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Updating Old Content: Is it worth it?

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Polysquid, Oct 1, 2019.

  1. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Hi all!

    We have been selling our assets on Unity store, for quite a while now (4+ years)
    Recently, we noticed, that packs that sold really good, don't sell no more... For example, our environment pack, that usually got us 5-10 sales a month, now gets 0-1 :oops:

    We looked at the content and it is not outdated, however, noticed one thing, that connects all of the packs, that are no longer selling: old unity version.

    Basically, the packs ware made with 2016 or 2017 unity versions and some of them have funky stuff in them.
    Could that be the reason, why stuff is not selling as much?

    Our profile: https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/12324

    Let us know, what You think? ;)°

     
  2. mgear

    mgear

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    Polysquid likes this.
  3. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Hi mgear!
    Thanks for the quick response!
    Hmm, the link seems to be broken! :rolleyes:
     
  4. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    Yeah that definately will be a factor in the low sales, although 5-10 sales a month is not a great deal to begin with so it could just be a natural curve off to sales interest. Not all assets continue to sell well forever
     
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  5. mgear

    mgear

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    Polysquid likes this.
  6. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    5-10 for environments, that cost around 20$+
    But yeah, I get Your point!
     
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  7. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    You may also find it useful to update the marketing art and icons etc. Sometimes just modernising those can get increases sales :)
     
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  8. xVergilx

    xVergilx

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    ... Or just updating it constantly, adding like a few items to the package.

    "Recently Updated" is a thing that exists as a sorting filter.
    If its been like 4 years your package will probably be on the bottom of the list. (100+ page)

    That's how I find my free assets, but I bet it works the same way for the whales.
     
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  9. Billy4184

    Billy4184

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    - Competition.
    - Bad reviews.
    - No updates in a long time (many people expect things to be updated regularly just because).
    - Not compatible with render pipelines (afaik this scares a lot of people away from artwork).
    - Something went out of fashion.
    - etc

    Could be a number of different things. You need to modify/update/observe, repeat.
     
    Polysquid likes this.
  10. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Good feedback, thanks guys!
    I already started to update some of the packs, that ware best sellers then and 0 sales now!
    Looks like they all have similar issues:
    - bad scale/rotation
    - outdated scenes
    - super old unity version

    I hope that updating the packs and fixing things, could get them back on track! :cool:

    Also, what about HD render pipeline? Is it a must-have?
     
  11. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    Unity evolves. People are aware of that. They wont be willing to risk buying something, which is not up to date. Even less, if is abandon ware. 4 years with no updates, shows you don't really care about asset.

    Also, since then modern tools and more persisting asset devs would probably allow produce better alternatives, going far beyond, what you left of ages ago.

    So let face it. Do something about it, if you consider worthwhile. But don't take for granted, you will sell forever at constant rate, with 0 effort.
     
    xVergilx and Polysquid like this.
  12. digiross

    digiross

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    I know me personally, I only buy assets that have been updated within the past 6-9 months or so. As devs we want to make sure that any asset will work with recent unity versions that way I can focus on my game and not on getting an asset to work or have it conflict with another asset. To me, anything that is 2-3 years old with no updates seems deprecated and I avoid. I have around 220 assets and about 83 of them are deprecated.
     
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  13. digiross

    digiross

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    Also, the big thing now is asset devs are upgrading for compatibility with the Universal Render Pipeline (formerly LWRP) and High Definition Render Pipeline. Both are new and still being worked on but the replace the standard unity pipeline with huge benefits for game devs now and in the future. So right now when i buy assets I look for that support or atleast for that support to be on the asset devs roadmap to do.
     
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  14. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Yeah, I updated some of the old stuff, but some if it is just not worth it and I left them as it is.
    But I agree, why would anyone buy assets, that are few years old!
     
  15. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    This is helpful, thanks!
     
  16. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    So to recap most points in this thread:

    Quick to do
    1. Update all assets to have been tested with 2017.4, 2018.4, 2019.1, 2019.2, (and 2019.3 when it leaves beta)
    1b. Fix any scaling and rotation issues
    1c. Update scenes to be usable in latest versions of unity also. Everything that ships with the asset should work, be up to date and be named sensibly + easily accessible .
    2. Update all marketing art and screenshots to have some sort of cohesive style (means person buying one asset is likely to buy another and in general means the sets will feel more professional, research other top store publishers such as synty for an idea of how to have various assets that all have the same marketing style)

    Small time investment
    3. Update each asset to be compatible with URP (pretty easy, just need to reexport textures in correct channel packing formats and set up a new material for each asset) - ensure they are still compatible with in-built too
    4. Update each asset with at least 1 new item, even if its just a color variation. Then try to update 4 times a year with something new, once a month if possible. Regularly update the asset page listings each time an update is ready.

