Arkedo Reveals XBLIG Sales Stats, Praises Opportunities Generated

French independent game creator Arkedo Studios, developer of Xbox Live Indie Games JUMP, SWAP and PIXEL!, has released official sales figures for its suite of downloadable games before outlining the opportunities that have arisen out of their success on the service. Arkedo turned to Xbox Live Indie Games after releasing DS puzzle games including Nervous Brickdown and Big Bang Mini. In a post on Gamasutra sister site GamerBytes.com, the firm revealed that the trial for JUMP, the studio's first game, released in September 2009, was downloaded 42,974 times, with 4,990 sales made, a conversion rate of 11.61 percent. Meanwhile SWAP, released in October 2009, performed less well, with 20,278 trials downloaded, converting to 4,369 sales. In a period after September 10th, SWAP was featured as a deal of the week on the service, selling for 80MSP, reduced from 240MSP. For that month 3,987 trials were downloaded, selling 2,334 copies, a conversion rate of 58.54 percent. PIXEL!, released November 2009, has been the studio's strongest performer, with 62,636 trials and 11,432 sales made over the course of the game's lifespan. Camille Guermonprez, owner of Arkedo Studios, originally revealed the figures on gaming site NeoGAF, admitting that the company failed to turn a profit on the suite. "The 3 Arkedo Series cost approx $50K altogether to make and XNA sales went approx. $50K combined," he wrote. "Costs and revenue are comparable in this example. So having 3 games on the Xbox, even on the Indie Games section (which must be less than 1% of the general traffic) does help you get noticed." However, Guermonprez was quick to point out that there have been various benefits to having games on XBLIG. "In a nutshell, it's all about having your studio being noticed by gamers, and help it appear on the industry radar," he wrote before pointing out that, as a direct result of the suite, Arkedo received a "paid deal with Microsoft Games Studios for the launch of Windows Phone 7, with OMG - Our Manic Game." Likewise, Guermonprez attributes a subsequent deal to make a game for a Japanese publisher on XBLA/ PSN, and a deal with Intel to have the Arkedo series featured on its AppUp platform (an App store for PC notebooks) directly to the studio's XBLIG titles. "So in a nutshell," he wrote, "what looked like 'only' $50K turned out in the end being a few hundred thousand Euros in indirect -yet closely related- sales, and built some hype around our current game." "I really recommend XNA for everyone", he concluded. "It's simple, it's easy, and it allows you to have a new audience while getting some attention from the industry."