While some developers have questioned the financial viability of making Xbox Live Indie Games, new sales figures for the service’s biggest titles of 2009 add fresh perspective to the debate.
Earlier this month Microsoft released a list of 2009’s most popular Xbox Live content, including Indie Games. A recent post on the XNA forums (via GamerBytes) has revealed detailed sales data for many of those games, including the number of times they were downloaded, the conversion percentage from trial to full sale, and the money made by their developers, who received 70 per cent of total sales, with Microsoft taking the remainder.
Looking at the top 20 games on the service last year, revenues ranged between $21,700 (£13,370) and $129,500 (£80,000), with conversion rates between trial and full purchases ranging from 11 per cent to 27.02 per cent.
The most popular title, I MAED GAM3 W1TH ZOMB1ES 1NIT!!!1, sold 160,000 copies at $1, netting the developer $112,000 (£69,000). Avatar Drop and RC-AirSim placed second and third in terms of total sales, making their respective developers $81,900 (£50,455) and $129,500 (£80,000).