The Ape family name is honorable
The Apes always pay their debts.
What about the Bored Ape?
Black sheep of the family
And Bathing Ape
A japanese fashion Brand? With bored ape on one end and concerned ape on the other, they seem to be center.
30 million copies sold. even if he only made a dollar into his pocket for each sale…hes doing alright.
But I have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever. Dude wrote a good, solid, complete game, sold it for a fair price, and made bank. That is the business model I want software to be sold under, and I’m thrilled to see it working for him.
Right, not only do I not have a problem with this - but it SHOULD be rewarded.
Personally I beat the v1.1 version of the game back in Oct 2016 - but I purchased the game a second time on android because a) i wanted to support a cross platform port and b) the guy really deserves it.
I like it when I have the option to support a developer more, but it isn’t expected or required.
I purchased the game a second time on android because a) i wanted to support a cross platform port and b) the guy really deserves it
I did the same. This game hits almost all the buttons for me.
Being an absolute Factorio addict, the only thing I miss is proper automation.
I mean, we could argue on whether his work is worth tens of times that of an average person, but I mean, there’s people who make more and whose work is actually detrimental to society, so he’s all right by me.
Actually, I want to go even further and say that I think his work actually is worth quite a bit. Not that he is worth that much, or others aren’t (again, I don’t know him), but he has given millions of people hours upon hours of enjoyment, and that’s nothing to shake a stick at.
Yeah well that’s the effect of the modern world, where works can be replicated effortlessly. Sucks if your work is producing physical goods that can’t be copy/pasted.
You’re not wrong. But “joy” isn’t exactly fungible, so it’s not really an apples-to-oranges comparison.
And what he’s doing with it is also important. I haven’t heard of him dumping millions into Trump’s campaign or the Proud Boys or whatever.
And honestly, even if he did, my real respect is for the work that he did and the business model he used, not for him as a person. I don’t know him at all. I don’t even know his real name. I just meant that this way of doing software professionally should be more common.
Based.
Though I would 100% be fine with paying for Stardew DLC, the base game is worth so much more than its current price
I have bought it twice, possibly on sale both times but still. I’d never heard of it, and I’d never played any style of game like that, but Nintendo advertised it to me when it launched on the Switch and I eventually bought it. Later my family started taking the Switch more and I eventually bought it again in Steam. No regrets! Happy to support good games from small developers that don’t break the bank!
Bought on PC, Switch, Vita, phone… not even ashamed.
Bought it on Switch, bought it on PC… Don’t even slightly regret the 2nd purchase!
I would rather buy it again or have the update/dlc released after some sort of community milestone in buying and giving away copies.
I really like the fact that its all one complete game and also every gaming person should have a copy, regardless if they can personally afford it.
Anything that is worked on for that long is fair game for versioning. It used to be that you bought a version of a software and it was yours for life, but if you wanted the new fancy stuff, you had to buy the new version.
Now it’s either a subscription or an “app” model, how long can a developer continue to support a 3€ one-time-buy app with new features? Buyers run out sooner or later.
how long can a developer continue to support a 3€ one-time-buy app with new features? Buyers run out sooner or later.
Go the Terraria route and sell merchandise!
I sail the high seas from time to time, and I think I’ve bought Stardew 3 times now. It is an incredible game loop, and I will support the dev however I can.
That’s fine for him, but let’s not take this as a guideline for the entire industry.
There are plenty of talented, creative, and committed developers who are trying to turn their dream game into their life’s work.
For most of them, the only way they can survive spending another 5 years working on the same title post-launch is by charging for the new stuff they make.
Yeah easy for him to say, he’s a one-man operation, so he gets ALL the profit to himself. Probably millions of dollars at this point… he’s set for life. He doesn’t really need DLC money. But other devs probably do.
Your point is basically the same but I believe he isn’t technically a one man dev anymore. For a while, he has worked in a small team, with a few games released/in EA on Steam having been created by former SV devs on the same engine with ConcernedApe’s permission.
I assume he also outsources the work of the console ports.
In any case, it doesn’t take away from the point, and you could probably still classify him as a solo developer for the purpose of talking about his upcoming Willy Wonka simulator. It’s much easier to pay 4-5 people from the proceeds of one of the best selling indie games of all time than it is to pay 40-50 people from the proceeds of a 10 year old game with free updates and expansions. No Man’s Sky, for example, must have some really consistent sales figures for them to continue to be making money.
There is a difference between the DLC that is one and whatever the hell nowadays is practice. When its something like the eldenring DLC a dlc is absolutely fine.
Such an incredible game and a great humble developer. Honestly, there’s nothing I can think of to do to improve the game from a gameplay mechanics standpoint, but there are a few technical back-end things I do wish it had :
- Cross-platform compatible cloud-based save support. I want to be able to play in my same game save regardless of what system I play on. I don’t even mind paying for the game multiple times, but I want to have a singular Stardew account that I can sync somehow between PlayStation, Steam Deck, iOS, etc.
- Cross-platform multiplayer. If I want to play on my Steam Deck and hop into my spouse’s farm on the Switch or whatever… or have them be able to do so on mine.
- Mixing local and online co-op. If my kid wants to play with my spouse split-screen and I want to play on my desktop, again - would love to just be able to do so more seamlessly.
- Dedicated server support.
I know at this point doing those things would be very hard from a technical standpoint since they’d probably require a lot of deep work in a code base that was not built to do any multiplayer to begin with, but I still would love if they could somehow do so or fork the base game to allow it to be done by the community.
