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'Minecraft' Creator Notch Persson Distributes $3 Million in Dividends Among Employees
Fri Mar 02, 2012 at 12:30 PM ETTags: Minecraft, Notch, Indie Games (all tags)
Suddenly this whole "indie games" business is looking pretty good.
'Minecraft' isn't a gorgeous looking action game. It doesn't have a big budget soundtrack, nor does it have an all-star cast of voice talent, the support of a major publisher or a significant marketing team. Despite that, it has pulled in over five million sales since it launched - more than many AAA titles.
When major studios bring in massive sales, the money usually ends up in the same place it winds up in other businesses - the guys at the top. When Mojang's 'Minecraft' brings in a ridiculous amount of money, it goes to the people that helped make it happen.
Markuss "Notch" Persson, at a party with his Minecraft team yesterday, announced that he's giving each of his employees an even cut of the $3 million in dividends he earned in 2011. Split among 25 employees, that's around $120,000 - not a bad bonus at all.
Source: Venture Beat
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Xbox Live Indie Games Get Bigger, Price Minimums Get Smaller
Thu Jan 05, 2012 at 11:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Indie Games (all tags)
Indie games are getting a little bit of love on the 360. Not a crazy amount of love, but it's a start.
The Indie Game Marketplace isn't the first place people go when looking for games on the Xbox 360. In fact, for many it's the last. For others, it's a part of Xbox Live they've never even visited - it's not exactly a featured part of the dashboard. The games aren't always the most compelling, they're not always priced appropriately and they tend to be limited in scope.
Thankfully, things are changing for the better for the indie community, at least in terms of creating and pricing games. For starters, Microsoft has raised the maximum size of an indie game from 150MB to 500MB. That's a significant step up and should allow indie developers a lot more freedom in creation of their titles.
Pricing requirements for indie titles has also changed. It used to be that any game over 50MB was required to cost either 240 or 400 MS Points. Now games as large as 150MB can be priced at 80 points - just $1.00.
Finally, developers are now allowed to have up to 20 games on the marketplace at a time. That's a nice feature in some cases, but it sure doesn't help to clear up the clutter on the Indie Game Marketplace.
Source: Joystiq
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Xbox Live Indie Games Get Bigger, Price Minimums Get Smaller
Thu Jan 05, 2012 at 11:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Indie Games (all tags)
Indie games are getting a little bit of love on the 360. Not a crazy amount of love, but it's a start.
The Indie Game Marketplace isn't the first place people go when looking for games on the Xbox 360. In fact, for many it's the last. For others, it's a part of Xbox Live they've never even visited - it's not exactly a featured part of the dashboard. The games aren't always the most compelling, they're not always priced appropriately and they tend to be limited in scope.
Thankfully, things are changing for the better for the indie community, at least in terms of creating and pricing games. For starters, Microsoft has raised the maximum size of an indie game from 150MB to 500MB. That's a significant step up and should allow indie developers a lot more freedom in creation of their titles.
Pricing requirements for indie titles has also changed. It used to be that any game over 50MB was required to cost either 240 or 400 MS Points. Now games as large as 150MB can be priced at 80 points - just $1.00.
Finally, developers are now allowed to have up to 20 games on the marketplace at a time. That's a nice feature in some cases, but it sure doesn't help to clear up the clutter on the Indie Game Marketplace.
Source: Joystiq
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Indie Games 'Super Meat Boy' and 'Bastion' Hit Huge Sales Milestones
Wed Jan 04, 2012 at 10:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Sales Figures, Industry Trends (all tags)
Both games have outsold expectations significantly, with 'Super Meat Boy' bringing in one million sales.
"Indie games just can't compete in sales with triple-A titles." That's an oft heard statement about the indie space that's becoming less and less accurate. If the 4 million sales of 'Minecraft' weren't enough to prove it, two more great indie games have just announced some significant sales figures.
'Bastion' creators Supergiant announced last week that their game had hit 500,000 sales. Half a million games sold is a number that the team behind the game never thought possible. Those sales don't just mean money in the pockets of the game's creators though. Creative director Greg Kasavin says that this puts the team in a position "to be in a position to make more games on our own terms."
Team Meat also announced some big sales news recently, boasting a cool million sales of 'Super Meat Boy.' The game was developed by a team of two and composed by a team of one. It just goes to show that a high budget and a massive team isn't always necessary for major sales as long as the game is good.
Source: GameSpot
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Indie Games 'Super Meat Boy' and 'Bastion' Hit Huge Sales Milestones
Wed Jan 04, 2012 at 10:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Sales Figures, Industry Trends (all tags)
Both games have outsold expectations significantly, with 'Super Meat Boy' bringing in one million sales.
