Uhh… I guess it’s not technically DLC, but ConcernedApe is selling the game soundtrack for $5 on Steam. It’s in the game’s DLC category, but unlike some other soundtracks on Steam, it’s not dependent on owning the base game to purchase.
But it’s also downloadable content, so it is DLC… I guess it depends on how you want to define DLC nowadays.
Is it possible the music has its own license and therefore warrants a separate listing?
I mean this is great, props… But didn’t he already make his nut with this game?? I mean I can play it on my fucking Tesla, I assume he got paid.
Sure. He made many millions of dollars within the first couple years of releasing it. That’s why he can pretty much do whatever he wants, including continuing to work on the game without charging additional money for it. And of course, it keeps selling more copies, and will for many years to come, so he has tons of money continuing to flood in.
He certainly seems like a pretty grounded guy, and it’s nice that he tries to be cool about stuff, including not gouging the player base for more money. Being an individual has huge advantages compared to being a corporation, in some ways. A corporation would pretty much be obligated to maximize profit. He can just be pleased that he brings joy to millions of players, and has already made a fortune.
Yeah - I don’t want to be too dismissive. I’ve read interviews with him, and despite his success, he hasn’t measurably changed his lifestyle or fallen into the traps a big influx of money can cause. It honestly reminds me of No Man’s Sky (minus the redempetion arc) where enough money was made from the base product that it funds ongoing development for the forseeable future.
Yeah. He deserves his success, and I’m happy to hear he’s doing good things for his customers… But this kind of reads like a slight on all the developers who release DLC for profit. The vast majority of companies don’t succeed this well on any game.
So I’m glad he’s said this, but I also don’t think poorly of devs who release for-profit DLC, either.
What about an expansion. Could I pay you for that please?
If you violate the oath and make good paid DLC that’s worth the price, I won’t even be mad.
That’s fine for him, but let’s not take this as a guideline for the entire industry.
There are plenty of talented, creative, and committed developers who are trying to turn their dream game into their life’s work.
For most of them, the only way they can survive spending another 5 years working on the same title post-launch is by charging for the new stuff they make.
Yeah easy for him to say, he’s a one-man operation, so he gets ALL the profit to himself. Probably millions of dollars at this point… he’s set for life. He doesn’t really need DLC money. But other devs probably do.
Your point is basically the same but I believe he isn’t technically a one man dev anymore. For a while, he has worked in a small team, with a few games released/in EA on Steam having been created by former SV devs on the same engine with ConcernedApe’s permission.
I assume he also outsources the work of the console ports.
In any case, it doesn’t take away from the point, and you could probably still classify him as a solo developer for the purpose of talking about his upcoming Willy Wonka simulator. It’s much easier to pay 4-5 people from the proceeds of one of the best selling indie games of all time than it is to pay 40-50 people from the proceeds of a 10 year old game with free updates and expansions. No Man’s Sky, for example, must have some really consistent sales figures for them to continue to be making money.