Regarding MacHeist

I’m unsure why there seems to be lingering controversy regarding the new MacHeist bundle. My issue with the first MacHeist bundle two years ago was that developers were only offered low flat fees, rather than percentage cuts, and more broadly that they didn’t know what they were getting into when they agreed to participate. Clearly this is no longer the case. Gus Mueller, critic of the terms of the original bundle, is participating in this year’s, and he puts it plainly:

So why is Flying Meat participating in MacHeist this time around, when I blasted it a couple of years ago? Well, it’s pretty simple. The folks at MacHeist fixed the payment terms after MacHeist 1, and developers are getting a much better deal now. Tada.

Update: Whether it’s a good business strategy on the part of developers to participate in bundles like this, I don’t know. My hunch is no, but clearly that depends on just how big a slice of the pie one can negotiate — MacHeist has turned into a pretty damn big pie. What I’m saying is that anyone who participates now surely knows exactly what they’re getting into.

★ Wednesday, 25 March 2009