State of GameSalad on 6/30/2015...
CodeWizard
Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I've made a State of GameSalad post. We've got some big news so I figured I ought to dust off my keyboard and let you guys know what's going on personally.
Leadership Changes
Earlier in May, our CEO stepped down and I've stepped into the role. Part of this leadership change involves taking a hard look at the business. I've looked at things and we've made some changes to how we operate because of that. The gist of these changes is that we're focusing solely on the core business of GameSalad. What does that mean to you? Let's dig right in...
Business Model Changes
The biggest news, by far, is that we're moving to a free trial business model for GameSalad Creator. This means there's no more free version of GameSalad Creator. All existing free users will get 15 days to try GameSalad Creator before having to make their purchase decision.
During the free trial period, all of the features of GameSalad Creator are available: networking, platform publishing, ads, etc. After the free trial period, users must purchase to continue using GameSalad Creator.
This is necessary because too many people are using the tools for free and we're not meeting our revenue goals.
New Basic Plan
We're introducing a new pricing plan GameSalad Basic. This plan is $19/month ($199/year) and allows unlimited access to GameSalad Creator. The only limitation on GameSalad Basic is that you cannot publish to anywhere but to Arcade.
What about Pro?
The GameSalad Pro plan is essentially unchanged. The main difference between GameSalad Basic and GameSalad Pro is that you can publish to mobile devices with GameSalad Pro. The price is still $29/month ($299/year).
Product Development Changes
This refocusing on the core business means that we're putting all resources behind GameSalad Creator. The outcome of this is that we're releasing more builds and fixes than ever before. Perhaps you've already noticed the drastically improved pace of development. GameSalad Creator is getting better every day. Yeah!
Support Changes
You may have noticed the new help icon at the bottom right of the http://gamesalad.com website. This gives you a direct line of communication with the GameSalad team. The result is faster and more relevant support. Give it a try if you have any questions!
Focus on Learning
It turns out that the vast majority of users showing interest in GameSalad Creator want to learn to make games. We're focusing on sourcing the best learning materials and getting them up at http://learn.gamesalad.com. That site is still pretty early but it'll be shaping up over the coming weeks.
Summary
GameSalad is going through some big changes. I'm excited about what this refocusing of the business will mean to you guys. Better builds... faster support... improved learning materials... It's gonna be fun!
Let me know if you have any questions or comments on this.
Comments
Thanks for the update @CodeWizard ! The faster updates are great! Is 14.0 with the new render system still in development? Also what happens to Graphene SDK and is it still in the development phase?
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Graphene SDK is currently on hold while we work out some other stuff. But it's not dead yet.
And, yes, we're still working on the new render system. Latest Windows builds of Creator use it currently. It'll take a bit of time to merge those changes into Mac.
Thanks for letting us know @CodeWizard! I look forward to the continued improvements with GS.
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awesome awesome awesome!
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Interesting, congratz on the new title @CodeWizard !
Hope you got a nice office with a big window too
I am happy to see that the creator is a big focus for now. For a while GS was getting stagnant and neglected.
Feels like we might actually see Gamesalad reach it's full potential. Especially with the releases coming out lately, which have been fantastic.
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I personally like your way of thinking , gamesalad is a baby guided by smart parents, looking forward to see 0.14.
Best of luck , Cheers!
For the record, the increased focus on GameSalad the past couple of months has been a big plus in my book (and I say that as someone really pumped for Graphene). GameSalad was getting very... ropey and the work done since 0.13.7 has been amazing.
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Full steam ahead!!!!
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Interesting.. I for one have no problem coughing up the cash to pay for the GS SDK and supporting the GS team so long as I get a quality product in return.. That said, GS is still the best bet out there compared to tools like Unity that run over $5k for all the bells and whistles which allow you to dev for all platforms..
Have you guys (@CodeWizard) thought of other income-boosting ventures? I recall a while back suggesting that you guys consider a-la-cart updates for certain features, such as Joystick Support of Multiplayer support.. Another would be the option to publish HTML5 outside of Arcade.. Some folks will never make games for these features and those that do will help offset the cost of development.
-- J
Lets hope we can get a true stable build of GS and restore faith in the software. I agree that big improvements have been made in the last few months but there is so much more to fix. FIngers crossed for real bug fixes.
Happy days!
Im not a fan of the 'basic' membership. I know the focus is to drive people to full pro membership. Personally, I would remove that option and have 2 options focused around Pro
1 - $35 a month 6 months membership
2 - $29 a month 12 months membership
Maybe thats just me
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The great thing about the new system is that you simply pay for what you use. You don't pay for months you don't use, and you can't use the product for months without paying for it.
If we're doing our job, people will sign up and stay signed up. If we're not, we'll know that too.
Dan Magaha · COO · GameSalad, Inc · danm@gamesalad.com
What's wrong with #3: $29 a month for 1 month membership? Which is what we now have
Correct me if I am wrong - but if you take up the $29 option, you are committed for 12 months? Or has this approach changed to $29 as a 'pay as you go' format?
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There is no more 12 month commitment! Both Basic and PRO are true monthly subscriptions. (Unless you choose the discounted yearly option, of course)
Time to get my butt in gear and reup my Pro now that I'm back at it.
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@CodeWizard So if I go for the basic plan I won't be able to use gamesalad viewer to push a project over to my iPad ? I'm having issues with the arcade especially with audio on various browsers will that be looked into?
@floatingwoo You can use the viewer with Basic or Pro. So, test away!
@CodeWizard Awesome I'm in!
Looks promising! If this new direction means better GameSalad, then you have my vote!
@CodeWizard - I assume current PRO members will still use the remaining time left on their account prior to being introduced to the monthly model?
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@Braydon_SFX Yes. Existing paid (and earned) time is honored.
Excellent. GameSalad rocks!
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Hmm weird, my pro badge disappeared, this part of the changes?
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So without Basic or Pro Creator is non functional after 15 days? Certainly a massive change but completely understand the economics.
That's correct! We want to give folks the opportunity to try the tool out with no limitations. We also know that there are plenty of folks who don't need publishing (or can't afford the Pro plan) which is why we created the Basic option.
Dan Magaha · COO · GameSalad, Inc · danm@gamesalad.com
Your account is definitely still flagged as Pro, the badge issue is probably just a transitory bug but we'll look into it
Dan Magaha · COO · GameSalad, Inc · danm@gamesalad.com
I'm happy to be along for the ride! Sign up on pay day!
@CodeWizard Eh, I must have about seven or eight versions of game salad on my computer back to 12.20, as I imagine a lot of people do. I guess things are going to be messy for a time until they become obsolete .
Wow big news indeed. I like the new price structure and sure hope it does what it's meant to. Gamesalad is a great product and only getting better!
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Bad business decision on a subscription based software, you will regret it later.
Hmm...good point.. What happens if users do not update their versions of GS? I'm knee-deep in a project now and am holding off updating versions until I can wrap things up and submit to Apple.. I'm a proud paying Pro user but I don't to introduce anything that'll upset the cart..