Is it worth it creating otome games?

Forum organization and occasional community-building.
Forum rules
Questions about Ren'Py should go in the Ren'Py Questions and Announcements forum.
Message
Author
User avatar
milkteebaby
Regular
Posts: 58
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2017 1:14 am
Projects: PS: I Love You
Tumblr: milkteebaby
Deviantart: milkteebaby
Location: Shanghai
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#16 Post by milkteebaby »

NemiGal wrote: Sat Apr 07, 2018 11:54 pm
milkteebaby wrote: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:53 pm
NemiGal wrote: Sat Apr 07, 2018 11:25 am
I must decide first if i want to spend so much time on a visual novel first, when i can do other things that may earn me more money :lol:
Thanks for the replies!
You can do other things that WILL earn you more money. Trust me. Designing otome games are a long-term investment. I would be very surprised to find devs who split even/made a profit off their first otoge.

Make games because you love them. Don't make them because you want to make money. You'll only waste your time.
Agh! too bad that is hard to earn money with otome games, they seem to be fun to create, but the time they consume to to develop is huge.
Well, good to know that i must forget of being able to quit my job to develop a VNs.
Good to know that there is still a space for indie otoges, you know with all those japanese otoges from huge companies, being traslated.

Thanks for the reply!
It IS hard to make money from otome games, more so because it's a niche of a niche, but if you love doing it, then nothing should stop you from designing your own game.

Don't take everything I say to heart; if you want to dev a VN, then you should do it because you want to, not because someone told you it's too time consuming and expensive, especially if you hire out for assets, etc.

The majority of otoges being translated are not what I'm interested in, and I know there's other people like me who don't want to play as a high school girl :3

User avatar
NemiGal
Newbie
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 7:49 am
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#17 Post by NemiGal »

milkteebaby wrote: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:53 pm
It IS hard to make money from otome games, more so because it's a niche of a niche, but if you love doing it, then nothing should stop you from designing your own game.

Don't take everything I say to heart; if you want to dev a VN, then you should do it because you want to, not because someone told you it's too time consuming and expensive, especially if you hire out for assets, etc.

The majority of otoges being translated are not what I'm interested in, and I know there's other people like me who don't want to play as a high school girl :3
Ah! its just the idea of spending so much time in something that does not earn me money bugges me xD
But still, do you think a begginer should release their first visual novel for free, so people get to know them or do you think is posible to sell your first visual novel?
Btw good luck with your project!

User avatar
milkteebaby
Regular
Posts: 58
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2017 1:14 am
Projects: PS: I Love You
Tumblr: milkteebaby
Deviantart: milkteebaby
Location: Shanghai
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#18 Post by milkteebaby »

NemiGal wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:20 pm
Ah! its just the idea of spending so much time in something that does not earn me money bugges me xD
But still, do you think a begginer should release their first visual novel for free, so people get to know them or do you think is posible to sell your first visual novel?
Btw good luck with your project!
Yeah, I get where you're coming from. From a financial (and reasonable) perspective, it is pretty ridiculous to spend so much money without expecting anything back. But that's the thing about games. A lot of indie developers make games because they want to, not because they expect some kind of monetary reward. (we're not all like EA, lol)

There's plenty of people who release their 1st game for profit. There's one game called One Last Crane that successfully got their Kickstarter funded, even though this is the dev's first game. Personally, I would never support a 1st game, just because they don't have a proven track record, but their game is being published by DigitalEZ, who has released other games in the past :/

I, personally, will be releasing Ps I Love You with Naoki's route being free, while Haruhito/Shinichi/Secret Route being $5 for each route. I think it's not unreasonable, considering that each route is easily about 50-70k long and you'd pay that much for a book, so why not a video game?

User avatar
Aviala
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 533
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:40 am
Completed: Your Royal Gayness, Love Bug, Lovingly Evil
Organization: Lizard Hazard Games
Tumblr: lizardhazardgames
itch: aviala
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#19 Post by Aviala »

I did a successful kickstarter for Your Royal Gayness and it was my first proper game. I had made game jam games before, though! Maybe you could start out with a VN that you make in like a week or a month, and then you'll have a better idea of what to expect when you make your first commercial game. Game development is a lot of work and there's a high risk of not making a lot of money but it's easier if you have some experience with smaller games before you go commercial. I'm not saying you should make a full length game for free, just try stuff out and release something experimental that you made fast. :)

User avatar
poorlyformed
Regular
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:43 am
Projects: Shadowburg
Tumblr: poorlyformed
itch: poorlyformed
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#20 Post by poorlyformed »

I have to admit being puzzled by "its just the idea of spending so much time in something that does not earn me money bugges me." Millions of people have hobbies that they spend a ton of time on that never make any money. They do it for the enjoyment. It's fine to want to make money off something you create - my hobby is art and I've recently been taking steps to start earning money from it - but I think if that's your only reason for pursuing this, you'll just end up disappointed and frustrated.
Image

User avatar
Aviala
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 533
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:40 am
Completed: Your Royal Gayness, Love Bug, Lovingly Evil
Organization: Lizard Hazard Games
Tumblr: lizardhazardgames
itch: aviala
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: Is it worth it creating otome games?

#21 Post by Aviala »

poorlyformed wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:49 pm I have to admit being puzzled by "its just the idea of spending so much time in something that does not earn me money bugges me." Millions of people have hobbies that they spend a ton of time on that never make any money. They do it for the enjoyment. It's fine to want to make money off something you create - my hobby is art and I've recently been taking steps to start earning money from it - but I think if that's your only reason for pursuing this, you'll just end up disappointed and frustrated.
I agree; I think it's perfectly reasonable to want to be paid for your hard work, but unfortunately because the indie games market is so saturated, there's no guarantee of making money. So you need other motivations too besides money. Money can be one of them for sure since game development is a legit job, but if you're in it just for the money you should probably apply for a job at an established game company so you can earn a salary. Indie dev basically means you need to become an entrepreneur and that always includes financial risks.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users