The cross-platform saves probably wouldn’t be that hard from a technical perspective. The game is written using MonoGame and likely doesn’t have that many changes to the core of the game for ports. From what I know about MonoGame (which is admittedly only a little, so I may be wrong!!) the engine abstracts pretty much everything.
I think the stumbling blocks are outside factors. Games often don’t update on different platforms at the very same time because console vendors take longer to vet updates. A game save from an updated PC version synced to a console version without the update could break it. Also setting up and maintaining the server infrastructure for syncing is its own can of worms. Certainly doable but it would pretty much require him to outsource that and he may simply not want that.
I don’t think charging for content is the problem, it’s just the way some companies do it.
I mean this is great, props… But didn’t he already make his nut with this game?? I mean I can play it on my fucking Tesla, I assume he got paid.
Sure. He made many millions of dollars within the first couple years of releasing it. That’s why he can pretty much do whatever he wants, including continuing to work on the game without charging additional money for it. And of course, it keeps selling more copies, and will for many years to come, so he has tons of money continuing to flood in.
He certainly seems like a pretty grounded guy, and it’s nice that he tries to be cool about stuff, including not gouging the player base for more money. Being an individual has huge advantages compared to being a corporation, in some ways. A corporation would pretty much be obligated to maximize profit. He can just be pleased that he brings joy to millions of players, and has already made a fortune.
Yeah - I don’t want to be too dismissive. I’ve read interviews with him, and despite his success, he hasn’t measurably changed his lifestyle or fallen into the traps a big influx of money can cause. It honestly reminds me of No Man’s Sky (minus the redempetion arc) where enough money was made from the base product that it funds ongoing development for the forseeable future.
CA is too good for us.
I suppose that’s nice. Although I do not see the problem with charging for updates, with multiplayer it’s a problem because people might get pressured into buying something they might otherwise not get it because of friends, but with the single player game I can’t see the issue. And why doesn’t the dev deserve to be compensated?
I miss old school “Expansions” like brood war etc
The Factorio Devs made this Blogpost some time ago about how to go forward with development. It basically boiled down to developing a big (paid) expansion pack. I would be totally fine with Stardew Valley doing the same. However, going for free updates was discarded for Factorio because they have a “smaller but more dedicated audience [compared to Terraria and Minecraft]”. I don’t think that applies to Stardew Valley so free updates might be the way to go.
I don’t know so much about Terraria because I don’t really play it but Minecraft makes most of its money through merchandise. The game is more vehicle to sell green plushies and funko pops than it is to make money itself.
Minecraft was just the example they used in the post but I agree. Minecraft is no indie game studio anymore atleast since Microsoft took over. But at least the free update policy hasn’t changed since the takeover
I appreciate it, and as a socialist I respect his attitude of “I’m rich off this so no need”, but also he’s done years of work to give us free stuff added to his game. If he had a paid expansion it wouldn’t be the worst thing.
I love Ape, and think he’s one of the best devs out there.
I don’t mind paid DLC like Elden Ring or Factorio 2.0, when it’s basically a whole complete game on top of it. But anything micro transaction can go right to hell
The sad part is that the idea behind DLCs (to develop further content for a game already released, in exchange for additional money) is reasonable. Or it would be, if shitty developers didn’t abuse it to the point that it stopped being “downloadable content” to become “dumb and lazy cashgrab”.
I also think that CA isn’t just being benign with this statement, or his whole “let us not be arseholes” approach towards development. He’s being smart; player trust might be hard to measure but it has direct impact on word-of-mouth advertisement and piracy, so it’s basically the difference between “everybody knows it, plenty bought it” and “the few ones who know it pirated it”.
Another excellent example of this working is Factorio.
The original game doesn’t cost a fortune, it’s made by a small extremely dedicated team. They polished it so hard the shine made everything else look like vanta black. Playing Factorio ruins other games because the depth and quality of everything else is so poor in comparison.
The game came out in like 2013 early access. Full release completed in 2020. A decade after initial launch, they are going to offer a DLC, that will cost money.
Absolutely happy to pay for a DLC for that perfection.
Agreed. If CA charged a few bucks for the 1.6 update, I’d have bought it without hesitation. Same with 1.5.
The best example right now is Factorio. There’s a new expansion coming out in October. It isn’t free, but it adds basically an entire new game on top of an already excellent and fully fleshed out game. I’m gonna buy it the day it goes on sale without question and without waiting for reviews.
Then there’s crap like Starfield where they added 1 mission for $7.
Slay the Spire is current $8.50. Starbound is $4.50 (both are on sale rn for future readers) if you’re looking for a space game.
I can’t actually recommend Starbound. It’s a game sure. And made by an indie team. But it’s past is stained. The game is also hollow and devoid of true substance and this is clear after less than 5 hours of gameplay.
FTL is a much better space themed indie masterpiece.
the idea behind DLCs
Back when they were called “Expansion Packs” and came on a disc for players who didn’t have a good internet connection. You can trace the death of the expac and the rise of MTX in the postlaunch monetization of Bethesda’s biggest games - Morrowind through Skyrim all have entire extra games that you can graft onto them for a premium price, but then during Skyrim’s release and re-release era they dip their toes into MTX via the Creation Club, to their total embrace of the concept in FO76.
But actually I think that blaming Bethesda is a bit of a red herring. The real dawn of DLC as we know it today wasn’t horse armor, it was Halo 2’s additional multiplayer maps. Microsoft went from releasing maps for free to charging for early access to maps that became free eventually to making everyone buy the maps. At around the same time they forced Valve to charge for Left for Dead 2 maps that were released for free on PC. MS really took point on conditioning gamers to lower their expectations for post launch content.
