Software Passport (Armadillo)
I use Armadillo to security wrap my games on http://greyaliengames.com. It’s pretty much industry standard for Indie developers, although the portals use their own security wrappers. One of it’s advantages is that it’s compatible with Plimus and BMT Micro, two well known payment providers. This means that when you sell a copy of your game, Plimus/BMT automatically send the customer an unlock key that is compatible with your Armadillo wrapper – this is cool.
Note that you can’t get away with the basic version, you need the full version because it supports 60 minute trials. It’s actually not very easy to use either and has a bewildering array of options, plus you have to make your own nag screens in HTML etc. This was very time consuming for me and I had to ask a few other people for help – but the end result is good.
It was around £160 for the full thing. I *have* made that money back selling my games on my own site, but not by very much margin – although the margin will increase with time and the forthcoming re-release of Easter Bonus. I also see it as an investment for my future games – however, now that I’m programming for BFG, that may not be applicable any more anyway!
If you can’t afford the time or money to invest in Armadillo, then don’t sell it on your own site. Selling games on your own site is a lot of work and needs marketing skills etc. Plus, if you don’t do it right, you’ll never make your money back! Just go straight to the portals who’ll security wrap it themselves. Then you can focus on your next game instead of getting mired in post-development admin/marketing hell 🙂
March 20th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
In response, a much easier method to distribute your own titles with absolutely no upfront fees is our Softwrap Wrapper solution.
You can register an account at http://www.softwrap.com for free. Start securing your titles and distribute them on your own website or through distribution partners in minutes.
The ecommerce solution is built into the wrapper so users have a simple way to purchase using credit/debit cards as well as Paypal. Softwrap deducts it’s service fee from each sale and pays the remainder into your chosen account each month. Contact us to discuss the fees as we prefer to customize this per client.
You can also then log into our online control panel and create purchase links for your products in seconds. These links can be placed directly onto your website in order to accept sales orders instantly. The software is then delivered to the user and automatically registers itself.
You will find this total solution will save your hours of development time and remain far more secure than other standard solutions.
Feel free to get send us any questions – http://www.softwrap.com/info_request.aspx
March 21st, 2007 at 5:40 am
What is the cost for softwrap?
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
[…] just posted a quick summary of my experience of Armadillo on the IndieGamer forums. I actually wrote about it in more detail in March but there are a few extra points in this summary like why I had to get a […]
May 9th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Softwrap’s fees are charged per successful sale, so there are zero upfront or ongoing costs. You only pay us when you make a sale.
The actual percentage fee is customized per client and is based on the average selling price of your titles as well as the average monthly revenues generated.
It would be best to contact us to discuss your individual business requirements.
http://www.softwrap.com/info_request.aspx