direction, etc.. How is any of this incentive to publish through GS?
I second this! And I still can't belive that this is happening. Clearly one of my worst day ever!
Oh... I reread the message... yeah... If GameSalad direct is the only plan, I likely will be leaving GameSalad development for one of the alternatives -- like Corona or Unity. I went through a lot of hassle to register my business with iTunes. Now I see why they kept it a secret.
butterbean said: I don't think people were asking for THIS. Mind you, people wanted all the features like iAds etc, but NOONE asked for this, and clearly our opinion didn't matter.
Well some here complained so loudly and incesently that GS did the only thing they could to quiet them.
butterbean said: @Sparkyidr: I understand from a "Business" perspective that they needed to do this. Clearly if they didn't, there would be no more Gamesalad, otherwise there wouldn't be such a drastic change.
When they called me last month to tell me this, it broke my heart. It has absolutely spiraled me into a depression.
I tried to think of different solutions, and all of the people they contacted have sent lengthy emails, phone calls, video chats, begging them to either change their minds or offer us different solutions, but it seemed too late to turn the ship around.
GameSalad is fantastic software. I LOVE using GameSalad. I love the freedom it gives me. I love building up my brand.
But I do not want a publisher.
Chillingo has contacted me about each of my games and offered to publish them for me. I turned them down every time - and they are proven and successful!
It's not about the money. You can take my money! But I will not give up my independence.
This new system will be great for kids who want to publish their first games to the App Store. But I cannot see a benefit for professional developers and businesses.
You could argue that a publisher can take you to new heights, but nobody can guarantee that. Nobody has been able to peg the App Store yet. Chillingo only seems great because hundreds of their unsuccessful apps pay for the 20 that are successful.
I hope things change in the upcoming months. We'll see.
I love GameSalad. I love the guys over at Gendai, but I do not like this new model.
And maybe I am just being negative. Maybe I am missing this great new opportunity. But I just don't see it.
your entire point is pinned to the idea that they cut the crap games. Do you really think this is going to happen when they get a publishing fee from anyone that wants to submit.
Is this based on facts or on your opinion of how it'll work? Was this mentioned at the NY meet up? I think to compare gamesalads reputation with chillingo is quite a push.
If you were a game publisher, would you accept a meager publishing fee just to get something out the door, only to tarnish your own name and reputation?
I actually have some background in this, as I used to create freestyle dance music back in the early 90's. For those not in the know, it was a latin-hip-hop-dance music style that died a rather horrible death because record producers would pump out such garbage instead of producing and pushing great hits. (For more information, read Joey Gardner's History of Freestyle here: http://music.hyperreal.org/library/history_of_freestyle.html).
There are some details that I am still not at liberty to discuss here, but it's apparent that they're switching to a publishing mode for more than one reason. $99 or $1999 for an annual GameSalad developer membership with no royalties, is not money to make a living off of. I suspect that GameSalad would have eventually gone under or been swallowed by another company, and that wouldn't have helped any of us. Also, independent developers used to have the limelight on the App Store, especially in the early days, but now, if you're not backed by a publisher, you just don't have the exposure you need. Publishers have the amount of firepower to make a good game great, and a great game a hit.
Is anyone else thinking that unless they update the fu** out of the editor and its functions, that this isnt even worth sticking about for when there are other options.
Coding through corona is quite easy and its by far more powerful in the end product. we still do coding on some level with GS, like the little paramaters we edit, so instead of putting those paramaters into a named box, you just write what the function and then give it paramaters.
A bit harder yes, takes a bit longer yes, but hold on a sec, you can put open fient in, facebook, video, multimedia, memory usage is superior, joints, any shapes, perfect collision....... eh ok. YES!
nothing needs to be done overnight. its nice yeah, but not necessary
Sparkyidr said: @Butterbean. But from a business perspective on THEIR part, it makes total sense. They need new customers, and new revenue streams. And this new model is, lets be honest, a great way of getting them.
I agree this may attract new 'developers', but it will NOT be the type of people they will want.
What half-decent developer is going to want to publish their app alongside hundreds of junk games under the same account? Following that logic, if there are no good games being released, then GameSalad would not be making significant amounts of money given that their revenue is now based on how well games sell !
There must be something missing, and it is pretty poor of them not to communicate it all at the one time.
I had a nightmare last night* that my hair was falling out, my dog was dying**, and the new iPhone games I was making were being sold in the App Store not under my studio name, but instead under the same imprimatur as shovelware from the Duck Hunt Kid.
Imagine my relief upon waking to find that my hair was not, in fact, falling out! The other parts... oh, the grim horror.
firemaplegames said: When they called me last month to tell me this, it broke my heart. It has absolutely spiraled me into a depression.
I tried to think of different solutions, and all of the people they contacted have sent lengthy emails, phone calls, video chats, begging them to either change their minds or offer us different solutions, but it seemed too late to turn the ship around.
GameSalad is fantastic software. I LOVE using GameSalad. I love the freedom it gives me. I love building up my brand.
But I do not want a publisher.
Chillingo has contacted me about each of my games and offered to publish them for me. I turned them down every time - and they are proven and successful!
It's not about the money. You can take my money! But I will not give up my independence.
This new system will be great for kids who want to publish their first games to the App Store. But I cannot see a benefit for professional developers and businesses.
You could argue that a publisher can take you to new heights, but nobody can guarantee that. Nobody has been able to peg the App Store yet. Chillingo only seems great because hundreds of their unsuccessful apps pay for the 20 that are successful.
I hope things change in the upcoming months. We'll see.
I love GameSalad. I love the guys over at Gendai, but I do not like this new model.
