Are there any ways to do this for a traditional PC title, aside from going F2P or Early Access?

Thank you :)

Something to be aware of though, is that you're essentially creating a funnel effect if your game is linear and you're selling chunks of the game at a time (e.g. episodic content) -- that is, If 10,000 people buy chapter one, maybe only 7,000 of those 10,000 buy chapter 2, and then only 2,000 of those 7,000 buy chapter 3,

Precisely this.

When I set forth my goals for my episodic RPG, I evaluated at 50% decline (might be a bit steep, but I anticipated some form of delay between each sequel which would result in a lot of user loss). Past episodes 4-5, there would've been no point in delivering additional content. The upside is that it was a fairly efficient means to determine the lifetime of the product too.

If you complete the core first you can withold content in the same way dlc is done. Have your main exe as a simple loader and the game content as hot patchable dlls. You can then bundle new content as an update that just installs over the top of the initial content like a service pack.

So that could be done on any digital distribution system? Sounds interesting. :)

Kickstarter for chapter 1, one for chapter 2, on and on. Even if you don't make the kickstarter goals it will get publicity. That is what a few games I've seen have done.

Something to be aware of though, is that you're essentially creating a funnel effect if your game is linear and you're selling chunks of the game at a time (e.g. episodic content) -- that is, If 10,000 people buy chapter one, maybe only 7,000 of those 10,000 buy chapter 2, and then only 2,000 of those 7,000 buy chapter 3, and so on. You need to maintain consistently-high loyalty in your players to return for the next chapter, and/or expand your userbase (likely by giving them discounts or bundles on previous content to incentivise them to jump aboard). Almost no one has really succeeded with episodic content like this, only Telltale games comes to mind, and their games are a much stronger fit for the format than the general case.

MMOs (and Bungie's Destiny) succed with a similar model, but its very much a different thing an a persistent, open-world game. The non-linearity of these games make their expansions feel different, even if the increase in content is otherwise comparable.

Another option is to go the "game as a service" route, where you're expanding the game to keep players interested, but its not supported by directly charging for the new gameplay content, but by other transactions. MOBAs are the current hotness, World of Tanks too, its a form of micro-transaction business model.

Something to be aware of though, is that you're essentially creating a funnel effect if your game is linear and you're selling chunks of the game at a time (e.g. episodic content) -- that is, If 10,000 people buy chapter one, maybe only 7,000 of those 10,000 buy chapter 2, and then only 2,000 of those 7,000 buy chapter 3,

Precisely this.

When I set forth my goals for my episodic RPG, I evaluated at 50% decline (might be a bit steep, but I anticipated some form of delay between each sequel which would result in a lot of user loss). Past episodes 4-5, there would've been no point in delivering additional content. The upside is that it was a fairly efficient means to determine the lifetime of the product too.

The thing is, my game is a pretty simple 90s style platformer and is more level-driven than story-driven.

I noticed that Telltale Games' episodes have the same structure as TV series, so the episodic format is suitable for them.

So I've been thinking about it and I think I will go F2P, but have an Adventure Mode and Arcade Mode for different needs. One more question - what % of the game is fine for an initial version given that I would update it in a couple of weeks after release? I had initially figured to release 25% of the game in the first release but maybe that's too much?

The key is about branding. What is a sequel if not an episodic game?

Episodic games tend to look at themselves as a "pre-written" story that will continue exactly where the last one left off. However, it wouldn't be so far fetched to have Telltale simply call it a sequel. They're using this episodic thing to actually get "more" money out of customers in two ways. First, a basically premium style pre order where you purchase all the episodes in advance. Second, a low cost entry to a long term sequel.

While it is true your base purchase amount, lets say 10,000 buyers, may turn into 7,000 for the second game and 5k for the third and so on... you're also missing two important ways quantity of releases is > quality of releases. This is that every time you release a new sequel (or episode) you can leverage a bunch of new PR, driving more customers into the start of your funnel. Usually for long and established brands this equates into a 10-20% adoption rate. That is to say, if I release Game 1 and then Game 1, The Sequel, ~20% of the buyers of the sequel will then go back and buy game 1.

High sequelization also translates well into the modern day bundle economics. If you have a good retention rate giving away copies (well, bundle price whatever) of the first game will lead to purchase of the second and third and so on. Meaning you can leverage a growing customer base far more easily.

In short, avoid using the term "episode" unless you can build a real coherant marketing plan around the concept, as Telltale has done. Instead, focus on making sequels like a machine

THAT SAID: The new return policy for Steam means you should avoid making your games too short. So do not release 10, 2 hour games. Release 4, 5 hour ones or something

(Edit to fix a typo that was bothering me)

The key is about branding. What is a sequel if not an episodic game?

Sequels usually get significantly improved in mechanics, visuals, and polish. If someone tried to sell a "sequel" with only new content but hasn't actually improved the code, some players might be turned off. "Well, the last one was good, but I don't want to play another one unless it's even better.", whereas with episodes, they might feel like they want to finish "the game" (i.e. the episodes).

The key is about branding. What is a sequel if not an episodic game?

Episodic games tend to look at themselves as a "pre-written" story that will continue exactly where the last one left off. However, it wouldn't be so far fetched to have Telltale simply call it a sequel. They're using this episodic thing to actually get "more" money out of customers in two ways. First, a basically premium style pre order where you purchase all the episodes in advance. Second, a low cost entry to a long term sequel.

While it is true your base purchase amount, lets say 10,000 buyers, may turn into 7,000 for the second game and 5k for the third and so on... you're also missing two important ways quantity of releases is > quality of releases. This is that every time you release a new sequel (or episode) you can leverage a bunch of new PR, driving more customers into the start of your funnel. Usually for long and established brands this equates into a 10-20% adoption rate. That is to say, if I release Game 1 and then Game 1, The Sequel, ~20% of the buyers of the sequel will then go back and buy game 1.

High sequelization also translates well into the modern day bundle economics. If you have a good retention rate giving away copies (well, bundle price whatever) of the first game will lead to purchase of the second and third and so on. Meaning you can leverage a growing customer base far more easily.

In short, avoid using the term "episode" unless you can build a real coherant marketing plan around the concept, as Telltale has done. Instead, focus on making sequels like a machine

THAT SAID: The new return policy for Steal means you should avoid making your games too short. So do not release 10, 2 hour games. Release 4, 5 hour ones or something

I agree with Servant.

You see, I'm resurrecting a certain type of platformer game (not the type that Yooka Laylee is) and historically, the game series' sequels always had graphical improvements and gameplay additions. If everything with those characters were done, the developers stopped making those games.

The game's typical structure is:

1). You start in a hub world or level.

2). You finish some objective which requires you to go through all of the levels.

3). Once you finish the objective, you can fight the boss

And this repeats itself.

Out of all of the options suggested in the thread, I believe that going through "games as a service" would be the best route. An Arcade/Social mode has been developed where most of the monetisation tactics will be used, but the Adventure mode will use monetisation only at the appropriate cue points of the original GDD.

Is this a good strategy or am I missing something?