He also notes that the term “shareware” “definitely has some negative connotations. Because the barrier to entry in the shareware market is so low, there is a lot of unfinished or just plain crappy stuff floating around the download sites, which has tarred everybody.
“’Shareware’ equals ‘unprofessional,’ so some companies prefer to call it ‘electronic distribution’ or some such. But it’s the same thing.”
Rewrite the economics
GarageGames’ head evangelist Jay Moore, who helped bring Orbz and ThinkTanks to market, adds that calling his company a shareware producer “would be like calling ourselves a ‘playable demo company.’ We’re committed to being the model independent games publisher. Independent game developers are primarily defined as self-funded — and self-directed — game developers.
“Online distribution of games is a marketing channel, but for us it doesn’t define the kind of company we aim to be, nor the kind of developer studios we aim to serve.”
Moore goes on to say that “online distribution has the potential to rewrite the economics of gaming by giving access directly to gamers and letting them decide what makes a great game. It makes it easier to stay close to the player, refining a game after you’ve first launched it and continuing to build a fan base over years, rather than in the three weeks you have to prove yourself on the retail shelf.”