And maybe I am just being negative. Maybe I am missing this great new opportunity. But I just don't see it.
Fetaboy said: Maybe that's the plan. Drop pro to $1499 and suddenly everyone views it as the best deal ever!
I was close to buying a Pro subscription, but it was apparent change was coming. I waited to see if something better was on the way. Heh, but unfortunately, this change is not an improvement.
Comments
But from a business perspective on THEIR part, it makes total sense.
They need new customers, and new revenue streams. And this new model is, lets be honest, a great way of getting them.
Unfortunately, it will alienate a great portion of their existing customer base.....but that customer base has already given them their money....so from a purely monetary point of view, those people are spent....and of course there WILL be some who move over to the new model too.
1. Having their own submission system outside of apple and giving us things for free means they will want to make money from us to use their system even if our games do not sell. How they do this, we have to wait and see. I just hope it does not backfire on them.
2. If we get version 1.0 as a polished product with no memory leaks and crashes and the performance really improves to the point you could make a reasonable shooter or other game with lots of actors on screen then any additional cost may seem worth it.
Any new developers looking for a game system are going to read these forum messages and not like the fact that Gamesald do not communicate very well with their user base. Stopping users from being independents and forcing the GS store/iTunes route could damage their reputation with their games having the GS logo. Once branded with a bad rep, it's very hard to recover. Very few people on this forum who talk to other game devs will admit to using gamesalad. They may say they use box2d and who can blame them.
While I believe they need a business model to stay afloat, I am not sure there is value solely in what (little) was shared here today. Unless you know something that the rest of us don't...
I think the funny part is that their tagline, especially if they go the route of vetting apps like you suggest, really fits with their business strategy:
"game creation for the rest of us ™"
Is it really? Seems like another EA in the making so far...
It doesn't mean I have to like it.
Gamesalad is not going to be the only drag and drop tool around in the future. What will they do then?
This is in no way a competitive model, and they will pigeon hole themselves in a corner once other tools start to come out with a similar interface to theirs.
What then?
Gamesalad's New Plan= FAT MISTAKE
Thanks Gamesalad for everything, it was fun while it lasted, but I guess all good things must come to an end.
I too....am not a fan of this move.
I tried to think of different solutions, and all of the people they contacted have sent lengthy emails, phone calls, video chats, begging them to either change their minds or offer us different solutions, but it seemed too late to turn the ship around.
GameSalad is fantastic software. I LOVE using GameSalad. I love the freedom it gives me. I love building up my brand.
But I do not want a publisher.
Chillingo has contacted me about each of my games and offered to publish them for me. I turned them down every time - and they are proven and successful!
It's not about the money. You can take my money! But I will not give up my independence.
This new system will be great for kids who want to publish their first games to the App Store. But I cannot see a benefit for professional developers and businesses.
You could argue that a publisher can take you to new heights, but nobody can guarantee that. Nobody has been able to peg the App Store yet. Chillingo only seems great because hundreds of their unsuccessful apps pay for the 20 that are successful.
I hope things change in the upcoming months. We'll see.
I love GameSalad. I love the guys over at Gendai, but I do not like this new model.
And maybe I am just being negative. Maybe I am missing this great new opportunity. But I just don't see it.
I think it will backfire, but either way they were screwed I guess...
I actually have some background in this, as I used to create freestyle dance music back in the early 90's. For those not in the know, it was a latin-hip-hop-dance music style that died a rather horrible death because record producers would pump out such garbage instead of producing and pushing great hits. (For more information, read Joey Gardner's History of Freestyle here: http://music.hyperreal.org/library/history_of_freestyle.html).
There are some details that I am still not at liberty to discuss here, but it's apparent that they're switching to a publishing mode for more than one reason. $99 or $1999 for an annual GameSalad developer membership with no royalties, is not money to make a living off of. I suspect that GameSalad would have eventually gone under or been swallowed by another company, and that wouldn't have helped any of us. Also, independent developers used to have the limelight on the App Store, especially in the early days, but now, if you're not backed by a publisher, you just don't have the exposure you need. Publishers have the amount of firepower to make a good game great, and a great game a hit.
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Coding through corona is quite easy and its by far more powerful in the end product.
we still do coding on some level with GS, like the little paramaters we edit, so instead of putting those paramaters into a named box, you just write what the function and then give it paramaters.
A bit harder yes, takes a bit longer yes, but hold on a sec,
you can put open fient in, facebook, video, multimedia, memory usage is superior, joints, any shapes, perfect collision....... eh ok. YES!
nothing needs to be done overnight. its nice yeah, but not necessary
What half-decent developer is going to want to publish their app alongside hundreds of junk games under the same account? Following that logic, if there are no good games being released, then GameSalad would not be making significant amounts of money given that their revenue is now based on how well games sell !
There must be something missing, and it is pretty poor of them not to communicate it all at the one time.
You can't just wake up one day and all of a sudden decide, oh we're going to be a publisher.
Gamesalad will still continue to have crap games published under them, especially with this new system.
This is just a BAD idea!
Imagine my relief upon waking to find that my hair was not, in fact, falling out! The other parts... oh, the grim horror.
*okay, not really.
**alas, yes really. ;_;
I personally don't think your being negative, you're being realistic.
And it's true, this new plan will shut down professional developers, because they want to build their own brand.
They'll be left with crap developers, and why on earth would they want to market their games?
I think this whole thing is a very bad idea, and they should have at least offered options.
Here's to hoping down the line that they change their mind before it's too late, and we up and leave them for another program.
I feel like they dooped me. Really bad.
Some of us have been there from the beginning, and I really never expected this to happen
wicked post.
You just summed up the feelings of a nation (a small...web based nation albeit)