Best options for hosting of downloadable PC games

What is the best option for a small indie developer for hosting a downloadable standalone PC game? I.e., offering a downloadable demo and then a paid full version, without being bankrupted by the bandwidth. Is Greenlight submission the best option? Here's an article published today on that subject: http://steamed.kotaku.com/inside-the-murky-process-of-getting-games-on-steam-1764091520

 

I'll answer a portion of my own question: indiedb.com allows free hosting of demos. But I'd still be interested to know people's thoughts about getting Greenlighted - how difficult is it, are the sales worth it, etc.

 

dunno about greenlight, but getting a webpage/hosting package will cost you under $100/year and usually includes unlimited bandwidth/diskspace

 

I've had two "unlimited" accounts over the years, but both of them had narrow actual limits on bandwidth: one had a formal limit of 10 GB (although they claimed they would increase it by increments of ten if you asked them); the other admitted to me that they had limits, but they didn't give a formal estimate. Game demos tend to be rather large - often 200 - 500 MB or more - which means I'd be bumping up against the practical limits of an "unlimited" account fairly quickly.

I don't know what limits indiedb.com has; but it hosts the demos for "Five Nights at Freddy's" (first four games) so I assume the limits can't be that low....

 

yep, I discovered that my provider has a storage limit recently, but it was closer to 30Gb. Not sure about bandwidth, but I suspect there is a hidden limit there too

 

itch.io

You won't find a better storefront option for indies that actually works until you can get on to steam.

 

itch.io has a desktop installer in beta right now so automatic patching is coming in the future for the whole site.

 

Practically every "unlimited" service will have an actual limit. It just isn't a concrete limit. It's usually something along the lines of "you're using too much of the shared server for a given period of time and it is negatively affecting everyone else".

That said you shouldn't be encountering any problems with a mere 10GB/mo unless you chose a low cost solution that is only really intended for a basic website or blog. Or if you picked one of the less reputable companies.

Currently I have a shared hosting account through DreamHost that costs $10.95/mo. I'm consistently hitting 20GB/mo and they haven't so much as sent me a message warning me that I might be getting close to hitting any limit.

 

Thank you to everyone for your replies. Does anyone have any views on whether Steam is a viable option for a very small indie developer? The article I linked to indicates that it's a very mixed bag of unpredictability: some bad games make it in easily, while sometimes games from established developers take many months to get in if they ever get in at all.

 

Absolutely. You just need a small following of fanatics I mean uh gamers who will vote for you.

 

Hello, I am but one person and I just launched my game on Steam last week. Took a whole year to get Greenlit though! I think its getting easier as they are pushing out more and more games. Maybe your game is better and will get Greenlit in a month. Definitely recommend trying to get on Steam. Its not just about free hosting but also valuable publicity and "prestige".