Microsoft takes up to 60 per cent of Community Games revenue

Microsoft claims as much as 60 per cent of the revenue from Xbox Live Community Game sales, according to XNA developer, Mommy's Best Games.

The developer's president, Nathan Fouts, received the sales data for the company's XNA title, Weapon of Choice, describing the results as "sobering", with less than 10,000 units sold, stating "that hurts".

In his blog post, Fouts explained that Microsoft takes a baseline cut of 30 per cent and remittance rate, plus an additional 10-30 per cent cut for advertising. This put the developer under strain, he explained, as it also pays for membership, software licenses, hardware and marketing as well as royalties to contractors.

"What all that means to our bottom-line, we do not yet know, but it does not feel great," he wrote. "Maybe rational people hang up their keyboard and call it quits. But if you played Weapon of Choice, you realise we're far from rational."

Fouts concerns echo comments made by Andrew Oliver, chief technical officer of Blitz, who told GamesIndustry.biz that a developer could make more money by working with a publisher than acting alone through digital distribution.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-Games-revenue