So, apart from the the unhappy devs here,...  On Steam, more DLC's...

JustFlight's VFR Real Scenery - The Collection (Vol. 1- 4) out now!!!

AND they sell these themselves..

As I said, Some devs are actually maximising their outlets!

 

@ $12.75 on 25% special for each volume, or $39.95 for all 4!

 

Mmmm, JustFlight also being squeezed?  Jim?

Maybe they like their cut.

 

How old is that collection again?

 

Let's see something originally released in 2014. 

I believe that Robert has stated previously that the problem isn't necessarily the discounts.  It is the percentage of the sale that the developer nets after Steam and Dovetail and whoever else might be involved take THEIR shares. 

 

Yes, it is additional income that the developer would not otherwise have.  But at what cost?  The critical issue here, it seems to me, is that those customers are going to require the SAME amount of support that all other customers require.  If the cost to the developer to provide that support is greater than the income generated, then eventually that developer will go away.  That's the problem for smaller software companies working within the Steam/Dovetail system.  I am not saying that the Steam/Dovetail system is inherently bad.

 

P.S.  I'm not a developer -- just a concerned observer.

Yep, you got it!

The more I see of the type of DLC's released on Steam, the more aware I am becoming that my original idea that their target market is gamers & newbies. Hence the type & age of the releases. So far, only 1 original Steam DLC! A great collection of flights for guys to try.

Steam rarely requires a cut of 30% as far as i know.

 

In this topic too we hear people talking about Dovetail and Steam asking for bigger cuts, but never the quantity. So, can we have some actual numbers instead of the same story repeated in every topic about FSX-SE?

The arrangements between a game's developer and Steam is an entirely different kettle of fish than the arrangements between a DLC author and DTG.

 

It is not just the cut Steam requires, you also have to include the cut DTG wants, as well as that of some middlemen (where did they come from, and why are they needed?). At the tail end of the chain, at least one dev I'm familiar with was offered a pitiful 5% of the gross sales. On a $50 product, that amounts to a pathetic $2.50...

 

...that is bad enough, but think about what it would be during one of the frequent "sales!"

The more I see of the type of DLC's released on Steam, the more aware I am becoming that my original idea that their target market is gamers & newbies. Hence the type & age of the releases. So far, only 1 original Steam DLC! A great collection of flights for guys to try.

 

 

Why do you even care about FSX-SE having original addons when the community and developers provided them since 2006?

 

And by the way, we are all gamers. Of course to new players they can't introduce PMDG level planes right away, it would be foolish. They need to make their player base grow in experience and numbers first.

 

I also want to remind you that Carenado is one of the announced partners for DLCs. 

That actually makes me wonder what kind of deal they managed to achieve and why it's fine for them but not for other developers.

 

@n4gix: thanks for telling me this. However it still doesn't tell me which addon is that and who was involved in it

They didn't have any way of even just talking directly with DTG?

I was just making an observation that their target market is the plug & players. Thank you for reminding me about Carenado. It will be interesting to see the age of their DLC whenever it appears. Why are we,the consumers, so interested in what deals are going down? Why a deal is good for Carenado and not others? Ask JustFlight & the others that have released DLC's, and were obviously happy with the deal they signed.I'm sure they were not forced either.

The arrangements between a game's developer and Steam is an entirely different kettle of fish than the arrangements between a DLC author and DTG.

 

It is not just the cut Steam requires, you also have to include the cut DTG wants, as well as that of some middlemen (where did they come from, and why are they needed?). At the tail end of the chain, at least one dev I'm familiar with was offered a pitiful 5% of the gross sales. On a $50 product, that amounts to a pathetic $2.50...

 

...that is bad enough, but think about what it would be during one of the frequent "sales!"

 

Yes, Bill hits the nail on the head. I've said repeatedly, until I am nearly blue in the face. Nothing wrong with FSX-SE. Runs great apparently. Nothing wrong with DLC. Nothing wrong with Steam on the face of it. It is the middlemen that are the problem. They sat round a table some time ago and decided to carve up the spoils. But few of them created anything. They didn't create the addons. They certainly are not going to support the addons. They won't take the responsibility for the addons. The only finger they lifted was in voting themselves a large cut for doing precisely nothing. Some developers take over two years to develop a decent addon. Some middlemen just swagger into a room and persuade other middlemen in five minutes that they can "set up a deal". For a couple of hours swaggering, they award themselves up to 30%.

 

That's why you aren't seeing much going on in the flight sim DLC world.

I was just making an observation that their target market is the plug & players. Thank you for reminding me about Carenado. It will be interesting to see the age of their DLC whenever it appears. Why are we,the consumers, so interested in what deals are going down? Why a deal is good for Carenado and not others? Ask JustFlight & the others that have released DLC's, and were obviously happy with the deal they signed.I'm sure they were not forced either.

 

I know. Problem is, but i might be wrong here, from how you describe them it sounds like elitism to me. They are just new players like we have all been.

 

I find it interesting in the measure in which on avsim we got developers that refused the deal DTG (or the middle men) offered them. And at the same time we got examples of other developers that instead were fine with the deals being offered.

 

As for Carenado i have no idea. (Now that i think of it, Carenado is also offering DLCs for xPlane on Steam still). I assume they have some sort of timetable in it and maybe they don't want to release too many DLCs all together, so they can "milk" consumers a little more.

I find it interesting in the measure in which on avsim we got developers that refused the deal DTG (or the middle men) offered them. And at the same time we got examples of other developers that instead were fine with the deals being offered.

Honestly, there are some who apparently are entirely happy with oats that have already been through the horse...

 

I wonder if anyone will actually understand the comment...

I find it interesting in the measure in which on avsim we got developers that refused the deal DTG (or the middle men) offered them. And at the same time we got examples of other developers that instead were fine with the deals being offered.

My guess is that they are not fine with it at all. They are either desperate or naive, or got sucked in by the "we can sell thousands" mantra. As you can see from the reviews on Steam, it is not working. I doubt that anyone has made more than peanuts, including DTG and Steam. 

They announced the first Carenado DLC today, Piper PA28 Cherokee 180F

 

 

They announced the first Carenado DLC today, Piper PA28 Cherokee 180F

 

Another really old bit of DLC that they cannot shift anywhere else.

It is zero risk for Carenado to try and get a few sales with stuff that is no longer selling well through the normal channels.

I expect the mooney or one of the old cessnas will be next up on the block.

They announced the first Carenado DLC today, Piper PA28 Cherokee 180F

Here's the 2008 AVSIM Review:

 

http://www.avsim.com/pages/1008/carenado_180F/carenado_cherokee180.htm

 

Makes it about a 7 year old product!!