Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
Tags

Split revenue

A topic by Tjoeker created Feb 12, 2019 Views: 5,029 Replies: 35
Viewing posts 1 to 35
(+47)

I think a nice little feature would be to be able to split the revenue of a single game with other developers that work on the game.
This would really help small teams.


I found this idea to be submitted a couple of times a few years back (2015, 2016), but it still isn't implemented. (Or I can't find it?)
Is there any reason this isn't added yet?
I just wanted to add a voice to this request, and I'm sure many others would like this too.

(3 edits) (+1)

Original Post:
A good team handles splitting revenue internally.  If you all don't have the legal and logistical financial and fiduciary means to handle all this, then maybe being a 'team' may be a bit much.  Some of the best 'teams' for indie projects are one or two main devs (usually programmers) and one or more contractors (usually artists) that perform 'work for hire' at a flat rate.

EDIT:
I posted this comment over 270+ days ago (as of this edit) and still get PMs/DMs about it.  Oof.  I've changed my mind, are ya'll happy? :P  Leaving the original post for posterity/archival.  Working alongside indie devs in a community Discord server does wonders for that.  Also Toby Fox himself and his cohort 'temmie' both expressed support for making things easier on indie devs.  I won't go against Mr and Ms UnderTale ;)

(+16)

But what if it's a hobby project with people across the planet, earning only $50 (random value) a month? It's probably not worth digging into the legal stuff, but it's still fair to share with the other team members..

While, in my eyes, for Itch it would be just paying out different people. I don't think it adds much to the legal stuff they have to get into.

People that want to handle it internally still can.

(+17)

I know a few groups that would love to have this because it increases transparency for cooperative work.

It would be great to see some kind of option to do this. I couldn’t disagree with DaedalusMachina more on this.

(+30)

Has there been any further thought along these lines? I have this for my projects that currently reside in LeanPub and practically all of my work includes revenue sharing with collaborators, meaning most of it I can't host here. I strongly prefer being able to direct money straight to their hands from sales on a platform.

Strongly disagree with DaedalusMachina's points as even two-person collabs can have more hassle on the money handling than the rest of the project combined - especially if cooperating internationally - and those problems compound the more complex the and larger the collaborative group.

(+17)

I would also like to have this feature available for small projects. Would be EXTREMELY useful.

(+18)

From an interface standpoint, I would love to have something akin to a spreadsheet I can fill in that can also do a little checksum for me.


[Add Extra Row Button] [Delete Bottom Row Button]
LabelAccountPercentage of Gross or Specific $ figure ((Checksum here))
Name of PersonEmail Address
Percentage Allocated to Itch
(+14)

I am also interested in something like this. Came here to suggest it, as well.

(+20)

Having a system that automatically handles royalty splitting would be fantastic, and a great way to see a flood of smaller creators doing business on this platform with less difficulty.

(+15)

I need this feature too. A lot of smaller indies may want to be able to do revenue sharing on their projects. I like what Cannibal Halfling Games proposed.

(+20)

The lack of this feature (along with a lack of print-on-demand) is holding a lot of indie physical game creators back from switching wholly over from DriveThruRPG to itch.io. 

(1 edit) (+17)

Chiming in to support this. DriveThruRPG already had this for a long time, but when DMsGuild and other Community Creator programs on their site launched, they didn't start with that feature. Once they did implement it, however, DMsGuild in particular went from being "that neat place where people post their homebrew stuff in Word Docs" to "Announcing the Guild Adept program!" and record-breaking sales on collaborative projects like Uncaged and many others.

Coordinating royalty payments with folks in the US, UK, South American and New Zealand isn't exactly easy or fun, so having that sort of tool will certainly boost the profile of itch among smaller publishing teams like these, who still put out amazing, quality work that sells on the order of tens of thousands of units in some cases.

(+12)

I would also really like to see revenue splitting here.

(+13)

Agreed. Even as a small business, avoiding the tax paperwork and implications of taking on the revenue and splitting it to "contractors" would be a big help. I personally would make more projects with other creators on itch with this as a feature.

(+9)

I would like to see this implemented as well. 

(+11)

I support the idea of revenue splitting, especially considering it will help afford collaboration to an official degree

(+5)

The bigger problem is where is the revenue? :) 

But just to give some opinion, Newgrounds has this feature and its very lovely. You set the credits and their individual revenue share. This is indeed very handy if you use other creators' music and assets. If the asset maker marks their asset with common creative free asset and allows revenue share. You directly give them revenue share from the portal, no wire transfer, no skype, no messaging or other boring stuff. 

Admin moved this topic to Ideas & Feedback
(+11)

I think this would be a mega useful feature and would encourage collaborative work on this platform, which will encourage higher-quality work. I read a blog post recently on the topic... The main takeaway is that if 5 people want to make stuff, the 1 thing they make collaboratively will be better than the 5 things they make separately.


Rev share will really help make that happen for itch, and I believe change the culture on this platform massively for the better.

(+7)

I fully support this idea! I'm a newbie to this platform but have plans to publish a lot of work through it next year: a revenue sharing option would solve a great deal of headaches, as my collaborators are scattered across the globe.

(+5)

Newgrounds has an extremely well implemented rev split system

(+2)

Seria bem legal dessa maneira.

(+7)

This could also be useful for handling royalty payments. For example, I have a game here that is licensed IP, so I owe the licensee a certain percentage of whatever I make here. Though  I suppose the licensee would have to register as a developer here for that to work.

(+7)

I'd like to see this feature as well!

(+6)

That would be an extremely useful feature, for all the reasons stated above!

(+7)

I'll add another voice here in support of revenue splitting. Let's keep this momentum going.

(+7)

That would be a great addition to itch.io !

(+6)

It's a very good idea! We need that!

(+7)

Yes please! We all love collaborative game design, so we all need this feature.

(1 edit) (+8)

I fully support this idea! This would for example allow me to split revenue on my translations so that the original author could earn royalties.

(+4)

It would really fill a great gap in the current implementation !

(+6)

Royalty/Revenue split is really important for small teams or ad hoc teams coming together for a single project. This should be near the top of the list.

(+5)

Split revenue would also be helpful for other creators on here! I think it would easily double the amount of zines on here if you could easily split profits. It would definitely encourage more cooperation between creators, even the ones not making games.

(+5)

I would love to port the Horror Zines I've made to this platform if it could do split revenue.

(+7)

I would very much like to see this implemented. Lots of people I would collaborate with but currently can't due to the lack of built-in support for sharing revenue.

(+8)

I’m a zine creator who would also love to have revenue splitting for writers/illustrators/editors on projects.  i’ve been mulling over using leanpub just for that feature, but I really would like to stick with itch.

(+6)

Currently, due to the lack of split revenue, is much more appealing to publish collaborative content in other platforms. I really like it here, but this is a mayor fallback.