Buy Indie games (Eufloria) with Bitcoin

[ffssixtynine]

Hi all,

I'm the co-developer of indie game Eufloria. We'd like to try a pay what you want deal for Eufloria, and maybe some other titles, exclusive to Bitcoin owners. I want to see the currency succeed and this seems a good way to increase awareness. Some requests:

- First and foremost, do people think there would be any real interest?

- Would the fluctuating currency be a problem with a Pay What You Want Deal?

- We need a good tech guy to set up a simple front and back end, similar to other bundle sites. Contact me here or through TunaHQ if you're experienced and can help out. (Edit: found!)

- Any other comments?

If you would like to contribute to the idea or want a copy of the PC/Mac/Linux Beta or Android version of Eufloria HD, drop *any* amount of Bitcoin into this address and message me on this forum or though TunaHQ. Don't forget to let me know your source address, time, and amount donated!

In the mean time, you can donate/buy now from the Eufloria homepage.

[nebulus]

I'll answer the first question... If your product is good there is going to be interest.

[ffssixtynine]

Eufloria has sold > 500k copies and was Apple's Game Of 2012 Runner Up on iPad (Europe) so at least some people like it. Whether those people would use Bitcoins yet I doubt, but we have to start somewhere.

I'd like to raise the profile of Bitcoin with regard to indie games in particular, and I'm speaking to other indies about some kind of Bitcoin promotion to get things going. However, I genuinely have no idea how worthwhile it is in financial terms, this is more a statement I guess.

[gfoot]

The product is very good, and I think it's awesome that you're embracing bitcoin in connection with such a fine product.

Is this essentially just a donation model then, so the game will be free on the Apple Store and Google Play, but invite people to donate?  I can't see how you could do it as a normal pay-before-play or pay-to-unlock store, given how those services operate, but maybe that wasn't your intention anyway.

Note that asking people to tell you which address they donated into your account from is weak - anybody can look up the records of who has donated into the account, and claim to be responsible for one of the addresses.  If you care enough to only give the beta to people who have donated, then you need a stronger way to check you're giving it to the right people.

I also think there's enough of a barrier to entry into the bitcoin market that you'd only get these donations from people who are already using bitcoins - you need to be aware of that from the start.

[ffssixtynine]

re: Address - yep, this is very much a little thing for a small handful of people who expressed an interest and is certainly not what we'd do (we'd use one of the merchant services most likely). And we do actually give copies away when people ask nicely so I'm not worried about that I have edited up the request slightly tho, thanks (not that this info isn't unavailable I have to say).

At this point it would just be a donation service, yes. We can't offer any store versions for Bitcoin, only our own PC/Mac/Linux beta build and as long as the numbers are very small we can offer Android (larger numbers may be ok too but will require some extra work).

The friction to get into Bitcoin is very large, especially from the UK, so I have no expectations here. Like other sellers, it's about making a statement.

For Bitcoin to become mainstream it needs to be vastly more understandable and easier to buy. My personal view is that although Bitcoin may not be the final currency, there will be an online currency. However, there is definitely money pouring into making Bitcoin work for larger entities now and they may legitimise it on a far wider scale than at present. I'm sure the present bubble will burst, but the longer term may result in much higher values than we have now.

Edit: I am actually looking to do a little blog about my newbie Bitcoin experiences to try and help those starting out. A lot of the information out there is out of date or invalid for UK users (at present).

[ffssixtynine]

Added a proper buy link... not automated yet but getting there!

[Lethn]

I actually had to do a double take and check your site was the real thing and not a scam! That's awesome, I already bought Eufloria ages ago because I liked the idea and it had some solid coding, oddly enough I couldn't get into it that much though. If I may make a shameless ad for this guy there's a shop that does exactly what you need, I've been looking at it and messing around with it and so far it's looking pretty awesome you don't even need to sign up with a payment processor to get it working so that means you get to keep all the coins you earn.

http://bitfreak.info/bitshop/

It's really for digital products but there are options there so you can get emailed with orders but I haven't had the chance to experiment with it yet, good luck guys, it's nice to see indie developers take an interest in this, especially the ones that makes games and not business models. It doesn't have a pay what you want system up yet but I talked to Bitfreak and he seemed to be open to the idea so who knows? Might come along in a future update but obviously I can't speak for him.

[John (John K.)]

Whitelisted, feel free to post elsewhere (or move this thread yourself - there's the move option down there).
Welcome! 

[ffssixtynine]

Thanks John - much appreciated. What would be the best place on this forum to move this too? I've not been here long enough to be sure and would like to avoid a faux pas.

Lethn - Eufloria HD beta (or iOS or Android) is a little different to the current Steam version. It's more refined and easier to get into. The computer versions are pure ports at present, hence the beta, but will be niced up soon and released on Steam. For a little Bitcoin (or hell, free if you want) I can give you access to the beta.

Thanks for the bitfreak tip. Will look into that.

There are... plans afoot for a bunch of us indies to move forwards with this if we can work out the details. In the meantime, it would really help if anyone would spread the word a bit and get us any feedback about pricing, set up, how to get newbies involved, etc.

I'm already writing up a simple how-to site based on my initial experience. A lot of the information out there is very techie or out of date - things need to be easier in the long term.

[kjplor]

Game looks like a lot of fun.  I would definitely pay in bitcoins to get a copy.

[shadypepe]

just downloaded the demo of your game, it is going to be an even bigger sucess than it is. keep developing rts for android, it is a very underestimated field.

[EtherDais]

Eufloria has sold > 500k copies and was Apple's Game Of 2012 Runner Up on iPad (Europe) so at least some people like it. Whether those people would use Bitcoins yet I doubt, but we have to start somewhere.

I'd like to raise the profile of Bitcoin with regard to indie games in particular, and I'm speaking to other indies about some kind of Bitcoin promotion to get things going. However, I genuinely have no idea how worthwhile it is in financial terms, this is more a statement I guess.

I think this is a great idea, and Eufloria is quite enjoyable IMHO.  What's the next game for you folks?

[ffssixtynine]

Thanks all, working away on supporting bitcoin properly over the next couple of weeks.

We're doing a rogue-like small spin off for Playstation Mobile which will then be expanded to all platforms most likely, mulling over creating eufloria 2 (editor, multiplayer), and Rudolf has at least two other game projects on the go.