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Patreon Sims 4 Feb 2018 stats, over half a million earned for 2017.
TOLKIEN
Posts: 1,594 Member
For personal curiosity I dug into the numbers for creators (of Sims 4 content) using Patreon for the month of Feb 2018 and drafted a 2017 year financial gross estimate, which I thought I'd share here for those who are curious.
Patreon itself is a website allowing creators of Sims 4 mods and custom content to ask for community support via cash, often in exchange for early access to new creations and exclusive content. In 2017 Patreon exploded with Sim creators and based on graphtreon (stat website for Patreon) their revenue did too. So I wanted to see by how much.
I highlighted in bold summary figures below for a quick view.
How I did it:
To begin with these numbers are based on actual data pulled from Patreon itself. Almost 80% of creators have their monthly totals displayed openly on their overview, plus number of supporters. Very few did not - in which case that didn't prevent me from getting their totals either. Since the number of supporters per creator and the support tier costs (amount you can donate) are always shown regardless if gross monthly income is hidden. So if a Patreon has 50 supports and 45 are paying $5 and 5 are paying $10 - then the math is easy regardless if you hide your net total. In a situation where only say 2 tiers are available and supporter division not shown (between them) I went with lowest support tier meaning gross is estimated at lowest tier for reward. Meaning that base total will always be correct in terms of gross being underestimated rather speculating higher. Finally I should note I'm sure I missed a few Sims 4 Patreons but I believe I've accounted for 95% of them, from the smallest to largest. I've shown my work below each stat I've provided combining supporter numbers and how much is being donated to creators.
Overall I observed donation "cost" didn't always equal better quality or popularity with the largest grossing creators offering more for less. Mods specifically see the highest grossing revenue, implying supporters simple like to support them rather then pay for early content access. As far as content goes I don't believe there's been a moment in the Sims history, where more custom animations are being created for a Sims. The biggest decline in new or supported content would be poses I noted.
Next these numbers are broken into 2 subsets per United States ESRB ratings. The Sims 4 is rated teen (by ESRB) so I divided my stats as such, with content rated above Teen (think grand theft auto 5 levels) as separate stat following the first. This is important for two reasons, one teen rated content can be searched via Patreon where content above teen - cannot although it clearly hasn't prevented people from finding them. Second it provides deeper insight into Patreon support figures for the Sims 4.
As follows,
Patreon Stats for Feb 2018 calculated between 2018-02-18 and 2018-02-20
First,
T-Rated Patreon Sims 4 Stats
Content Creators using Patreon:
141 of which only
56 - have supporters earning them revenue
Total patrons (paying supporters)
7707
(261+174+3+1+20+31+24+1+2+148+29+20+13+7+32+253+2+12+302+50+169+12+4+3+21+5+152+283+98+764+98+23+348+31+208+18+721+1988+825+9+154+113+7+1+3+5+1+1+6+10+38+57+47+99)
15 creators had over 100 patrons (supporters) of which 6 creators had more then 300. The average creator having between 5-30 patrons. Only 4 creators had more then 500 supporters.
The majority of creators are producing custom content, mostly clothing and a few animators. Only a handful are creating mods however those who do see a higher ratio per supporters of revenue
Gross Revenue of Feb 2018 for Sims 4 T-Rated creators
$31,300 USD
114+1250+16+825+28+13+5+11+44+20+62+66+4+19+3+396+32+87+20+50+30+24+149+101+609+50+9+12+840+110+150+650+117+30+10+13+3+63+20+495+310+440+1015+160+84+250+200+3015+6+300+420+80+16+60+69+1044+140+6+1010+6+48+36+3605+5619+1035+90+200+100+3900+12+27+154+450+20+30+40+5+11+12+5+5+1+25+1+50+38+94+10+136+270+90. (includes figures based on different support tiers where gross wasn't directly available)
The most common donation level was $5, closely followed by $3 donation level. Only a few patrons had $10 tiers or higher and those who did often had higher patron numbers in general. Very few people donated at $1 level as it provides no rewards, but almost every patreon with 5 supporters or above had $1 supporters with no reward (hence donation only).
