How is it, that simple assets can still find buyers ?
node
I was scrolling trough Unity and Unreal Engine markets to get some idea of what kind of products are popular. Suprisingly enough, low poly, simply painted meshes seem to be doing quite well. Probably best example will be low poly assets packs made by Synty Studios on Unity market. I will admit, their products do look nice, and have quite big amount of objects included in them, but then, it's all simple meshes that could take few hours to make on your own. And somewhere I heard that such things aren't worth being put on market because of their simplicity.
So, how is it ? Both realistic and simple assets can still find a buyer as long as there was an effort put into it, or maybe it's just a matter of luck to make low poly stuff with simple colors sell ?
So, how is it ? Both realistic and simple assets can still find a buyer as long as there was an effort put into it, or maybe it's just a matter of luck to make low poly stuff with simple colors sell ?
Replies
1. A lot of generic stuff that can be combined from different packs (and each pack has a lot of content)
2. Consistent quality and style and it looks good
3. Works perfectly for mobile as the assets are easy to read and have a low hit on performance
4. Good prices
Add some animations, UI and an artist to customise and expand variations and you replace an whole art teams work for months, for maybe $300,- if you buy several sets. Take all of this and you have a huge library of assets for a small indie studio that just wants to create a game for mobile, but with that style you could even make a PC/console game with that.
Key for store assets is that either you provide a big library of assets that work together or you provide simple generic stuff that everybody can use. There is no point in doing something that stands out, since it will have only a small market as it has to fit style and technical needs. Nobody that has an art team will buy key/hero assets from the store. You need stuff that fits in and Synty solved it by giving you so much content that you can probably do a whole game with it.
Well ... that is likely the source of your confusion right there
@Biomag is 100% correct, it's pretty obvious why these packs are popular. Individually the assets are simplistic ; but as a whole they are an excellent offering.
Now here's the deal : the fact that a marketplace asset took a ton of work to create does *not* guarantee any sale. If there was only one metric to keep, that wouldn't be the amound of hours spent, or the texture resolution, or the PBR-ness of the materials ; it would be the usefulness of the product for the end user.
Also, regarding "it's all simple meshes that could take few hours to make on your own." : this is a very naive way to look at the Synty studios bundles. The collections must have taken a shitloat of work and dedication to make ; and above all they show excellent art direction and a great business sense.
Last but not least : emulating the look and feel of the Synty assets will not guarantee any sale either, since they fully occupy this specific niche already. From there it's all about identifying *another* need that has not been fullfilled yet. That's why the recommendation of putting random assets on marketplaces to make a buck or two is near pointless IMHO. It is useful in order to learn about the ways these marketplaces operate (submission process, technical specifications, legal paperwork to prepare, and so on), but that will never lead to any profit (unless, as said, the asset fills up an untapped niche and is useful to a large number of users).