Bow To Blood developer needs to sell 40,000 copies to break even
Studio behind PSVR exclusive discusses the economics of success in virtual reality
US-based independent studio Tribetoy has revealed the number of copies it needs to shift to ensure its game Bow To Blood become profitable.
During an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, co-founder and design director Matthew Hoesterey responded to a question about the PSVR's title pricing and revenue.
Naturally, the sales figure required to turn a profit is lower if everyone buys the sci-fi game at full price, but in an age where consumers are hungry for price cuts, the studio knows it's likely to need higher sales.
"We need to sell around 28,000 copies at the current non-discount price to break even and that's not counting me living off my bank account and not taking a salary for two years," Hoesterey wrote.
"We get to decide if we discount the game but work with Sony to decide when that is done. So realistically with sales factored in we probably need to hit 40,000 sales before we earn any money towards the next project."
The developer also confirmed that Tribetoy receives 70 per cent of each sale, while Sony takes a 30 per cent cut - a standard across most platforms. But while there has been recent negativity about the amount platform holders take from developers, Hoesterey had nothing but praise for PlayStation, revealing that Bow To Blood was partially funded by Sony, likely explaining why the game is currently exclusive to PlayStation VR.
"It was a very generous deal," he wrote. "Most of the time developers get much less but VR deals are a bit better as the user base is smaller so it's harder to break even."
Hopefully, 40,000 sales is attainable for Tribetoy, especially since PlayStation VR has sold more than three million units worldwide.
When asked what's next for Tribtetoy, Hoesterey said the team is currently focused on updating Bow To Blood and is still unsure what the next project will be.