Question on selling asset on the asset store vs publishing a game

Hi all,

for the past year or so I've trying to create an asset to sell on the asset store to make extra income. I wanted to create a third person shooter controller where the code drives the movement and not the animation (for increased precision). I have been able to create the basic movement but I'm doing this as a hobby on my free time and in terms of scope I realized as of late that I would need to create all the assets myself such as animations, models and code. Programming is not too much of issue for me but since I'm not a professional animator nor modeler I realized it would take a significant amount of time creating these art assets and get such an asset package ready for release in a realistic timeframe.

After seeing the success of valheim it made me wonder if it's a more viable idea working on an actual game and buying premade assets that I would edit for my needs vs trying to create an asset for the asset store. I would appreciate people's opinions on creating a game vs selling an asset on the store and what the best way is to limit the scope of what I'm trying to do. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.

 

So first thing you should have done, is to search and recognize state of the market.

If you search for controller, you will quickly discover the rough evaluation of the state.
https://assetstore.unity.com/?q=controller&orderBy=1



Then next thing would be, can you deliver something, what competition does not?
Can you do that in feasible time?

Well, making game is not easier than making an asset. However, you can dump multiple assets, to make something playable. And sure, you could save tons of time, purchasing assets, instead make each one of them for your self.

Rest is up to evaluation, as per selling asset.

 

I really appreciate your input and you definitely provided valuable insight on how I should approach my problem. I definitely should have done more research into what idea is most viable for creating an asset especially something that has a lot of competition on the asset store already. As you said I will do more research and evaluate between creating an asset and creating a game and then go from there. Thanks again for your help.

 

I also recommend not trying to release a type of asset until you've made and released at least one game that implements that kind of asset. For example, if you're thinking of releasing a third person controller asset, make sure you have experience actually making and releasing a third person controlled game.

 

Neither of the choices guarantee significant income.

3rd person controller has high competition and low number of potential buyers. Because only developers would care about buying it, and there are definitely established assets there. However, it would have shorter development timeframe than a game.

A game requires more time, effort and resources to build, but the number of potential buyers is larger. However, competition is still huge. For example, steam apparently have something in ballpark of 90000 titles in its database.

 

that makes alot of sense thank you. The game I would like to create is a narrative driven action adventure, with puzzles riddles and fighting some enemies. In terms of game design do you have any tips regarding that and should the story be designed first or the gameplay mechanics?

Thanks for the advice. I do have a number of useful components I've programmed over the past year that I could use in a game I want to make. So I might focus on creating a small game of some sort. Your help is definitely appreciated.

 

Definitely the gameplay mechanics first -- but also write down all of your story ideas as they come to you! Once you have your gameplay mechanics working, you can start implementing those great story ideas.

 

I would just add to what everyone else has said, it's actually a good idea (in my opinion) to build one or two small assets (that you intend to use in your game) and put them up on the Asset Store while your game is in development. For me, I did that with a simple spawning system and simple cutscene asset, and the experience dealing with different customers/platforms/bugs/support etc. really helped when it came to releasing my game with them.

Don't look at it as a money thing, look at it as an investment that will pay itself off by giving you a polished tool for a core feature of your game.

 

imo, the game you mention is very much more about Marketing than anything else.
Only reason I got it was based on who's behind it, otherwise, no.... played a few hours, meh...

 

Its much easier to make SOME money on the asset store. Competing in areas that are well catered for wouldn't be the smart move, your best bet would be to create a solid kit in a genre that has zero or one options (for example just on the first page of General you can see people asking about MOBA and 4X Strategy assets).

The flip side the ceiling for asset store revenue is much lower than that of a successful game and even if you do have a successful product you have to provide ongoing support, which you need to factor in to your calculations.