# [Ep539] Store Fees Are Crushing Indie Game Studios

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Game Dev Podcast | Coffee with Butterscotch

Butterscotch Shenanigans

529 episodes

2 days ago

Coffee with Butterscotch is the hilarity-filled weekly podcast of award-winning indie video game studio Butterscotch Shenanigans, best known for its smash hit Crashlands. Grab a drink and tune in every week to learn the ins and outs of game development, productivity and workflows, the business of selling video games, our takes on entrepreneurship and building a small company from scratch, and how to be an unstoppable problem-solving machine. Got a question you want answered on the podcast? Ask us at https://podcast.bscotch.net

All content for Game Dev Podcast | Coffee with Butterscotch is the property of Butterscotch Shenanigans and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

# [Ep539] Store Fees Are Crushing Indie Game Studios

Game Dev Podcast | Coffee with Butterscotch

1 hour

1 week ago

# [Ep539] Store Fees Are Crushing Indie Game Studios

In episode 539 of 'Coffee with Butterscotch,' the brothers look into how platform fees and distribution monopolies shape the survival odds for indie studios. Alongside updates on Crashlands 2 and Levelhead, they answer listener questions about microtransactions and live service models before zooming out to the bigger question of how developers can keep making games in a crowded, costly marketplace.

Support Crashlands 2!

Official Website: https://www.bscotch.net/games/crashlands-2/

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib7fzLf59vo

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1401730/Crashlands2/

Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bscotch.crashlands2

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crashlands-2/id1528199331

00:00 Cold Open

00:28 Introduction and Welcome

01:31 Game Development Updates and Community Engagement

04:40 Levelhead's Marketing Strategy and Community Dynamics

12:13 The Role of User-Generated Content in Game Success

16:41 Innovative Features in Levelhead

19:41 Creating Engaging Marketing Content

20:51 (Listener Question) Microtransactions in Gaming: A Deep Dive

28:06 (Listener Question) The Live Service Model vs. Yearly Sequels

35:25 The Impact of Platform Fees on Indie Developers

44:25 The Rise of Game Launchers

47:12 Epic's Strategy and the Monopoly of Steam

50:14 The Challenges of Indie Game Development

53:16 The Impact of Revenue Cuts on Indie Studios

59:17 The Future of Game Distribution and Indie Survival

To stay up to date with all of our buttery goodness subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts (apple.co/1LxNEnk) or wherever you get your audio goodness.

If you want to get more involved in the Butterscotch community, hop into our DISCORD server at discord.gg/bscotch and say hello!

Submit questions at https://www.bscotch.net/podcast, disclose all of your secrets to podcast@bscotch.net, and send letters, gifts, and tasty treats to https://bit.ly/bscotchmailbox.

Finally, if you’d like to support the show and buy some coffee FOR Butterscotch, head over to https://moneygrab.bscotch.net.

★ Support this podcast ★