Cost per person to access ALL T-rated Patreon content per month (based on minimum support download tier cost per creator)
$155 USD
5+5+5+2.50+2+2+2+3+1+5+3+3+1+5+1+3+3+3+5+5+1+5+5+3+2+5+2+3+3+3+5+2+5+3+5+5+1+3.5+3+3+2+5+1+5+5+1+3+1. (note some patreons offer NO early content and therefore have not been included)
# of Patreon Creators with "Patreon tier only" content
15
(this content will not be accessed outside of Patreon donations and usually requires double the amount of donation to access)
Next'
Above T-Rated Patreon Sims 4 Stats
29 - Content Creators (all earn revenue/have supporters)
Total patrons (paying supporters)
7767
169+50+234+70+118+499+13+458+350+200+54+723+3236+4+13+3+76+16+2+32+2+1666+250+456+61+4+10+42+206
Despite there being literally half the amount of content creators, they have nearly the same amount of supporters as T rated creators. Only a handful of creators produce mods but again have largest share of supporters/revenue, followed by animators and a few CC creators. Supporter numbers usually followed higher percentages based on how long a creator has been on patreon unlike T-rated creators, meaning that new creators had lower numbers but still higher averages then t-rated creators.
Gross Revenue of Feb 2018 for Sims 4 Above T-Rated creators
$46,821 USD
358+1392+208+699+65+2910+760+203+5434+13034+59+2+2+3+33+50+7047+870+10+1100+200+50+40+2015+390+300+60+43+100+3+96+55+4+10+550+50+2+3+4+2430+1160+88+2015+900+10+605+310+340+749 (includes figures based on support tiers where gross wasn't directly available)
Cost per person to access ALL above T-rated Patreon content per month (based on minimum support download tier cost per creator)
$86.75 USD
5+8+4.5+3+4+5+5+5+4+4+4.5+5+4.5+1+1+1+3+4.75+2+1+3+2.5+1+5 (Again note some patreons offer NO early content and therefore have not been included)
# of Patreon Creators with "Patreon tier only" content
7 @ cost of $78
(again this content will not be accessed outside of Patreon donations. 10+8+10+10+20+10+10, I thought it was worth noting the cost this time as t-rated exclusive content was never more then $6 except for 2 creators and nearly equaled the base cost per person in contrast.)
Total combined FEB 2018 gross income for Patreon Sims 4 creators
$78,121 USD
Total combined FEB 2018 paying supporters for content creators using patreon
15,474
Finally using gross income for the month of Feb 2018 and stats from graphtreon, I've calculated an estimate of total gross for Patreons for 2017 (using lower values per month where November saw biggest gains after pet expansion release):
$291,600 USD (T-Rated)
$476,220 USD (Above T-Rated)
Total $767,820 USD revenue generated for 2017 for Sims 4 creators on Patreon.
Finally I did a projection based on current growth and recession for 2018 total gross
$376,000 USD (T-Rated)
$585,612 USD (Above T-Rated)
Total $961,612 USD projected revenue for year of 2018 for Sims Creators on Patreon.
I hope you enjoyed exploring these numbers with me, it took me nearly 7 hours to put this together but boy what an equation!
P.S edit
Pls note I simply wanted to calculate and study numbers in review of patreon profits of Sims creators, I am not trying to start a argument for or against patreon creators.
I really enjoy exploring math questions and enjoyed putting this together. Plus I discovered a bunch of content I didn't know existed...although now it seems we are being saturated in so much new custom content, I could imagine it being easy to forget what you downloaded after a few months.
Patreon itself is a website allowing creators of Sims 4 mods and custom content to ask for community support via cash, often in exchange for early access to new creations and exclusive content. In 2017 Patreon exploded with Sim creators and based on graphtreon (stat website for Patreon) their revenue did too. So I wanted to see by how much.
I highlighted in bold summary figures below for a quick view.
How I did it:
To begin with these numbers are based on actual data pulled from Patreon itself. Almost 80% of creators have their monthly totals displayed openly on their overview, plus number of supporters. Very few did not - in which case that didn't prevent me from getting their totals either. Since the number of supporters per creator and the support tier costs (amount you can donate) are always shown regardless if gross monthly income is hidden. So if a Patreon has 50 supports and 45 are paying $5 and 5 are paying $10 - then the math is easy regardless if you hide your net total. In a situation where only say 2 tiers are available and supporter division not shown (between them) I went with lowest support tier meaning gross is estimated at lowest tier for reward. Meaning that base total will always be correct in terms of gross being underestimated rather speculating higher. Finally I should note I'm sure I missed a few Sims 4 Patreons but I believe I've accounted for 95% of them, from the smallest to largest. I've shown my work below each stat I've provided combining supporter numbers and how much is being donated to creators.
