The horror title I've been working on forever is almost complete. And I'll know I'll be committing publicity suicide not putting it on Steam. However, $100 is a bit steep for me at the moment, for the possibility of maybe selling copies. So I had an idea and let me know what you people think. My game is single player - there are no microtransactions or cosmetic nickel-and-dime crap.

I am going to sell a "Founder Edition" (working title) on Itch.io that includes a Bandcamp download of the soundtrack and a free copy of the Steam version at a later date. I may include digital art too. Basically my first 25-50 copies will be that so I can fund a Steam release.

Anyone done this before and have feedback / thoughts?

    It may be difficult to get enough buyers on itch alone.
    I suggest asking your friends or family to lend you some money.

    SnapCracklins It's a bit hard to say. Depends on the quality of the game and how hard are you pushing marketing? Do people know about the game already?

    Selling anything in todays climate is hard if you don't have a brand in place or provide a lot of value upfront. But in general I think your idea is good. Try to provide as much value as possible and get those early adopter/fans that will support you.

    Just throwing an idea out there. If the game is getting close to completion, release a short, polished demo as promotion (get streamers and YouTubers to play the game to spread awareness) and then sell digital art, music etc alongside it. this way:

    1. you get peoples curiosity by giving the opportunity to check out the game. (you bring value upfront without people risking money on an unknown brand)
    2. For those that like it and want more, you provide value that you can sell ahead of game release.

    But with this I think it's important you engage with your community and grow it over time.

    Just my 2 cents.

        MikeCL those are all great recommends. I've got a few streamers interested but I am wondering on demo creation. my game is quite large (and almost finished) and I know you can select which parts of a build you want in 3.x to distribute to a build. Part of me though is thinking of just making it easy and sticking a "THIS IS A DEMO, PLEASE BUY THE FULL VERSION" tag at my doors instead of heading to the next rooms. Anyways, thanks for the advice. Keep up the good work, btw.

            SnapCracklins Thanks! 🙏

            Yeah. That could also be a good approach. Reminds me of a more old-school shareware model. Don't know what the best approach is. Maybe a good idea is to do some research. Find a few examples of different ways and do a comparison and see what fits your project best.

              Can we see the game?

              I actually ended up going through kickstarter, basically did what @SuperDoomKing suggested. It worked. I got backed in less than 24 hours. 😀

              Thank you all for your suggestions.

              @xyz coming shortly.