How do you see the future of erotic games?

[glitchkraft]

Hi, long time lurker first time poster.

I recently release my own project and, having treated it as a hobby for years before seriously committing to making a release, I've watched the ecosystem change a lot from how it used to be. Fifteen years ago, there weren't many ways to monetize erotic games online, and it's sites like f95 and reddit that have made it a lot easier for people to find these games, while itch.io has started hosting them. Before you had to download from a shady Mega or Drive source, or get Slave Maker 3 from a torrent.

Now there's tons of games and a real market for them, but looking at how the TOS on itch and Patreon have become increasingly vague and punitive toward adult content creators, I wonder what the ecosystem might look like a few years from now. I recall that Spicy Gaming tried to create an alternative host and payment processor when itch started demonetizing adult games; that failed, so are there any other projects like that?

 

[woody554]

subscribestar seems to be the common alternative if you mean to have content that's bannable on patreon.

 

[glitchkraft]

Yeah, for now, SubscribeStar is the only other game in town. Unfortunately they seem to have their own issues, like it not being completely clear who owns that site and whether it'll stick around. Poking around on f95 I've found a few comments where people have reported unsatisfactory experiences with SubStar.

Also, you just don't make as much money from that site. They take a smaller cut, but their logo doesn't invoke the same immediate connection to patronage that Patreon has, so it seems players are less likely to decide to back projects there. That's just my gut from reading around, though.

 

[Count Morado]

Also, you just don't make as much money from that site. They take a smaller cut, but their logo doesn't invoke the same immediate connection to patronage that Patreon has, so it seems players are less likely to decide to back projects there. That's just my gut from reading around, though.

I'm not going to promote one site over the other, but when you look at the actual numbers - Patreon and Subscriberstar have few differences.

Were you aware that about half of the adult game creators on Patreon bring in less than $100 USD per month, even after more than 2 years with a presence on their platform? Patreon is not the boon that people make it out to be. Several years ago, sure it was the place to be... to have a chance to make it big, let alone a living - but time has shown there are more players in the game.

If you are going to make good money in adult game creation, you'll make it no matter what site you are on. Same as whether you'll end up a starving artist.

Secondly, if you are going into adult game design to make a living... don't. In my December 2022 research on Patreon adult game creators, I found that only approximately 10% make $2,500 USD or more in monthly subscriptions at the 2 year mark (8% at the 1 year mark - which suggests if you don't make it in the first year, there's less than a 2% chance that you'll get there by the second). You might as well work at McDonalds asking "Do you want fries with that?" because you'll get paid about the same, if full-time -- and there are benefits available.

 

[Danv]

Secondly, if you are going into adult game design to make a living... don't. In my December 2022 research on Patreon adult game creators, I found that only approximately 10% make $2,500 USD or more in monthly subscriptions at the 2 year mark (8% at the 1 year mark - which suggests if you don't make it in the first year, there's less than a 2% chance that you'll get there by the second). You might as well work at McDonalds asking "Do you want fries with that?" because you'll get paid about the same, if full-time -- and there are benefits available.

depending where you live - it can be significant sum, and chance to earn even lower part of these 10% without leaving your country is a big deal, local McDonalds won't offer even fraction of that

 

[Count Morado]

depending where you live - it can be significant sum, and chance to earn even lower part of these 10% without leaving your country is a big deal, local McDonalds won't offer even fraction of that

I understand that it depends upon where you live. India pays some of the lowest wages for McDonald's in the world at about $2,000 USD per year for crew member. Less than 50% of adult video game creators on Patreon make more than $1,200 USD per year their first year. Just about 50% make $1,200 per year after 2 years.

The point still stands, if you're looking to make money - creating an adult game is more of a risk than what many people seem to think is a certainty... and choosing between Subscribestar and Patreon has little to do with it.

Now, if a person decides to work full-time while making an adult video game on the side - which is what a good number of adult game creators do of whose products we find on F95 and what a significant portion of people who visit F95 forget - then you are making sure you can pay your bills while doing something you want to do.

Bottom line is that if you are looking to create an adult game to make bank - don't. If you are looking at releasing an adult video game because it is something you enjoy doing and have a passion for doing it - go for it.

 

[Avaron1974]

Depends on a lot of factors, more specifically where those games are hosted.

Steam has got a lot more stable and that's where most of my adult games come from. Nothing against crowdfunding but a one time payment is a lot better for me and keeps my games in one place.

I know a lot of people have rave about subscribestar but it does a lot less numbers than Patreon and if it doesn't pick up drastically, which I don't see happening, then I don't know how long it has left in it.

What some people here seem to forget or simply don't know is that Patreon didn't come up with the restrictions themselves. They were pushed into a corner by PayPal and Mastercard. They basically had a choice to either ban certain content or lose millions a year.

Patreon also has it's fingers in a lot of pies so brings in money from a lot of other subjects other than adult games.

However with both Patreon and Steam, devs are limited in subject matter.

Also a lot of loli devs have started dropping their games after what happened to Westy recently. For those that don't know, the dev of Proud Father was arrested and they are trying to nail him as if his game used real children and it looks like thats how it will go. He's not up until December though so until then it's all speculation but that whole thing has caused mass panic in devs making loli/shota content.

I can see adult games doing well in the future but I can see certain kinks being forgotten.

That being said it's still not a viable career path. As a hobby, sure but just because you make a game doesn't mean we will pay you for it.

With so many shady devs and abandoned games many of us have stopped supporting new devs. Personally I only buy on Steam now and only when that games almost done so I know my money isn't wasted. I've lost too much money on Patreon and other crowdfunding sites to ever do that again.

 

[おい！]

Yeah, for now, SubscribeStar is the only other game in town. Unfortunately they seem to have their own issues, like it not being completely clear who owns that site and whether it'll stick around. Poking around on f95 I've found a few comments where people have reported unsatisfactory experiences with SubStar.

Also, you just don't make as much money from that site. They take a smaller cut, but their logo doesn't invoke the same immediate connection to patronage that Patreon has, so it seems players are less likely to decide to back projects there. That's just my gut from reading around, though.

Well if you call earning $20,000+ a month less money, then I think you need to let us know how much income a dev should receive.