"Indie games just can't compete in sales with triple-A titles." That's an oft heard statement about the indie space that's becoming less and less accurate. If the 4 million sales of 'Minecraft' weren't enough to prove it, two more great indie games have just announced some significant sales figures.
'Bastion' creators Supergiant announced last week that their game had hit 500,000 sales. Half a million games sold is a number that the team behind the game never thought possible. Those sales don't just mean money in the pockets of the game's creators though. Creative director Greg Kasavin says that this puts the team in a position "to be in a position to make more games on our own terms."
Team Meat also announced some big sales news recently, boasting a cool million sales of 'Super Meat Boy.' The game was developed by a team of two and composed by a team of one. It just goes to show that a high budget and a massive team isn't always necessary for major sales as long as the game is good.
Source: GameSpot
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'Fez' Rated for XBLA - One Step Closer to Release
Fri Dec 30, 2011 at 11:30 AM ETTags: FEZ, XBLA, Indie Games (all tags)
We've been waiting a long time for 'Fez,' but it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer.
If you've never heard of 'Fez,' it's high time you did. It's a 2D side scroller that allows you to rotate the world in 3D as a means of creating new avenues for you to travel. Yeah, it's a bit hard to explain - just watch the video.
'Fez' has been in development for quite some time and practically everyone with a penchant for creative indie games has been looking forward to it just as long. As it turns out, despite a significant delay last year, the game may finally be seeing the light of day.
'Fez' was just rated by the PEGI - Europe's ESRB - which means that a complete or nearly complete game must be in hand. We're hoping sooner rather than later, but creator Phil Fish puts the current release date as, simply, 2012.
Source: XBLA Fans
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'Fez' Rated for XBLA - One Step Closer to Release
Fri Dec 30, 2011 at 11:30 AM ETTags: FEZ, XBLA, Indie Games (all tags)
We've been waiting a long time for 'Fez,' but it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer.
If you've never heard of 'Fez,' it's high time you did. It's a 2D side scroller that allows you to rotate the world in 3D as a means of creating new avenues for you to travel. Yeah, it's a bit hard to explain - just watch the video.
'Fez' has been in development for quite some time and practically everyone with a penchant for creative indie games has been looking forward to it just as long. As it turns out, despite a significant delay last year, the game may finally be seeing the light of day.
'Fez' was just rated by the PEGI - Europe's ESRB - which means that a complete or nearly complete game must be in hand. We're hoping sooner rather than later, but creator Phil Fish puts the current release date as, simply, 2012.
Source: XBLA Fans
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The Indie Music Bundle - 17 Albums for $10
Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 09:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Videogame Sales, Super Meat Boy, Minecraft, Impostor Nostalgia, Game Soundtracks (all tags)
There's plenty to love in the bundle, including 'Minecraft' and 'Super Meat Boy.'
There are plenty of big deals happening in stores and on websites across the internet, but they generally offer the same thing - games, systems and accessories. The Indie Music Bundle gives you something a bit different.
You can pay as much as you want for the 10 game bundle which includes the music from 'Super Meat Boy,' 'Minecraft,' 'Impostor Nostalgia' and more. If you choose to shell out $10 though, you'll get seven more albums worth of tunes. You'll also have access to FLAC versions of the files, normally available as 320kbps MP3s.
Even if you haven't played these games, you're getting hours of instrumental music - most of which is really good background for, say, writing game news - at just under 60 cents an album. The catch? The deal closes on midnight of Monday, November 28th.
Source: Indie Music Bundle
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The Indie Music Bundle - 17 Albums for $10
Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 09:30 AM ETTags: Indie Games, Videogame Sales, Super Meat Boy, Minecraft, Impostor Nostalgia, Game Soundtracks (all tags)
There's plenty to love in the bundle, including 'Minecraft' and 'Super Meat Boy.'
There are plenty of big deals happening in stores and on websites across the internet, but they generally offer the same thing - games, systems and accessories. The Indie Music Bundle gives you something a bit different.
You can pay as much as you want for the 10 game bundle which includes the music from 'Super Meat Boy,' 'Minecraft,' 'Impostor Nostalgia' and more. If you choose to shell out $10 though, you'll get seven more albums worth of tunes. You'll also have access to FLAC versions of the files, normally available as 320kbps MP3s.
Even if you haven't played these games, you're getting hours of instrumental music - most of which is really good background for, say, writing game news - at just under 60 cents an album. The catch? The deal closes on midnight of Monday, November 28th.
Source: Indie Music Bundle
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
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