Thx for the video. It has become significantly easier to port a game to console comparing to 10 years ago. I never did it but my friends struggled for months to figure out things.
Haha even if you have to you must think about one important thing: Steam charges 99 USD per game and you have a less better visibility. So if you launch a game on a switch you get some sales definetly. And you can earn money. My steam games all failed and no one reach the payout.
2:22 yeah and PC means in this case a machine that runs windows. It might be run on a mac with Windows - but not sure if it does. To the whole story : i got accepted by all three and had first the xbox devkits for free here (but never released a game until now for it).
Thanks for the insights in this video. I´m developing a simple game and once is more refined I will try to take it to the consoles. But I have some questions and maybe you can clarify it for me. 1-) How does all the work you do and the money you have invested to port the games yourself compare it to send the game to a publisher ? I have heard that usually the split is 50/50 but they also do their own marketing to the game using their connections ,creating launch trailers and publishing it in the Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo UA-cam Channels. So I thought if they do this it´s probably worth it, so instead of porting the game I could just develop another game in the meantime. 2-) How often does a console update break a game and cause bugs? I don´t know if this is still a problem but I heard from a developer that he had a hard time with this losing a lot of time supporting it.
1-) I don't think porting is something they do, they will most likely pay for the expenses and you still have to do the coding behind porting yourself. I have never worked with publishers so I can't comment on it, but one advice is that that don't trust "any" publisher. I will most likely make a video on publishers in the future. 2-) I have so far released my games on PC first, patched them a few times, and then when I knew there will be no need for updates (Or i just wanted to move on) i then ported them to consoles so I don't know much about console updating. But i know that you have to go through the same certification process that your main game went through, and the certification team will play your main game and then play your update to ensure that savefiles for example are compatible. Updating on consoles is hard mainly because every time you update you have to do it for multiple platforms and that in itself is time-consuming.
@@JohnnyOstadThanks for the answers. About the porting I was told by a friend developer who used a publisher before that they will also port your game, but they hire a partner studio and pay for it. When you said in the other video that your profits from consoles were 97.5% total so it made sense for me.
@@Moises-ri3yd Yes, it can be outsourced, but in truth it would be easier if it was done in house. The developer understands their own code better than the external studio. The publisher could also fund the developer during the time of porting so that they do it themselves.
I don't think so, Consoles consider each other as competition not PC, even in the NDAs it says "you need to maintain feature parity with other consoles" and PC is not mentioned. But if you are going to have Multiplayer on one console you will most likely need to have it on other consoles unless you release your title "differently" for example lower price or a different edition.
Now I feel but about choosing Godot as game engine since Godot doesn't support consoles because only engines owned by companies can get support for the consoles. Godot is open source, not owned by a company thus cannot apply for support.
The whole thing takes 3 months. By that time you’re already late to the market. Plus you pay all that extra money. It’s not worth man. I’d rather give my console rights to a bigger publisher and use my game’s inclusion in consoles as an advertisement for the PC and mobile versions.
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This is extremely accurate - well done! I ported my first game to consoles last November, and it was exactly as you described here
whats the name of your game?
@@wtfsite Tanks, But No Tanks. And I’m close to releasing my next game Bridges & Docks
Thx for the video. It has become significantly easier to port a game to console comparing to 10 years ago. I never did it but my friends struggled for months to figure out things.
Yes, I wouldn't imagine being able to do it 10 years ago :D
Thanks very much Johnny, I am not 100% but you are the first game dev I know who have shared this knowledge for others so it is highly appreciated.
(1:48) It wouldn't wonder me, if you had to pay to the big N
Haha even if you have to you must think about one important thing: Steam charges 99 USD per game and you have a less better visibility. So if you launch a game on a switch you get some sales definetly.
And you can earn money. My steam games all failed and no one reach the payout.
@@whorubeta Zeig mal her deine Spiele
2:22 yeah and PC means in this case a machine that runs windows. It might be run on a mac with Windows - but not sure if it does.
To the whole story : i got accepted by all three and had first the xbox devkits for free here (but never released a game until now for it).
Thanks this is really helpful
Thanks for the insights in this video. I´m developing a simple game and once is more refined I will try to take it to the consoles. But I have some questions and maybe you can clarify it for me.
1-) How does all the work you do and the money you have invested to port the games yourself compare it to send the game to a publisher ? I have heard that usually the split is 50/50 but they also do their own marketing to the game using their connections ,creating launch trailers and publishing it in the Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo UA-cam Channels. So I thought if they do this it´s probably worth it, so instead of porting the game I could just develop another game in the meantime.
2-) How often does a console update break a game and cause bugs? I don´t know if this is still a problem but I heard from a developer that he had a hard time with this losing a lot of time supporting it.
1-) I don't think porting is something they do, they will most likely pay for the expenses and you still have to do the coding behind porting yourself. I have never worked with publishers so I can't comment on it, but one advice is that that don't trust "any" publisher. I will most likely make a video on publishers in the future.
2-) I have so far released my games on PC first, patched them a few times, and then when I knew there will be no need for updates (Or i just wanted to move on) i then ported them to consoles so I don't know much about console updating. But i know that you have to go through the same certification process that your main game went through, and the certification team will play your main game and then play your update to ensure that savefiles for example are compatible.
Updating on consoles is hard mainly because every time you update you have to do it for multiple platforms and that in itself is time-consuming.
@@JohnnyOstadThanks for the answers. About the porting I was told by a friend developer who used a publisher before that they will also port your game, but they hire a partner studio and pay for it. When you said in the other video that your profits from consoles were 97.5% total so it made sense for me.
@@Moises-ri3yd Yes, it can be outsourced, but in truth it would be easier if it was done in house. The developer understands their own code better than the external studio. The publisher could also fund the developer during the time of porting so that they do it themselves.
Thanks!
Heya are there still country/region restrictions when trying to apply to consoles?
Thanks for the vid. Do you know if you have to add multiplayer to console ports if it’s available on pc?
I don't think so, Consoles consider each other as competition not PC, even in the NDAs it says "you need to maintain feature parity with other consoles" and PC is not mentioned. But if you are going to have Multiplayer on one console you will most likely need to have it on other consoles unless you release your title "differently" for example lower price or a different edition.
@@JohnnyOstad Thanks for the reply!
Now I feel but about choosing Godot as game engine since Godot doesn't support consoles because only engines owned by companies can get support for the consoles. Godot is open source, not owned by a company thus cannot apply for support.
The whole thing takes 3 months. By that time you’re already late to the market. Plus you pay all that extra money. It’s not worth man. I’d rather give my console rights to a bigger publisher and use my game’s inclusion in consoles as an advertisement for the PC and mobile versions.