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This is a necessary first step, but I think it's only part of the solution. It's not enough to just improve the visibility of a set of indie games, as Spotify did for artist visibility - you also need to provide ways for creators to benefit from mega-fans with disposable income, while ensuring that balance is sustainable and not predatory.

Spotify's merchandise stores and concert notifications are IMO a pitiful shadow of what they can and should be, and what you can and should be - imagine a Patreon-esque system with tiered badges and in-game supporter perks, with verification built in at your DRM layer, the Discord tiered-role features that Patreon integrates with, award-gifting, etc. Draw a hard line at what kinds of monetization is and isn't acceptable, and become a breath of fresh air in the monetization debate. There's so much possible here beyond subscription distributions, and you could cement your reputation as an innovator and ally to a whole world of brilliant creators.




Love this, you just gave us a pot of golden ideas, thanks!




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