Download Option

[Kloreep]

I've been reading about how there will be no download option due to the hefty server load that would be involved. IIRC it was also mentioned somewhere that Himalaya is looking into other options for offering a download. So, just in case you guys haven't heard of them, I thought I'd mention Stardock's totalgaming.net. I honestly have no idea what it's like on the developer's side and whether it would be a good deal for Himalaya, but as a customer I've been quite happy with my experience purchasing, downloading, & updating Stardock's own GalCiv2 (which is pretty hefty in file size) through it.

[GameDevBrit]

Thanks for the suggestion, Kloreep.  I've gone ahead and read up on their service, and it does sound nice indeed.  I've contacted them--we'll see what sorts of deal they offer developers.

Thanks again for the suggestion!

[Daniel]

Digital River provides these kinds of services to some large corporations like Symantec (Norton AV etc). I'm not sure how they relate to small business' though... I think there are some similar ones that are used by smaller companies. Certainly they'll take a commission, but still it would be a very viable option for International customers.  

I think Valve's Steam can be used by other game sellers too. I think some shareware sites might also offer these kind of services.

Someone mentioned having a Torrent download, but that seems a bit silly since then there would'nt be any means of controlling that the users have paid for the game.

Edit: I did a quick google with "buy shareware" and it seems there are quite a lot of these places. One that I recognized was http://www.regsoft.com/index.shtml - which seems to be owned by that Digital River company.

So if your interested in having a Digital Download then it would probably make sense to outsource that to a company that has the bandwith and possibility to accept all kinds of payments. Just check how much they take in commision and try to make sure they are a reputable company - for instace by checking who their customers are and asking if they've been happy with the service.

[GameDevBrit]

Hey Daniel,

Thanks for these suggestions. I've been communicating with a very reputable company over the past several days, which was recommended to me by my mentor from the Game Developers Conference.  I believe we will be able to provide a downloable version in the future, but it will unfortunately be missing all the bells and whistles that a tangible version will provide.  But, it will be a viable option for anyone who just cannot afford shipping costs, even if they will miss out on the classic style packaging.