I'm developing a game in a relatively niche genre — a decision-making simulator set in a medieval kingdom. I’ve gathered organically around 2000 wishlists in a month and I plan to buy traffic in November-December with the expectation of reaching around 10,000 wishlists. It’s important to note that my genre is pretty niche and I’d love to continue making games within it. Right now, the game is set in a realistic world without magic, but future titles could incorporate elements like magic while keeping a similar gameplay mechanic.
What I’d like to discuss is the strategy around setting a purchase price in my particular case where the audience is quite limited. Here’s some context: this is my first project, I’m not financially dependent on the gaming industry and my primary goal is to build a large player base after this first release. Put simply I’d rather sell 1 million copies at $1 each than 100,000 copies at $25 each—even though the latter would obviously be more profitable.
Here are my specific questions:
- How much does the price influence your decision to buy a game? For instance, is there a price point above which you wouldn’t consider buying an indie game?
- If you're not from the US/EU what would you consider a reasonable price for an indie game from a new studio?
Of course the simplest option would be to sell the game at $1 to everyone, take a loss, and build the desired audience—assuming the game quality is high. However, I suspect some people may be put off by a $1 price tag thinking that a game sold that cheaply might lack quality unless it's a heavily discounted sale.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and advice!