LogInIt's time to confront this issue head-on and examine the statistics at hand.
Image credit: Gamalytic
The profitability of game development has become a pressing concern for many developers in today's industry. While creating games is undoubtedly a passion that brings joy and fulfillment, the financial aspect cannot be overlooked. After all, making games that don't pay off can put a strain on resources and hinder sustainable growth.
A recent revealing infographic shared by Gamalytic sheds light on a startling fact: over 50% of games on Steam have generated less than $1,000 in revenue lifetime to date.
Image credit: Gamalytic
Other data shows that over the past three years, an astounding 41,000 games have been launched on Steam, constituting a significant 58% of the platform's current library. Yet, when it comes to financial success, the outlook for these releases might be less than remarkable, particularly if your primary objective is to generate profit.
This data provided poses an important question for aspiring professional PC game developers how concerned should you be about this information?
According to the latest research provided by GameDiscoverCo, you shouldn't be worried, and here's why.
Reasons
- Many games in the less than $5,000 revenue range on Steam are hobbyist projects, making it difficult to distinguish between solo-developed and team-developed games.
- There is a rise in successful games coming from the "hobbyist" tier, with small and/or self-funded teams leading the way.
- Examples like Sunkenland, reminiscent of Raft, and Thronefall, developed by a two-person team, highlight the success of these smaller projects.
- The gaming industry is experiencing a saturation of titles, with the "bathtub" of games getting fuller. Supply and demand dynamics play a significant role, influencing the market.
- The lack of a reset in the PC and console generation leads to an ever-growing number of games, bigger backlogs for players, and an overall high supply of titles.
Image credit: Gamalytic
The market may not be in a disastrous state. In fact, the total number of successful new games continues to surpass that of previous years.
If you want to learn more, you can check the Gamalytic infographic and the research made by GameDiscoverCo. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.