Why is a sequel to one of the most beloved modern indies priced lower than a two hour experimental platformer or a boutique narrative game?
Silksong strategy: Volume over margin
Silksong is going to sell dozens of millions of copies! It has been hyped and expected for many years. The studio does not need to squeeze higher margins from each purchase because the scale of the audience will make up for it.
This strategy works for Team Cherry and maybe for Toby Fox, but the rest of us have to approach things differently 🥲. This charts explains it well 👇
Smaller indie games strategy: Base price sets perceived value and discount culture
One of the saddest realities in digital shops is that most players perceive the value of a game from its base price. When players are discovering new games, an accessible $10 base price tag is immediately perceived as bad quality game, while a thirty dollar tag sets a higher bar of expectation.
As an example, Spy Bros. originally had a $7,99 price tag. It did not sell well, so I updated it to $12,99, and now it’s selling a few hundreds (that’s a LOT for smaller indie games!) every time we have it on discount.
The wider lesson
Indie pricing is not about how many hours of content a game delivers or its quality.
· For Hollow Knight: Silksong, $20 is about being accessible and fair.
· For smaller games, $30 is about developers trying to survive in a fierce competitive industry 😅
Thank you for your time reading this. I hope you enjoyed it!
Yours truly, Pablo Navarro.