Meet the Creators Publishing on the GDevelop Store

We spoke with two creators who started publishing their projects on the GDevelop Store and turned it into a meaningful source of income.

Crowbar_Coder and VegeTato mainly offer game templates. From retro FPS in the style of Half-Life to Beat Em Up and the classic farming game, anything is possible.

VegeTato earns a full-time living selling his game templates on the GDevelop Asset Store. Crowbar_Coder uses it to fund his studies. Both started exactly where you are now: with projects gathering dust on a hard drive.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and tell us what your specialty is (3D modeling, programming, audio, VFX, etc.)?

- Crowbar_Coder: I enjoy drawing a wide range of things- from comics, pencil portraits, and animations, to pixel art and digital art! I also enjoy creating games [...] I have little to no experience in real programming [...].

- VegeTato: I'm a solo game developer who has been using GDevelop for 8 years. I am specialized at programming, and I do simple pixel art, and I am also a musician.

What was the very first asset you published, and how did you feel when you made your first sale?

- Crowbar_Coder: My game template 'Project Parkour' would be the first asset I published. I was quite surprised when the GDevelop team published it to the store as I thought it would be way harder for it to be accepted, and it was a great feeling when people started to buy it!

- VegeTato: Crafting Template, was my very first asset to sell. It felt amazing to see the project that I put a lot of hard work on, starting to generate revenue, and users loving and recommending the template to others!

Without going into the details of your bank account, what does this income represent for you today?

- Crowbar_Coder: As I am currently pursuing studies, it is great to have a side income that can help pay for part of my groceries every week. It also means I have more money to buy lunches outside when I'm at University! So far over the past three months, my income from the Asset Store has been quite regular. My earnings in each payment doesn't seem to be decreasing; people seem to like my templates!

- VegeTato: I am living this amazing life where I make something I am very passionate about and make a living from it. So yeah, for me it's a full-time income.

VegeTato published his first asset 3 years ago. He has become one of our biggest sellers on the platform, we are thrilled to see him comfortably making a living from his creations.

How do you decide which asset to develop next? Is it driven by personal enjoyment or by analyzing gaps in the market?

- Crowbar_Coder: I noticed that the staff had been putting a lot of development into improving their 3D engine and editor, and there were not many game templates in that area, so I decided to create a few 3D based game templates.

- VegeTato: I'm analyzing what the market needs, and where there is the high demand, and by asking the community what they want to see next.

Following this analytic approach, he created 22 game templates covering more than 6 different genres!

How would you advise someone who wants to get started? Are there any pitfalls to avoid or tips to sell better?

- Crowbar_Coder: Make sure to organize your game project neatly into tidy, labelled event groups and comment across your project so other people can understand what you are doing. [...] Don't be too ambitious, but also don't give up if you encounter problems, the GDevelop forum is a good place to go to if you are stuck and need help with programming your game!
It is really easy to start projects but hard to finish them! If you think your game project has potential and you have the time to develop it, then by all means publish it. You may even get some income out of it.

- VegeTato: Don't put low efforts just to finish the asset so fast and publish it, nobody will buy it. Your asset must contain a value to the users, it could be a system/mechanic/game feel/ anything that brings more value to the user who is going to buy it. [...] Be ready to update and fix the project if anyone noticed a bug or suggested an update.

In what ways does selling on the GDevelop shop differ from other platforms?

- Crowbar_Coder: I hardly get any sales on platforms such as Itch.io as my templates are but a few fish swimming in a vast ocean of games. However, on the GDevelop store, because many people use the game engine and there are not many game templates, I get dozens of sales with little to no promotion on my part, which is great!

- VegeTato: The cut percentage on other platforms can be low (Ed. note: even 0%, but they never mention the VAT, so your real income is always lower there), meanwhile on GD store, you get much more sales compared to other platforms, because GDevelop users are obviously spending time in GDevelop, not browsing itch or other platforms. The advantage is also that the GDevelop staff is with you, if they notice any issue or have any suggestion to increase your sales, they will tell you for sure.

Thank you VegeTato and Crowbar_Coder for this candid interview. Find their games templates on their creator profiles:

- VegeTato's profile
- Crowbar_Coder's profile

What if you were next?

Think your project isn't good enough? Crowbar_Coder thought the same. His first asset was accepted on the very first submission. And if you run into any issues, the GDevelop team is by your side to help you optimize your product page and increase your sales.
Do you have GDevelop projects or assets: 3D models, tilemaps, music or SFX? Get started now, step-by-step.

1. Polish your best project:
   Take the time to clean it up and make it impeccable. Add comments to explain what you've integrated.
2. Test it with the community:
   Share it in the Discord #WIP channel or on the forum and gather feedback.
3. Prepare your publication with the GDevelop team:
   We'll work with you to optimize your product page and maximize its visibility.