How to price a game asset pack: music, sound effects and art
Pricing a pack can feel like guessing. A pack sells many times, so you aren't charging for your hours the way you do on custom work. You're charging for what it saves the dev who buys it. Here's a plain way to land on a number.
- Price by what is inside and what it saves a dev, not by the hours it took you.
- A pack should cost less than buying its pieces one by one. That is the reason to buy it.
- An exclusive license takes the item off sale for good, so price it like custom work.
- On IndieGuild an item runs from $5 to $500, and you keep 85% of every sale.
- Pick a number, watch what sells, and change it. Nothing locks you in.
A pack is not custom work
With custom work, one studio pays for your time and gets something made for their game. A pack runs the other way. You make it once, and any number of devs can license it for one game each.
So one sale doesn't have to cover your hours. A fair price is one where a dev thinks "that's cheaper than hiring someone for this" and you still feel good about it after a handful of sales.
If you want custom rates to compare against, I've written up what devs usually pay for music, sound effects and art.
What goes into the number
- How much is inside. 40 sounds is worth more than 8. Say the count out loud in your "What's inside" line.
- How ready it is. Loops that loop cleanly, sounds trimmed and named, tiles that line up, levels and palettes that match. The less a dev has to fix, the more it's worth.
- Variations. Three takes of each footstep, or a tileset in four seasons, saves a dev real time.
- Formats. WAV and OGG together, or art at two sizes, is less work for them.
- How hard it is to replace. A plain click is everywhere. Your style isn't.
Tip: Before you set a price, look up three packs like yours on the stores devs already use and note what they hold and what they charge. You don't have to match them. You do want to know where you sit.
Single items or a pack?
Both, if you can. Sell singles for the dev who needs one thing, and a pack for the dev who wants the whole set.
The one rule: the pack costs less than its pieces added up. Say five tracks sell for $12 each. That's $60 one by one, so a pack of all five at $40 gives a dev a reason to take the set.
On IndieGuild a pack is one item that holds many files, from 2 up to 100. You can also put a bundle on your whole shop, like "Any 3 for $25". A bundle only shows once it beats buying your cheapest items one by one, so it's never a worse deal than it looks.
When to offer an exclusive price
Exclusive means you stop selling that item after one sale. It fits a main theme, a logo or key art that a studio wants to be theirs alone.
You're giving up every later sale, so price it closer to what you'd charge to make it custom. Leave it off sound sets and anything meant to sell many times. On IndieGuild the exclusive price is optional, and it has to be more than the one-game price.
What you keep
You keep 85% of every sale on IndieGuild.
| Your price | You get |
|---|---|
| $5 | $4.25 |
| $12 | $10.20 |
| $20 | $17 |
| $40 | $34 |
| $100 | $85 |
When you type a price into the item form, it shows what you get from a sale before you save.
Sales without cheapening your work
A sale on IndieGuild takes 10 to 50% off your whole shop or one shelf, runs for up to 30 days, and ends by itself. It never takes an item under $5.
Use one for a reason: a new pack, a game jam week, a holiday. A sale that never ends is a lower price with extra steps.
Common mistakes
- Pricing by your hours. A pack sells many times. One sale doesn't have to pay for the week.
- A pack that costs the same as its pieces. Then there's no reason to buy the pack.
- A vague "What's inside". "Sound pack" tells nobody anything. "40 footsteps on snow, gravel and wood, WAV, 48 kHz" does.
- An exclusive price on everything. Save it for the few pieces a studio would want to own alone.
- Never looking again. If something isn't selling, change the price, the preview or the title, and see what happens.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a game asset pack cost?
There's no single right number. Price by how much is inside, how ready it is to drop into a game and how hard it is to replace, and keep the pack cheaper than buying its pieces one by one. On IndieGuild an item can be priced from $5 to $500.
Should I sell single items or packs?
Both, if you can. Singles suit a dev who needs one thing. A pack suits a dev who wants the whole set, and it should cost less than the singles added up.
What is an exclusive license and how do I price it?
Exclusive means you stop selling that item once it's bought. You give up every later sale, so price it closer to what you'd charge for custom work. On IndieGuild the exclusive price is optional and has to be more than the one-game price.
How much do I keep when a pack sells on IndieGuild?
You keep 85% of every sale. A $20 pack pays you $17.
Can I change my price later?
Yes. Open the item, set a new price and save.
Get your work in front of game devs
A shop sits on your IndieGuild profile, so that's step one. Add your best work, your rates and what you're open to. It's free.
Make my free profileMore guides
- How to open a shop on IndieGuild
- What a game asset license covers
- How much does music cost for an indie game?
- How much do sound effects cost for a game?
- How much does art cost for an indie game?