Thoughts About Patreon

Lately I’ve been thinking about making a Patreon, but just bringing that up makes me feel a bit dirty. I don’t want to start double-dipping or locking people out of content that is free at the moment, so I’m writing this blog to discuss my thoughts.

Here’s some perks to me having an income on Patreon:
• My income would be a bit less volatile month to month and year to year. Currently in some months I get 30x what I get in others. I’m used to this but it does make financial planning a bit complicated, especially when working on a project over many years.
• It gives people another way to support me. I get asked about donations, preorders, kickstarters, etc. every once in a while, and Patreon makes more sense to me than any of those.
• Most game stores take 30% of my earnings, and some take even more than that. So it would be a more efficient way of getting money straight to me for those who are concerned with that. (Patreon only takes 5% as I understand it)
• It gives me a way of releasing demos to a small group of people, which would be useful with spoiler-full stuff. For example, I’d like to get a bunch of people to test the entire EBF5 world map, but I don’t want to release that publicly cause it’s obviously full of spoilers.
• I’d get more money overall, which you may or may not think I deserve. I don’t *need* more money, but 2017 is shaping up to be my worst year in a while, as I haven’t published any games in a few years now.
• I’d be able to make some smaller free games again without needing to worry about a sustainable income. Games that on their own probably wouldn’t be worth buying. (And with Greenlight gone I could easily put them on Steam as well) (alternatively it could lead to free updates for EBF5 post-release)

Here’s some perks for patrons that I’ve thought about:
• Early access to spoilerific demos or very early and buggy stuff. Anything that I wouldn’t want to release publicly for a while.
• Requests for little favours that I’ve thought about doing but haven’t quite gotten round to. For example, releasing a blog post on a specific topic, releasing some existing artwork as a wallpaper, releasing bits of source code, etc. This stuff I’d also make publicly available later, so I’m not doing it just for the patrons.
• Some little perks on the EBF Discord, such as having a colorful username and the ability to post images on any channel. (still within the rules, of course)
• Using it as an alternative payment method for buying my games. (not sure how well this would work, but if someone’s sent me enough money through Patreon I can send them Steam or Humble keys or whatever)

What I’m NOT going to use Patreon for:
• Letting patrons influence my games’ content in any way that isn’t available to everyone else.
• Giving out perks that would use up a lot of my time on things that aren’t game development.
• Locking stuff that would normally be free behind a paywall. I would only put stuff on Patreon that I’m currently not releasing at all.

So that’s it I think. Of course what I would do with Patreon depends on how much support I get on there, and what people would find most beneficial. But first I want to hear from fans; Does this sound okay? Are there any perks you’d like to see? Are there any concerns you have?

17 thoughts on “Thoughts About Patreon

  1. leoalex

    Well,I would be happy to support my one of my favourite game ,if only the fund is in an acceptable range. :smirk:

    Reply
  2. Aethyer

    I think that you’ve thought thoroughly about this and by the looks of what you said it seems really awesome actually. So yeah, go for it amigo. :shades:

    Reply
  3. Dewayne Thomas

    I’ve never used Patreon but was jsut taking a look at their website real quick. Would it be possible for you to record stuff while you develope it, speed it up really quickly, and post those for patreon users every week or something? I really liked your video of you drawing that nintendo system.

    Reply
    1. Dewayne Thomas

      And on another note, I don’t think you charge enough for your games to be honest. I would have easily paid 50 dollars for EBF4. The music, artwork, and you even somehow made turn based battles refreshing. It’s insane, you don’t see quality like this in triple A titles. I mean, you didn’t even have to release a first day patch for it. And you basically gave the game away for free on Kong. Like, just damn man. Don’t let anyone tell you your a sellout for charging what you deserve. At every party there is always that one guy, yuh know. Screw that guy.

