Initial Itchfunding Post-Mortem

Starting with my first game that I'd publish on itch, I opted into the itch-funding concept. It seemed like a really nice alternative to kickstarter and a way to directly link game purchases to funding goals I had for it. So what went wrong?

For starters, I didn't continue to post devlogs about the game. Based on the small experience I've had, devlogs do help get eyes on your page—either from your followers or the ones that browse that general devlog page, which did lead to a much smaller amount of views of the actual game page. I believe if I continued to consistently remind people of GRIT's ongoing production it would have kept up a sense of excitement and grow trust from potential buyers or tippers. Sadly, I did not do that. Timing was poor and I had to juggle a couple other things: real life job issues (getting one and then not), mental issues, and trying to balance game dev with my other creative endeavours. While one aspiration—professional game-mastering—has slowly started to grow, it lead to not doing something that had a timed itch-fund ticking down.

So I extended the itchfund, beyond what seemed like the consensus with other LUMEN designers at the time. Time went...and I extended it again. I wanted to released my mythical 0.2 update before the sale would end, to no avail. I decided to not stress myself out with keeping the sale going for a certain amount of time. As I slowly continued GRIT's development I was starting to see how my plans were starting to shift from the goals I started with. I'd rather not perform a fund campaign and not be invested in the goals I was advertising.

So as of right now, I've removed the funding goals as well as the 'Full Release' paragraph explaining what things I was going to put in the game. I need to embrace the 'in-development' tag that I gave it and accept that its still in it's chaotic stage.

Those that had purchased it during the sale period, I deeply thank you. I also want to thank the individual who decided to buy it full price a few days after the sale. Obviously some people are interested in what GRIT can become. I am excited for it's future and for each release update that will soon come.

I've joined the 'finish your game' game jam, which has a deadline of the end of the year. That is my deadline for version 0.2. It won't be pretty but at least it'll finally be out there for more people to see and try.

Itchfund Earnings

I made $130 USD (before taxes) which was about a third of my first goal of $333.33. I had two more goals at $666.66 and $999.99, which seem like light years away now.

• I must state, for full transparency, that at least a good 2/3 of those earnings came from my friends who were 'annoying me' by donating even though I was freely giving it to them as play-testers. Thank you for supporting me—you very very kind assholes.

Not entirely discounting my friends (thank you again), I like to say the natural earnings were closer to around $30 USD. Which is about 6 individual sales of $5.

But because of my very generous friends, many of you were able to get a free community copy! About 30 copies have been claimed. So I do hope all of you out there like it and are still interested in future developments!

Take-aways:

• Be more confident in myself.
  • Believe in what I am making.
• Be more aware of what I want out of the itchfunding and goals.
  • Do I just want art or physical prints and shipping?
  • Do I need to have a detailed breakdown?
• Market myself more and try not to hide in my introvert cave.
  • Probably some twitter stuff I'll need to do. # and the like.
• Interact more with the community! Stop lurking and actually make some acquaintances, and hopefully friends.
• Minor fancy visuals and proof of semi-consistent work will go a long way.
• Lean into my other fields of video production and professional game-mastering.
  • Marketing can be done through video devlogs! Can work in both fields at the same time.
    • Something that I plan on properly undertaking next year!
  • I can use my platform to offer my usual players free playtesting.
• Understand that one of the ideas of itchfunding was to be way more flexible and less stressful than kickstarter.
  • Don't forget that!