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Have any of you managed to make a living from Itch?

A topic by Melinda2424 created 6 days ago Views: 229 Replies: 14
Viewing posts 1 to 11

I haven't had a chance to see if that's possible...

If possible, how many games, and what genres?

It was looking much better before the payment processing drama...

(+4)

If the cost of living is below: 

😂😂😂😂😂

It is not secret what sells on Itch

/games/top-sellers

What we do not know, if that is enough to make a living from it for any given developer. And that list changes frequently.

Also, you do not make a game and get money for this game endlessly. There is saturation of your audience. You will reach a point where most people that would have bought it, already bought it and new sales will be very few.

definitely not. I have 60 downloads of my free pack (5 of the 255 songs) but no one has blufht the paid packs, or donated for the free one, so 0$ it is...

(2 edits) (+1)

Hi, I checked out your profile, and looking at your prices...

I understand what your work might be worth, but did you do any market research? 

For example, the other day I found an offer for AI-generated music, a 7-day trial for one dollar, and you get to keep the rights.
I’ve also seen RPG Maker music packs for $5 when they’re on sale.

I think your situation has more to do with the competition than with Itch.io being a bad platform for selling. In fact, that’s why I decided to make NSFW games, because I thought it was the only way to avoid competing against AAA games, and it seems I was right, since those are the ones that used to generate the most money...
Now the market for that is really bad, but back in the day I managed to make enough money, not enough to live on, but certainly not insignificant either.


I don't mean to say that your work isn't worth what you're asking for it; it's just that the music market is in a bad place right now—there's a lot of very cheap music out there, and people are taking advantage of that.

Those of us who work in the arts know that business can be slow. Comic book artists remember a time when a single comic book page was practically worthless and they could barely put food on the table.

These days, the markets for illustration, music, and NSFW games are slumping.

(+1)

I gave up on making income from Itch.io due to the payment processing issues and deindexing problems that were never properly followed up on. I put a lot of my work on Steam, which has helped. Some people from here support me on Patreon too, but I still have a ways to go.

When the payment processing issues occurred, many 18+ developers who were making a living income on Itch.io were no longer able to do so, since their games got deindexed, and discovery was halted. T_T

As I said up above, that's just how art is, sometimes it's just bad, and that's that.
That's just how the market works, there are branches of art that sometimes die out, then come back to life, then decline again...
Art is like a sailboat: you go where the wind takes you, and if there's no wind, you don't go anywhere.

I would like to make a living from itchio...

(+1)

ya but it hard to even get 1 downlod

It's easier to get a few brower plays.

All I wanted was just some comments, views, and downloads—and even that has been difficult.

I’d like to earn a living from itch.io.

While this might not be an effective commercial site, you can make contacts with people who are passionate and have some degree of skill. Itch is an amazing melting pot. Sometimes one may bump shoulders with those who HAVE made a living through development. 

Perhaps instead of focusing on sales, you could look for other ways on encountering value? Not just skill share, but also tips on project management and keeping motivation. 

While independent creation is filled with risk (both financial investment and time), it excels at keeping the ball rolling once something eventually picks up steam. Although usually by then a big publisher comes knocking for another asset to absorb under their control and profit from (or shelve) as they please.

I remember a quote: "if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Yes, because nobody's hiring. But also once you earn your bread; you will come to hate it."