Indie Royale is a new way for developers to promote games, and a very cheap way for fans to get some great content. An interesting partnership between Desura and Gamasutra has led to an exciting way to get games.
Their first bundle included Sanctum and a ton of DLC for it among games such as A.R.E.S and Nimbus. Bought seperately with the DLC, these games would cost you well over $50 USD. But many players got these for less than $5 USD. The difficult second bundle is coming out soon, and may be out for some people by the time they read this.
Nerd Age’s Scholar: Indie Royale was born from a unique partnership between the Desura group, Gamasutra and their related groups. Could you tell us about how this partnership started and how it benefits each group?
Mike Rose of Indie Royale and Gamasutra: It all started when myself and Simon Carless at UBM Tech were trying to think of ways to expand our contribution to the indie game scene past the success of IndieGames.com. The idea for Indie Royale popped up while talking with Scott Reismanis at Desura, and rather quickly it all came together over the course of a couple of months.
As for benefits for each party, UBM is mainly in it for the feel good factor – I mean, the company runs the IGF and IndieGames.com, amongst other big names, so obviously it has quite a foot in the indie sector! Desura is also looking to promote indie games as much as it can. If you use the Desura platform, you’ll know that it gives a huge push to indies, and is constantly bringing new ones into the limelight.
NA: Where did you get the idea for Indie Royale?
Mike: The idea came from simply wanted to support all those smaller indie developers who create the most incredible games, yet somehow they managed to get buried in a sea of bigger titles. We want to pull those epic smaller titles into the foreground and change the minds of mainstream gamers who wouldn’t normally even consider touching them.
NA: What would you like readers to know about how you stand out from similar offerings?
Mike: We’ve tried to make ourselves as ‘out there’ as possible with a few well-placed elements. So for example, our payment system, with the price going up and down, is something rather unique that takes the pay-what-you-want idea to a whole new level.
Then you’ve got the fortnightly bundles, which is something no-one has tried before, plus the live stats which show each individual purchase one by one, and the graph which plots the current price all the way through the five days of the bundle. The overall idea is to make it not only exciting to buy, but also exciting to watch. We think we’ve managed it too!
NA: Many of our readers are interested in game development themselves, could you give us a brief overview of the requirements for being featured on Indie Royale?
Mike: Right now, there aren’t really many requirements at all for getting into Indie Royale. As long as you have a game which is released, or ready to be released, and it has at least a Windows version, we’ll definitely check it out.
Now and again we’ll be expanding that even further (for example, the upcoming Alpha bundle, which will contain alpha-funded games), but overall, we’re really not fussy.
NA: How long do you see yourselves offering bundles? Or will you be continuing these offerings for the foreseeable future?
Mike: We’ll be offering bundles as long as people keep buying them! In a year’s time, there is still interest for the bundles, the website will still be going, and we’ll still be promoting anyone we think deserves it.
NA: The Alpha Fund bundle looks like it will contain a select few titles previously featured for funding on Desura. Are we correct in the assumption that the Desura connection will influence later bundles?
Mike: No, the Desura connection won’t affect bundles. We add each game to Desura as we sign it up for a bundle, and it sits in the Desura backend waiting to be set free. Just because a game is on Desura, doesn’t mean it has a better chance of being in a bundle.
NA: In the larger scheme, what benefits are you trying to bring to developers with Indie Royale?
Mike: The benefits are simple really – developers involved get massive exposure for their game, and will hopefully pick up followers for their future games too. Oh, and they make a tidy bit of money too, of course!
NA:In a very interesting move, you are offering refunds for those unsatisfied with their bundles. Why did you decide to do this?
Mike: We have no problem with giving refunds if people aren’t happy with any part of the bundle. It’s just common sense really – why would we mess someone around and refuse to give them their money back if they’re not happy? All that’s going to do is ward them off for future bundles. We want to keep as many people as possible happy, and in turn make the devs happy too!
NA: We’ve noticed that many journalists in this industry later become game developers or distributors later on. (In Example: ModDB/Desura, Indie Royale, Bastion developer Greg Kasavin). Could you give us your thoughts on this situation? Is it good, bad or neutral towards the industry?
Mike: I don’t think it’s good or bad really, it’s just a natural progression. It stands to reason that someone who is around video games most of the time will eventually want to have a crack at making one themselves, and if it gels well with them, perhaps they’ll go on to do it full-time. I personally went the other way, from developer to journalist, so I can understand the pull from one side to the other.
NA: Do you have any advice for journalists in this industry?
Mike: Work work work! I poured my heart and soul into writing for years, and eventually it paid off. You have to always be hammering away, looking for the next big job or little bits on the side, and always make sure to learn from all your mistakes. I’m still making tons of mistakes now, and the only way to push yourself forward is to learn the lessons and move on.
NA: Do you have any advice for developers who would like to be part of a program like this?
Mike: If a dev wants to be part of Indie Royale, all they need to do is email us, and we will try to get back asap.
Once again we want to thank Mike for giving us an interview and be sure to check out IndieDB and Gamasutra. Also be sure to check back at Indie Royale, as they will be offering great deals for quite some time.
