WiiWare working against small developers due to sales threshold, report states
A new report is bad publicity for Nintendo as it states that Nintendo’s WiiWare service is working against small developers by requiring them to reach a sales threshold before they see any money at all.
This works against Nintendo’s own statements on WiiWare development which they claimed would be a “safe haven” for independent developers who could release small or experimental games and turn a profit. This report disputes that however.
The figure they have to reach is unknown but the Gamasutra report claims that it is in the middle of the four-figure range for North America which means it should be around $5,000. This means that a developer would have to sell about 500 copies of their game before they would receive any money. Although when they do Nintendo would pay them their full royalties including the ones that were held back until that point.
Update:
The actual sales threshold has been revealed and here is how it breaks down:
North America
If game is over 16MB – 6,000 units
If game is under 16MB – 4,000 units
Europe
If game is over 16MB – 3,000 units
If game is under 16MB – 2,000 units
Once those goals are met, the developer starts seeing a return (which is based upon every sale, not just those made once the target is reached). And that return is split 65/35 between the developers/Nintendo. However developers must hit it within two years, or else they see NO MONEY.
Original story continued:
But some developers games won’t ever reach that point and thus they may not get any money back for their game. This is because a new WiiWare game is released every week and it’s easy for games to get lost in the shuffle. Gamasutra talked to one small Indie developer who told them that they believe their game will never see those kind of sales and thus they will not be getting paid for their game.
According to Joystiq, Nintendo has not commented on this and issued their typical “Nintendo doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation” line, following with “The terms, conditions and contracts between Nintendo and developers is a private and confidential matter.”
Via Evil Avatar
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