Swordless Mimetown:

There is no better value when it comes to video games as a form of entertainment. Most modern Americans have access to the most commercially successful video games of all time in their pockets; Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite. Two of those games have no barrier to entry, and only Minecraft has the typical upfront purchase video games had until DLC.

NewCity began with the phrase, “$19.93, no DLC!”. It had been inflexible for a while in dedication to the SimCity reference. But times change, and value is subjective.

Redditor u/SLO93401’s three million population city!

There are a near-infinite number of games on Steam, and some of the best ones are free. The average cost of a Steam game in 2020 was $11.59, and that is only factoring in MSRP; a savvy consumer, of which there are many in the city simulation subgenre, will wait until they get the best value for their video game purchase. After all, there are few game genres better at a purchase to hours played ratio than simulators.

Also, side note: Our game has DLC, we just do not charge for it. Downloadable content for video games goes farther back than Doom freeware levels, and it’s only become synonymous with purchasing extra content for full-priced AAA experiences.

Last weekend, our game had the deepest sale ever. It was a successful sale, one we hope to replicate later this summer. Above all, we want to respect our community and all of the contributions they have made to our game in the form of bug reports, mods, and guides. We are considering our options and will be excited to announce something later on in the season.

On occasion, smaller developers have asked for my input, and you know what the most consistent piece of advice I give? Do not be too quick to discount your game and do not discount it too deeply. Once you discount it, that’s the price forever. And dear god don’t bundle it! — The Lady Weird Sloth Cow @CaseyExplosion, March 24, 2021

One thing I want NewCity to avoid is being devalued and resold on the grey market for less than a quarter of the MSRP, none of which helps fund our development costs. Putting your video game in a bundle or doing some sort of mass giveaway can succeed, but can also backfire. Indies like CrossCode have been erroneously put into a bundle early into their Early Access cycle for less than 25% of the price, which had an immeasurable impact on their sales.

In summation, our goal this year is to do right by our beloved mayors, and bring new mayors into the NewCity community. If you’re interested in this goal too, please leave us a Steam Review, it would mean a lot this month!

Questions? Comments? Feedback on the game? Sound off on our Discord.

As always, we’re incredibly thankful for our great community across the web. We love seeing the hard work and attention to detail you pour into your cities, and it inspires us every day to keep building. Thank you again for your support.

If you want to play the game and haven’t got it yet, head over to our Steam page. We’re also on Reddit and Twitter. Give us a follow if you haven’t, and we’ll keep you up to date on what’s new with NewCity!