Overall I observed donation "cost" didn't always equal better quality or popularity with the largest grossing creators offering more for less. Mods specifically see the highest grossing revenue, implying supporters simple like to support them rather then pay for early content access. As far as content goes I don't believe there's been a moment in the Sims history, where more custom animations are being created for a Sims. The biggest decline in new or supported content would be poses I noted.
Next these numbers are broken into 2 subsets per United States ESRB ratings. The Sims 4 is rated teen (by ESRB) so I divided my stats as such, with content rated above Teen (think grand theft auto 5 levels) as separate stat following the first. This is important for two reasons, one teen rated content can be searched via Patreon where content above teen - cannot although it clearly hasn't prevented people from finding them. Second it provides deeper insight into Patreon support figures for the Sims 4.
As follows,
Patreon Stats for Feb 2018 calculated between 2018-02-18 and 2018-02-20
First,
T-Rated Patreon Sims 4 Stats
Content Creators using Patreon:
141 of which only
56 - have supporters earning them revenue
Total patrons (paying supporters)
7707
(261+174+3+1+20+31+24+1+2+148+29+20+13+7+32+253+2+12+302+50+169+12+4+3+21+5+152+283+98+764+98+23+348+31+208+18+721+1988+825+9+154+113+7+1+3+5+1+1+6+10+38+57+47+99)
15 creators had over 100 patrons (supporters) of which 6 creators had more then 300. The average creator having between 5-30 patrons. Only 4 creators had more then 500 supporters.
The majority of creators are producing custom content, mostly clothing and a few animators. Only a handful are creating mods however those who do see a higher ratio per supporters of revenue
Gross Revenue of Feb 2018 for Sims 4 T-Rated creators
$31,300 USD
114+1250+16+825+28+13+5+11+44+20+62+66+4+19+3+396+32+87+20+50+30+24+149+101+609+50+9+12+840+110+150+650+117+30+10+13+3+63+20+495+310+440+1015+160+84+250+200+3015+6+300+420+80+16+60+69+1044+140+6+1010+6+48+36+3605+5619+1035+90+200+100+3900+12+27+154+450+20+30+40+5+11+12+5+5+1+25+1+50+38+94+10+136+270+90. (includes figures based on different support tiers where gross wasn't directly available)
The most common donation level was $5, closely followed by $3 donation level. Only a few patrons had $10 tiers or higher and those who did often had higher patron numbers in general. Very few people donated at $1 level as it provides no rewards, but almost every patreon with 5 supporters or above had $1 supporters with no reward (hence donation only).
Cost per person to access ALL T-rated Patreon content per month (based on minimum support download tier cost per creator)
$155 USD
5+5+5+2.50+2+2+2+3+1+5+3+3+1+5+1+3+3+3+5+5+1+5+5+3+2+5+2+3+3+3+5+2+5+3+5+5+1+3.5+3+3+2+5+1+5+5+1+3+1. (note some patreons offer NO early content and therefore have not been included)
# of Patreon Creators with "Patreon tier only" content
15
(this content will not be accessed outside of Patreon donations and usually requires double the amount of donation to access)
Next'
Above T-Rated Patreon Sims 4 Stats
29 - Content Creators (all earn revenue/have supporters)
Total patrons (paying supporters)
7767
169+50+234+70+118+499+13+458+350+200+54+723+3236+4+13+3+76+16+2+32+2+1666+250+456+61+4+10+42+206
Despite there being literally half the amount of content creators, they have nearly the same amount of supporters as T rated creators. Only a handful of creators produce mods but again have largest share of supporters/revenue, followed by animators and a few CC creators. Supporter numbers usually followed higher percentages based on how long a creator has been on patreon unlike T-rated creators, meaning that new creators had lower numbers but still higher averages then t-rated creators.
