Project monetization
Added 2021-10-29 06:27:44 +0000 UTCFor over a year Cyberpink: Tactics Patreon page has had this in it's about message "I want to make it a free game and actually finish it too." I wanted to see if this game's development could fund itself without actually requiring people to pay to play. By now this specific idea seems unrealistic and my plan has to change. I'll share my thought process and plan changes here.
How bad is the current funding method? The income has been at around $60 per month for the past 7 months. It has collected up to around $500 in total. It seems to be enough for getting voice acting for 1-2 characters for a few cutscenes. Maybe enough money for some music or sound effect work. Definitely not enough to cover the audio needs of the game.
What would be a good income amount? A good income would cover all the audio needs and leave extra for me too. Around $1000 per month would be a good income I think. A few hundred per month should be able to cover at least most of the audio needs.
The changes
For now I'll make the next version of the game patrons only. Version 0.17 is pretty much ready and I plan on releasing it within this week. All the older versions remain free.
After that at some point I'll rework the reward tiers. Personalized animation and characters sound like cool ideas, but I feel like they don't work too well as tiers. One month is not enough time to deliver on these. Also, if someone has a really cool idea, it shouldn't be blocked because of a tier (this far it hasn't either).
I'll keep the changes for a few months to see how they affect the project. Feel free to share your thoughts or ideas with me in the comments or direct messages.
