Is there any point?

I am wondering, is there any point in buying a license, making a game and publishing it? The fact is, even if it's any good, epople will nto find it. I worry that it would just sit there with less than 100 views forever..

Hmm... You're right!

*Scurries off*

"Okay everyone! Shut it down. Dalzar said no one is going to play your game."

*Hurries back*

Everyone knows it's a big waste of time now, and stopped all their projects.

...

The winky face is because I'm joking.

After your game is done you're not even halfway there. Now starts the hard work, promoting your game. It's kind of ignorant to think that uploading an app means a lot of downloads. Here's a few tips.

*Put together a nicely composed e-mail along with press kit containing screenshots, video and link to game.

*Send to magazines, local newspaper, gaming sites, reviwers, editors, youtubers, twitchers etc.

*Be active on social media, engage people.

*Hand out flyers with promo code outside your local supermarket if you have to.

*Attend some games conference or other related gathering to promote your game.

Or hire a PR agency.

So, there is no point?

If you're satisfied and proud that you reached 100 downoads, yeah... if not, get to work, promoting it, and buy the licence. If you don't take promoting your own creation seriously I doubt any customers will either.

If you're satisfied and proud that you reached 100 downoads, yeah... if not, get to work, promoting it, and buy the licence. If you don't take promoting your own creation seriously I doubt any customers will either.

Some of us don't have the money to splash out on things liek this, especially when it wont lead to anything and it will just be sat with 0 downloads

"*Put together a nicely composed e-mail along with press kit containing screenshots, video and link to game.

*Send to magazines, local newspaper, gaming sites, reviwers, editors, youtubers, twitchers etc.

*Be active on social media, engage people.

*Hand out flyers with promo code outside your local supermarket if you have to."

These things cost nothing to do, except sending it to a newspaper, but you can skip that. I would guess game development is not a path you should consider if you have such a "what does it matter" attitude.

Some of us don't have the money to splash out on things liek this, especially when it wont lead to anything and it will just be sat with 0 downloads

I smell troll, but if you plan on earning any money making games, you're not gonna get far with that attitude. Maybe skip the release part and just make a game for fun and add it to your portfolio when you apply for game dev job.

U think all hobby musicians going to stop play music because they know they never gonna make it a full time job. Do it for the love of it, or don't do it at all.

It seems like you have already made up your mind, and I don't know if there's much we can say to convince you otherwise.

tunepunk responded with a great list of things you can, and should, be doing as a game developer; most of them at no cost to you.

It's not the software you use that makes your game popular. It's the ideas and dedication of the developer putting the time in to make a great game that makes it popular.

Thank you very much for the replies

This is a question that I'm sure we've all come to at one time or another, whether it's about game development or making a comic book or playing in a band, or any kind of creative pursuit that isn't your day job and takes away from what can be described as "free time."

My answer always depended on how much fun I was having. I started with the free C2 license back in Q4 2012 and thanks to the amount of resources available here and on YouTube, I found out 2 things:

1) It was a lot easier than I thought to make a video game.

2) I wanted to take these skills I had learned and make the best video game I thought I could make.

In order to accomplish #2, I decided I needed to drop the $130 on a C2 license. I haven't made any wildly popular games, but I have a lot of fun making them and I like working on a canvas that I know is as limitless as my skill set.

I guess the answer for you here kind of depends on whether or not the success of what you're making impacts the value of the time/money you put in. Not an unfair question to ask. So I guess the equation looks like this:

$$ for C2 license + time invested to learn the engine + gaining new skills + lots of fun + commercial success = Worthwile

vs

$$ for C2 license + time invested to learn the engine + gaining new skills + lots of fun - commercial success = Waste of time

Mileage varies on the time it'll take you to learn and the amount of fun you'll have. But it seems like the deciding factor in this case is the commercial success. Which I don't think is an inherently bad thing to want. Like others said, you'll just have to spend some time really pumping the game up and getting the name out there, and that's work you'd have to do regardless of the amount of $$ for the license or the time invested to learn and build the game. Probably as much/more time will be spent marketing as the time you spent building the game if you're a one-person show.

I'd say if you have the free version and you know you've done all you can with it (which is a lot) and you still aren't sold, then going premium probably won't suddenly change your mind and suddenly make it all feel worthwhile.

I suggest you make games that you'd want to play and put success lower on your priority list. If you look it only from the commercial perspective you'll give up after 1-2 projects.