http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/03/greenhouse-in-the-house/
We like to keep you guys informed about all aspects of Overgrowth, from software development to business development. You may have seen our previous post about indie friendly distributors and seen that Greenhouse was the last straggler for a long time and we were starting to wonder if they had gone the way of Manifesto Games. Luckily, I wanted to let you and other indie developers who may have gotten the wrong idea that they are more than alive. We have now gotten acknowledgement (and in some cases full fledged deals) from everyone on the list.
We actually first heard about Greenhouse through you guys in response to our Steam announcement. They seemed like a perfect fit for us because not only do they like indie games, but they also distribute games for Mac, Linux, and Windows. We figured that they might be the first to respond to our distribution inquiries. However, after sending quite a few emails we heard nothing for months. We weren’t sure what to think. Was their business on hold? Were they not accepting new titles? Were we being ignored, or worse, being snubbed?
Nope. Here’s what happened: When I send emails to distributors describing Overgrowth I prefer to show them what we’re doing rather than attack them with a blabbering bombardment. As a result, I usually cram my text full of links to our best videos, pictures and web sites. Unfortunately, this approach consistently triggered Greenhouse’s spam filter and kept my online distribution inquiries from reaching them. Thanks to our blog, they eventually noticed us anyway and called me personally to explain the situation. It turns out that their spam filter was configured too aggressively and we were not the only ones who were unable to get through!
We still have a way to go though. While some distributors are willing to set things up early, Greenhouse has a principal of only agreeing to distribute games that they have thoroughly play-tested and approved. We totally respect this and look forward to showing them Overgrowth further down the road. Greenhouse was created by the same people running Penny Arcade. I like the nature theme shared by Greenhouse and Overgrowth. Doesn’t it seem like a Greenhouse would be a great place for some overgrowth to flourish?
Can you guys think of any other major distribution sites that we should pursue?