Jo

After 5 years of development, Spellmasons just hit 1000 reviews!!! Thank you to everyone who's been with me on this journey!

@ArumaStudios @The3Wizard Yup! One of the many benefits that Steam offers :)

@The3Wizard @jogamedev Steam deduces VAT before applying the 30% cut because they are the ones paying it. Thankfully! Imagine having to deal with international VAT yourself 😰

Here's an example of how much money a game dev actually pockets after earning $100,000 of Gross Revenue on Steam: - ~18% (returns, chargebacks, taxes) = $82,000 - 30% (Steam's platform cut) = $57,400 - 0% (if you self-publish) - 15.3% (U.S. Self Employment Tax) = $48,617 - $4,377 (Federal income tax) = $44,270 - ~$0-$3,800 (State income tax) = ~$40,400 So you could pocket about $40,000, but don't be discouraged. $100k gross sounds like a lot but it's only 5,000 copies sold at $20. This is attainable, but it's also why it's important to keep your development timeline short. x.com/jogamedev/stat… Disclaimer: This is a rough simplified example for a US solo dev self-publishing as a sole proprietor with minimal other expenses. Actual results vary a lot by your location, business structure, deductions, filing status, etc. This is not tax or financial advice — talk to a CPA.

@GreyAlien Great article! Thanks for sharing

@jogamedev I write a post about this topic which people may find useful: patreon.com/posts/can-you-… It has a similar breakdown of what happens to the money and discusses time take and budgets etc.

@IsaiahToth_Dev FWIW, in my experience, it’s about four times harder to make a game multiplayer

I remember a time when the most common advice that indie devs were given was to "NOT MAKE A MULTIPLAYER GAME".... Now that's the most successful type of indie game

@grigsbysworld This is good to know, thank you for the info!

Check the Adjusted Gross Revenue section of the SDA. While refunds are deducted before you see a dime, if funds have already been paid out to you they claw it back from future earnings. Where it gets really dangerous is timing and taxes. If you get a surge of sales, withdraw your revenue, and then a wave of refunds hits, you owe that back. And depending on jurisdiction, sales tax may have already been remitted on those sales. That doesn't get unwound automatically. So a small studio that launches, sees strong initial sales, reinvests that money into development, and then gets hit with mass refunds can absolutely end up ruined. This is particularly dangerous for indie devs with short games given the two-hour refund window, and don't forget Steam is often extremely generous to gamers when they want a refund regardless of time played. I'm not trying to paint Steam as evil mind you, it's just that we shouldn't glaze them. They are a company like any other and when it comes to liability and risk, if they can shove it off onto someone else they do.

There's no question that Valve earns their 30% cut; however, I think they'd make even more money in the long term if they took a smaller cut from indie devs. Here's why: Many super talented devs are struggling to create their games in their free time - on nights and weekends. An extra 20% could make a huge difference. If you turn a part-time indie into a full-time indie, the chances that they'll make significantly more money and finish their games faster is obviously much higher. So this is my message to @Steam: for your own benefit, consider giving smaller devs a bigger cut. More full-time indies means more money for you in the long run. Be in the business of making part-timers full-timers and it'll play out in everyone's favor.

@OlexGameDev @TheBuzzSaw Glad it's useful!

@jogamedev @TheBuzzSaw Yes that is a huge value. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us!

I wish someone had told me this years ago. Your game's marketing is like the multiplier in Balatro. A high quality game (the blue) is not enough on it's own. You need high quality marketing / content (the red) too. Together - great quality game X great content - is what makes a game go viral.

@erabit_studios 100%! I'm a big fan of Steam and I wouldn't be able to do what I do without them 😊 So this isn't meant to be a criticism of them.

@jogamedev We would love this, but Steam is not doing charities. Also, Steam is a source of 90% of the PC revenue for most indie devs.

@JadedGameDev Yeah and those expenses would be tax deductible! I omitted other expenses to keep it simple. For me personally my expenses are very low. I don't need any expensive licenses that are recurring payments, for example.

@jogamedev Pretty accurate analysis. I would add some other costs: development software and other licenses, web infrastructure (if you host live services/community portals), along with legal and accounting costs.

@COWCATGames I have had a higher than usual amount of returns lol

@jogamedev Returns and taxes are more like 10% not 18% unless you have a ton of returns

@_cas_prince_ I have to respectfully disagree. Steam being the best and most profitable option doesn't mean we have no choice.

@jogamedev You essentially have *no choice* but to sell through Steam because they have captured 95% of the market.

@breadedJams I know it feels discouraging, but going full time is definitely achievable and IMO important to know what you're getting into ahead of time.

@jogamedev Having the 30% cut and then tax is absolutely worrying as a wannabe dev who wants to be able to give up my job to work full time indie

@robert_vesely These are taxes like VAT and, I think, Sales Tax which comes before their cut.

@jogamedev What are those taxes in the first point that they go before "Steam platform cut"? Should any tax be after steam cut?

@thethiny Sure, this is more about post launch. A large percentage of indies never make a second game. Also a lot of indies keep updating their games after launch. Keeping more of the revenue could allow more indies to risk going full time in these scenarios

@jogamedev Can u elaborate on your reasoning? Someone making a game as an indie won't know it'll do well until it does. So this money comes after the fact, not pre. Even if the cut was 0% there's no guarantee your game sells, so the 30% doesn't affect the risk.

@shadesofsilver @BecomingCaptain That would be ideal

@jogamedev @BecomingCaptain At this point they could probably afford to mimic EGS's terms. Say 0% until your first $100k, annually, and 20-30% after. Gives big devs a free $100k each year to keep the lights on, and small devs the opportunity of a lifetime.

@tonyshouldersg Yes! This is why I showed $0-$3,800 :)

@jogamedev Not every state has State Tax

@4EvrArcade There's always the option to sell on our own platforms, but then we don't get the algorithmic benefit that Steam provides, which is huge.

@jogamedev Eventually we will have something to do about this. Keep +90%

@TheOtherFrost Have you tried Spellmasons? I get complaints that it’s too hard

I WANT EVERYONE'S LIFE TO GET BETTER AND EASIER SO WE CAN GET SOME PROPER HARD GAMES! I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT WANT TO BE CHALLENGED IN A GAME AFTER BEING REAMED BY LIFE, BUT THESE COZY GAMES ARE NOT CUTTING IT AND NO WE DONT HAVE HARD GAMES. THEY'RE SPARLKING ANNOYING

@Unknown14539139 I think AAA just has more pull. Would be nice tho

@jogamedev They should get more cut on aaa games instead of solo/indie devs

@ChimpSquared Steam’s discovery algorithm is really powerful! If you’re able to organically increase interest in your game, the discovery algorithm will kick up to match it and boost your game. And I believe they just have way more users.

Well it seems like one pays forever, for what is essentially a one-time process of us encouraging wishlisting through coming soon--->release into charts. Beyond that timed period / initial release, there is nothing different system wise to what Epic provide right? But we pay that percentage forever?

@NomadsRespite Glad it’s helpful! Good luck with your game

@jogamedev This is a great breakdown for me. The ttrpg im making is gonna be sold for $20, and I’ve been running the numbers but some stuff I had wrong. Thanks for the breakdown of what to expect.

@ChimpSquared Yeah I just wish epic had an algorithm as useful as steams!

@jogamedev For ref: Apple do 15% for small businesses! Apple! And of course epic do 0% up to 1 million then 12%. 30 is waaaaay over standard today!