I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 564 - 180: The Game that Interpreted Joy to the Extreme!_1

Chapter 564: Chapter 180: The Game that Interpreted Joy to the Extreme!_1

Kate didn’t quite understand what had happened.

Her company, a major game publisher in Europe and America, although not as large as Blizzard and Art Electricity, had control over the largest gaming platform in Europe and America, DFgame (The Digital Frontier, the fictional gaming platform within the Blue Star universe, which will not be further explained and will be collectively referred to as DFgame).

Thanks to nearly a decade of continuous optimization and upgrades within the company.

Hope Flute currently holds over 30% of the gaming distribution rights in the Europe and American market.

While it may only be 30%, this figure, when analyzed, is absolutely astronomical.

Generally speaking, for a game to be listed and available for players to play, there are three steps involved.

First, the producer/developer, referring to the game creators, ranging from an independent game designer to an entire game company, they are responsible for creating a game.

However, the vast majority of game designers or design companies do not have the capacity to manage.

Just like a vegetable farmer, their task is to grow the crops.

If it’s a small farm, beside harvesting, the farmer can also carry the produce to the market to sell directly.

But once the scale expands to a few or even more than ten acres, they are too busy to manage, let alone sell the produce at the market.

Moreover, even if they could achieve direct sales.

Facing tons of fruits and vegetables, one cannot expect a long line in front of their stall, with everyone coming to buy their produce.

Thus, there is another link in the chain.

The distributors.

They are responsible for purchasing large quantities of produce from the farmers and then distributing them in the market to regional agricultural agents, eventually reaching consumers.

The game industry operates similarly.

Successfully creating a game already exhausts the entire energy of a game company.

From a game’s inception to its public release, including but not limited to "materials, screenshots, copywriting, promotional CG needed for listing", "media trials, press releases", "various game expos", "continuous operation of social media"

Game production companies, without knowing whether their game will be a big hit, do not have the surplus funds to establish a new direct sales channel.

Therefore, publishers have emerged.

They take on this element.

They specialize in promotional marketing, ongoing operations, social media, and a series of packaging assistance.

Although everyone knows that as long as a game is well-made, it will gradually build a good reputation even without a publisher.

But the problem is, in any industry, the top performers are always in the minority.

Most people are mediocre, and the game industry is no exception.

If everyone could create hit games every time, who wouldn’t want to do it?

Unfortunately, most games have both strengths and weaknesses or only appeal to a small portion of players.

This is when the role of publishers becomes incredibly significant.

A game released through a publisher can sometimes sell a hundred to a thousand times more than one slowly promoted by an individual designer.

This type of example is not rare within the industry.

Of course, publishers who handle so many tasks also extract a hefty share from the game’s revenues.

For a game priced at 100 yuan, the publisher generally takes a cut of 40 to 80 yuan from that sum.

There is no upper limit.

Sometimes, for a game selling at 100 yuan, it’s not unusual for publishers to take 95 yuan of that.

Larger game manufacturers have more leverage when dealing with publishers and can negotiate greater profits for themselves.

Smaller game companies, on the other hand, typically compromise within the 60% to 80% revenue share range.

For some individual independent games, they might even be outright bought by the publisher.

They give you thirty-five thousand yuan, and the game has nothing to do with you anymore.

It doesn’t matter how well it sells afterward, you won’t get a cent more.

Disagree?

If you disagree, then go find someone more capable.

Or figure out the promotion and marketing yourself.

When the entire market is dominated by publishers with high revenue shares.

Game designers are essentially just vegetable farmers in disguise.

And if one thinks publishers are the biggest vampires, that would be a huge mistake.

Above the publishers, there are even higher powers!

The gaming platforms!

As the trading channel, they are also the final point where players directly spend money.

Gaming platforms hold the greatest power of speech.

After all, whether you are a game company or a game publisher.

You’ve developed a game and marketed it.

But you still need a channel for players to acquire this game, right?

Gaming platforms have emerged to complete the last link, forming a closed loop from game development and production to distribution, and finally into the hands of players.

Typically on Blue Star, the revenue share taken by game platforms fluctuates between 20% and 50%.

It depends on the final deal that the publisher negotiates with the platform.

And this share is calculated after excluding the game company.

That is, for a game priced at 100 yuan, if the platform takes a 50% cut.

Then only 50 yuan makes it to the publisher’s hands.

Out of this 50 yuan, with a 70-30 split with the developer.

The end result for a game with a sale price of 100 yuan, the actual money that ends up in the designer’s hands, is merely 15 yuan.

This is why on the Blue Star market, a game that seems even remotely decent starts in the hundreds.

For 3D blockbuster games, they aim for four to five hundred yuan.

If the manufacturer has a bigger name, it’s not impossible for the price to soar to seven or eight hundred yuan.

Now, let’s turn back to look at Hope Flute.