PocketMatrix

Hi all,

So, where should I begin... I guess it's easiest to just let it out right away:

We will as of November 23 no longer sell or grant any new hobbyist licenses of GapiDraw

We will release GapiDraw 3.5 on November 23, and the prices for the other licenses will be increased to adjust for the current poor dollar value in Europe. While I cannot comment on what the new prices will be, for those of you developing a game waiting to buy the new license we recommend that you buy your license now, before prices are increased.

For developers short of money, please contact Pocket PC Studios, Clickgamer, eSoftinteractive or another GapiDraw site licensee to let them have the exclusive distribution rights for your title. That way you will get away much cheaper than if you had bought the hobbyist license from us.

Until November 23 it will still be possible to buy GapiDraw 3.5 licenses for the current price list! So those of you hobbyists that want to continue using GapiDraw may purchase as many licenses as you can afford for your upcoming products. And all current Pro developers - get your licenses now, on November 23 it will cost you more... Current licensees will not be affected by the change in pricing.

Since this is a user forum, the question "why" will probably arise. The simple answer is that the money we earned from hobbyist licenses was simply too little to motivate us from selling them. We would have to sell 8 licenses just to afford the latest IPAQ to test on! Our option to withdrawing the license was to give out licenses for free for "hobbyist" use, but that would not help us or our partners (and site licensees).

//Johan

I'm not sure I see the logic here Johan...

You say that "...even at $250 it's still too little money to make a living out of it."

That logically leads to one of three possible conclusions:

(a) You expect that all hobbyists will purchase professional licenses now

(b) Hobbyists will let distributors (eSoft, ppcStudios, etc.) who pay for professional licenses distribute their games

(c) You are already "making a living" on the professional licenses

If the answer is A, I think you will be sorely disappointed. I can speak for myself only, but I could never afford the professional license, and I doubt I'm alone in that. So, you will lose my income unless I let someone distribute my games, which at this point I'm not looking to do. Yes, it's a small amount to lose, but it's still a loss.

If the answer is B (which is what I suspect is the case), you might be right, but with PocketFrog as an alternative, I suspect as well that you will be sorely disappointed.

If the answer is C, then this change makes no sense to me at all. I absolutely believe your professional licenses are your major source of income, and will remain so, regardless of what changes you make. If it's NOT your major source of income already, than the hobbyists licenses must be, and you obviously wouldn't be doing away with them. In that case, why give up even a small amount of income? Surely the administrative work can't be THAT great??

Can you explain your thought process here a bit? It doesn't seem to make any sense to me. On the surface it seems like you are forsaking what is I'm sure a small amount of income in the hopes that you force a larger amount, which may or may not work

My suspicion is that in the end you will lose a small amount of income as the uptake in hobbyists going with distributors who pay for the professional license will not quite offset the straight hobbyist income loss.