WiiWare threshold is misinterpreted - dev News
Wii News by Robert Purchese
An anonymous developer has confirmed to Eurogamer that a WiiWare sales threshold - below which a studio makes no money - exists, but says it has been misinterpreted by the press.
"I'm concerned this recent threshold news is generating an artificially negative wave of press. The spirit of the threshold was never to screw the developer - it was, as far as I can tell, a quality control mechanism to prevent the service from getting overrun with a bunch of crappy games," the source told us.
"Once the threshold is crossed, the developer is retroactively paid for every single unit sold below the threshold. I know there has been confusion on that point in the past."
The threshold, according to a freshly-published report by Kotaku, is 6000 copies for a game bigger than 16MB in North America. Smaller games need to sell 4000 units. In Europe the bar is halved, as bigger games need to top 3000 copies and smaller games need to break the 2000 mark.
The report claims WiiWare titles have two years to reach their target. If successful, Nintendo gives the developer 65 per cent of the money made.
"From the stats I've seen and heard developers report, the threshold is easily surpassed within the first day, or at least the first week, for many games," the source explained.
"I hear rumours within the dev community that Nintendo recognises a problem here, where occasionally an entirely legitimate game just doesn't make it, and is looking for a way to make exceptions, to ensure small devs are paid even if the threshold is not reached. Just rumours though, so who knows.
"I just fear this is one of those things that sounds a lot more evil than it actually is," added the source.
Nintendo has refused to comment on the existence of the WiiWare sales threshold, telling us anything that goes on between itself and developers is "private and confidential".
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Comments: 1-14 of 14 in total
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Shakey_Jake33
20/04/09 @ 14:08
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I am curious. If a game is a slow burner, but does sell more than 6000 within the time limit, how are the developers paid until then? Obviously I'm talking about smaller (or even indie) developers here, do they just not get paid until they reach the threshhold? It sounds like small developers have to make sure they reach the threshhold quickly just to stay afloat, else they go under before they've had enough time to profit.
Suddenly the choice of Steam for indie games such as The Path makes more sense.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 20/04/09 @ 15:09
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I didn't realise they got money retroactively for the threshold. That's not as bad.
I'm all for the strategy that got the PSone into the market - flood it with anything and everything! A low threshold should discourage real garbage at least, without making Wiiware seem like a bad option. There's some nice stuff on there, as well as some drivel. I'm fine with drivel though, as long as I can avoid it and get the good stuff :) |
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Halo Jones
20/04/09 @ 14:34
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So, they get the money once the threshold has been reached. Does that include the interest that has been earned whilst it's been sitting in nintendo's bank or does it go back to nintendo?
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superted1974
20/04/09 @ 16:01
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So if a dev is 200 games short they are better off buying 200 copies themselves then they get paid for all the units sold!
Madness |
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I dont actually see the devs complaining? In fact all this info wouldve been available to them before they signed up to put games on the system.. i.e. it would be part of the contract.
if developers cared, they wouldnt put games out on it would they? Seems to me the only moaning thats going on is by the forumites who it doesnt effect anyhow! |
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statusjones
20/04/09 @ 16:27
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@superted1974
with the split being a very favourable one of 65/35, then if as a developer you were worried about sales and getting paid, you would break even by buying 65% of the required amount if you have to buy less then you're into profit (though obviously you have to decide if spending the time and capital on buying all those games is going to be worth it)
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 20/04/09 @ 17:29
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robson_wii
21/04/09 @ 08:11
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I would suggest graduated returns if the devs are not happy with the payment system. If they get a smaller percentage from 0-2K units then a larger percentage from 2K to 4K etc. It would be interesting to see the full stats for WiiWare titles to see how many get past 6K units. Are there any devs complaining?
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Comments: 1-14 of 14 in total
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