    Medium to large investment
    5. Update each asset to also be compatible with HDRP - a little more involved than URP
    6. Create a roadmap for each assets which you make visible easily from the store page, so people can tell what upcoming features are coming

    All of those should add a ton to the sales potential. At the very least do points 1-2, but really 3 & 4 are very imporant too. You can probably leave out 5 & 6 as they take a lot of time vs potentially not much reward
     
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  17. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    Well, considering OPs asset is already there for long time, update may be good thing.
    Should utilize already gained reviews and purchases, to bust further sales.
    Better than creating new asset from scratch and trying breach the market.
     
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  18. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Well, our priority right now is:
    - updating to new unity version
    - fix scale/rotation if needed
    - organise everything and optimise the package
    - update key images if needed

    Updated 15 packs today! :confused: Some of them ware pretty good already, but needed to be added on new unity versions.
    Decided to not update some of the environments, that are outdated in style and would take too much time...

    Will see how it goes, I hope that sales will pick up!
     
  19. kdgalla

    kdgalla

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    Also (I don't know how it works because I'm not a publisher) it looks like the Asset Store uses some sort of tag system for filtering. For example if I click on 3D>Environments on the home page, are your environment assets tagged so that they will appear in the results?
     
  20. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Yeah, I noticed the tags too and started to use them, some time ago! But I am not sure, how useful they are, cuz the name of the pack is important and rating.
     
  21. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    I would suggest use them. Some people may filter by them. Adding them won't hurt, but may help. Better than having none, or too few (as long relevant).

    Not sure however, if SEO benefits from these tags. Worth a shot.
     
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  22. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Oh boy, I updated like 30 asset packs haha! Will see, how it goes, next month!
    I will post update here, if anything changes!
     
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  23. digiross

    digiross

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    Sounds good @Polysquid!

    Also, if you want a great example of an asset store publisher that is pretty great at all of the points @GameDevCouple_I mentions that would be Synty Studios on the asset store. Uniform info, screenshots, prices/sales, updates, you name it. I own 3 of their assets and a bunch are on sale today so I'm picking up 4 more.
     
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  24. rmorph

    rmorph

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    I never buy an asset that hasn't been updated within the year. asa rule. I might risk it for pure 3d models and such- Anything older than a year has too great a risk of being abandoned or not receiving any support. Sometimes on simple things like meshes and textures, there could be problems that I wish a support ticket could fix.

    So yes: Taking the time to update and make your assets compatible with latest unity versions was a job worth doing. Its like a stamp that says "still supported.".
     
  25. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Yeah, Synty Studios rock! I kinda don't like there artstyle, but it looks great and has tons of possibilities to make good games!
    While updating, I added some extra models and texture skins, to the packs too! So I guess, thats good! :)
     
  26. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    What about the: HD Render Pipeline?
    We are currently making a asset pack: buildings with interior and furniture/props for it:
    Basically, these houses ,but in Unity HD RP


    We are thinking of making more packs for HDRP, but don't know, how much of a market is there, for this pipeline?
     
    digiross likes this.
  27. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    We did some tests and looks like, You can convert the standard props, to HD RP, with just 1 click! Well, perhaps some times, there will be bugs, but still...
     
  28. digiross

    digiross

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    URP (formerly LWRP) and HDRP is the future of Unity so it's a good move to support them. I like the looks of the above asset. If my new game wasn't a low poly art style then I'd be all over it.
     
  29. kdgalla

    kdgalla

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    You can, but the hdrp-lit-shader looks like it has many more features than the standard shader, so maybe you have the opportunity here to create assets that support those additional rendering features, whereas most other assets will not at this time. I don't know how wide-spread the HDRP market is either, though.
     
  30. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    I would make sure, at least assets support Universal pipeline. Then HD as extra option.
     
  31. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Hey guys!
    I am back and I can confirm, that updating packs was totally worth it!
    Got a lot of sales from the updated packs. Some packs that was not bought for like 2 years, now are selling good!

    Thank You all for feedback!
     
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  32. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    Well done.
    But where is our share? :D
     
  33. Polysquid

    Polysquid

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    Hah! Your share is time and money that You did not spend, to test this out ! ;)
    But really, thanks!