      Reply
    2. Matt Roszak Post author

      I could do stuff like that every once in a while, but I wouldn’t want to do it every week. (plus I don’t know how well my PC will hold up recording a very long video)

      Reply
  4. Irae

    tbh I’ve never used Patreon myself(from either side that is)..I don’t see an issue with donations for good content though.
    Just one thing I would like to point out for this case however…this line: “but 2017 is shaping up to be my worst year in a while, as I haven’t published any games in a few years now.”. That sounds like an issue here..if concern is income, I’d like to see you focus more on releasing new games more frequently, as I DO feel that sustained income should be earned. Not to say that you should rush them – quality over quantity ANY day, just that I’d rather not see a good developer like you lapse into the habit of making one good game and then just sitting on earnings from it for 10 years or whatever without doing any additional work.

    Reply
    1. Matt Roszak Post author

      That’s a legit concern. EBF4 has funded me for a few years now, and with some luck EBF5 will do the same. However I would indeed like to work on smaller games again, or DLC for EBF5 once it’s out, and I think Patreon would be good for funding those as they might not be worth selling individually. We’ll see how it goes.

      Reply
  5. angel alejandro

    in my personal opinion, you should ask your opinion to someone with more experience, as someone who is already on patreon but also with someone who knows more about the issue of income, that could clarify a bit doubts

    Reply
  6. Glorious Jon MacAmy

    Sure. I mean, what you wrote makes a lot of sense. It’s a good way to show support, I feel sometimes buying your games isn’t what I wan’t my support to “look like” (also i don’t have any money to give, but I’d like Patreon more than just buying a 10$ game every year or so (or less).
    Y’know.

    Reply
  7. pionoplayer

    I say go for it. You’re not really taking anything away from us freeloaders, even if you did have an obligation to us.

    You having a steady source of income is more important.

    Reply
  8. Jake Harfoushian

    The fact that this was posted today is actually really funny to me, I’m currently in the middle of replaying EBF4 on Steam and I was wondering if you had a Pateron that I could donate to, as I’ve been playing your games since EBF2 went up on newgrounds, which lead me here. :stars: If you were to put up a Patreon I know other fans and I would eagerly support it as you’ve been entertaining us for many years, and realistically the majority of people who are against it and call “sellout” the moment anyone considers making a Patreon are jackass teenagers who don’t have the money to pay for anything and are bitter when the actually have to. There is no legitimate reason you should not seek out avenues for monetary support from fans (Unless you’re being a dick about it, which its clear from this post you are not.)

    TL;DR Please make a Patreon, I would love to be able to support you monetarily as you have more than earned whatever little I can give. :hurray:

    Reply
  9. Nikola Jarić

    So, patreon isn’t a bad idea, since about 5/10 people want to donate to you. This could also be useful for beta testing (map, battle testing bosses…) or basically anything that’s spoilerific (Yes, I DO mean the final boss). My opinion, it’s up to you, so… You decide. :stars: :yay:

    Reply
  10. 246vipfreezeray

    I think its a great idea and will give you a little extra income aside from your games.

    I was thinking that maybe for a super high donation price like 50 or 100 dollars or euros (not sure what the conversion rate is) you could let players add one small thing (with your approval of course) like a set of armor or a weapon or an enemy or maybe even an appearance of an OC of theirs just as one of the side quest npcs. But anyway that’s just a few ideas. :hurray:

    Reply
    1. Nikola Jarić

      50 US$ for an NPC? (The weapons aren’t probably gonna make it, even though I’m a “Seraphim Return” supporter) I think that’s too much, anyway. Patreon is supposed to be “find out b4 everyone else” I guess… :shades:
      If that was possible, I’d collect money with my friends to make SERAPHIM RETURN. (@Matt Roszak hint! Hint!) :yay: :stars:

      Reply
  11. Shraderc.inc

    i would support this, its completely nessicary and valid. however i wouldn’t be able to support you outright. not exactly doing well on funds myself and im saving up to buy it at release.

    Reply
  12. Lscander

    Well,it is feasible.But what I worry about is that the patreon can’t bring much money,for some developers I am watching only make less than 300$ per month.And some of them are developers with some celebrity.Even phrynna makes only 900$ per month…Anyway,it’s up to you.

    Reply
  13. KupoFrost

    just make a vote poll if people are fine with your patreon, i personally think it would be a good idea for you :love2: :love: :love2: :stars: :smirk: :yay: :hurray:

    Reply

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