I've been building Vercidium Audio for a while now - a raytraced audio SDK that simulates occlusion, permeation, reverb and ambience in real-time in destructible environments. Try the demo and check out the latest updates in v1.1 . It's getting close to the point where I want to sell it and I'm trying to figure out how. The Core Problem Vercidium Audio ships as a standalone DLL file. Once it's out there, it's out there. I can't prevent someone from pulling vaudio.dll out of a shipped game and dropping it into their own project. Obfuscation protects the internal code, but the binary itself is distributable. What seems to work for other middleware is a combination of: A license agreement developers genuinely agree to Enough goodwill that legitimate users want to pay Pricing that doesn't make someone feel like theft is the best choice With that framing, here are the options I've been weighing. Option A - Free for Non-Commercial Use Full SDK, no cost, as long as you're not making money from it. Must buy a license to ship it in a commercial game. This is the standard approach for audio middleware. The upside is that hobbyists use it, write about it, and recommend it. By the time someone's making a commercial game, they've already integrated it and it works. I'm currently leaning towards this option . Option B — Feature-Limited Free Tier Free version with only occlusion, or only reverb. Pay for the full suite. I'm not a fan of this because you'd want to hear what it actually sounds like before building a game around it. A version missing half the features doesn't give you that. Option C - Paywall Buy the SDK, no free tier. This was the original plan for launch, but having considered the above options I've realised discoverability is key. What I'm Actually Thinking Option A, with a tiered commercial pricing structure: Free — all features, non-commercial use only Indie license — $300 AUD, commercial use, for studios under a revenue threshold Studio license — above that threshold = annual price with source code access The goal is for a solo developer making their first commercial game to feel like buying a license is the right thing to do, rather than a painful decision. Pricing should reflect that. I'm also planning to ship open-source demo projects so you can hear the difference with and without raytracing. Recurring Revenue I'd like to receive recurring income from this product, but a subscription model doesn't make sense. A paying customer shouldn't have to remove Vercidium Audio from their already-shipped game because their subscription expired. I'm considering the pay-for-updates model: Buy once for $300 AUD - perpetual license for that version, forever First 12 months of updates included After that, an optional $150 AUD per year to stay on the latest version Can keep shipping with whatever version you have For larger studios I'm thinking about a flat annual fee with source code access, which covers the whole team and keeps them on the latest version. No revenue share or per-seat counting. What I'd Like to Know From You A few things I'm uncertain about: Does the pay-for-updates model make sense to you as a developer? What's a fair price for an indie commercial license? I'm considering $300 AUD but I'm curious what feels reasonable Is there anything about this model that would stop you from trying it? If you've shipped a game using audio middleware, or if you're currently evaluating options for a project, I'd love to hear your perspective — either in the comments or email me at
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