Gross Revenue of Feb 2018 for Sims 4 Above T-Rated creators
$46,821 USD
358+1392+208+699+65+2910+760+203+5434+13034+59+2+2+3+33+50+7047+870+10+1100+200+50+40+2015+390+300+60+43+100+3+96+55+4+10+550+50+2+3+4+2430+1160+88+2015+900+10+605+310+340+749 (includes figures based on support tiers where gross wasn't directly available)
Cost per person to access ALL above T-rated Patreon content per month (based on minimum support download tier cost per creator)
$86.75 USD
5+8+4.5+3+4+5+5+5+4+4+4.5+5+4.5+1+1+1+3+4.75+2+1+3+2.5+1+5 (Again note some patreons offer NO early content and therefore have not been included)
# of Patreon Creators with "Patreon tier only" content
7 @ cost of $78
(again this content will not be accessed outside of Patreon donations. 10+8+10+10+20+10+10, I thought it was worth noting the cost this time as t-rated exclusive content was never more then $6 except for 2 creators and nearly equaled the base cost per person in contrast.)
Total combined FEB 2018 gross income for Patreon Sims 4 creators
$78,121 USD
Total combined FEB 2018 paying supporters for content creators using patreon
15,474
Finally using gross income for the month of Feb 2018 and stats from graphtreon, I've calculated an estimate of total gross for Patreons for 2017 (using lower values per month where November saw biggest gains after pet expansion release):
$291,600 USD (T-Rated)
$476,220 USD (Above T-Rated)
Total $767,820 USD revenue generated for 2017 for Sims 4 creators on Patreon.
Finally I did a projection based on current growth and recession for 2018 total gross
$376,000 USD (T-Rated)
$585,612 USD (Above T-Rated)
Total $961,612 USD projected revenue for year of 2018 for Sims Creators on Patreon.
I hope you enjoyed exploring these numbers with me, it took me nearly 7 hours to put this together but boy what an equation!
P.S edit
Pls note I simply wanted to calculate and study numbers in review of patreon profits of Sims creators, I am not trying to start a argument for or against patreon creators.
I really enjoy exploring math questions and enjoyed putting this together. Plus I discovered a bunch of content I didn't know existed...although now it seems we are being saturated in so much new custom content, I could imagine it being easy to forget what you downloaded after a few months.
Post edited by TOLKIEN on
13
Comments
The Sims games have certainly created a new type of cottage industry. These days, people are starting to supplement or to support themselves in many non-traditional ways.
Edited: typo.
No probs, I just dont feel the love. I only like to use non-default skin/eyes cc
But good for the creators though, that is totally cool.
I do think the figures also indicate how popular the game is in general... because if people can get something for free most will. It would be interesting to compare download figures to the money earned. I'll bet what creators make is a pittance compared to what is downloaded.
It makes sense to me that people will be willing to show their gratitude more to modders that will bring content to the games that they know they will not get any other way... especially if the quality of the work is high and frequently updated.
Maybe in a future iteration EA will bring out games with dual ratings... and get a bigger piece of the pie.
I agree. I'd donate towards certain mods, not CAS items. I'm against charging a fee, though. Donations, only.
I have a small amount in my game as well, a bit under 3GBs, and most of it is clothes, skins, and hair mods. Like @CalebFillion I was a heavy Custom Content person when I played Sims 2, but since that game I haven't really been into it, I guess I got burned out too? Or maybe I just didn't think the game needed it as much [far as sims 3, I loved the gameplay, but hated the appearance of the sims, and thou I played, I didn't think any amount of CC could make them look better, thou I tried a little bit] who knows.
But like @Cynna I have a very limited tolerance of paying for CAS items, I just won't. Most of my favorite Custom content creators don't even use Patreon or anything of the sort so it works for me.
Like some others, I'm willing to pay for TSR or MTS however, and I don't mind paying a one time fee based on the case. But to me Sims 4 doesn't need all that much intense modding, unless you are going for a particular look. I can't imagine there is custom content out there so great I'd be willing to pay like that, but that's just me.
Wow, thanks for the information, that's interesting.
Origin: SeraphicPink
I no download CC/mods from sites than request deactivate adblock
I just saw this and even though it was back in February feel the need to say something. I did not know I could donate to MTS! I do have a subscription at TSR though and was shocked when they raised the price, lol! I think it was all of 50p or 50 c whichever country they are in. I hated having to wade through all the ads and stuff at TSR so this was worth it to me. Plus it is my go to when I am shopping. ALthough lately I have been using Kayla (lilsimsie) and her tumblr. What I hated about that was I had to HAVE a tumblr to use hers! How overlordy is that! I do agree that you can trust Mod the Sims, they are awesome and I go there once a month just to see what is what with them. Right now I have over 2,000 items in my mods folder. Maybe I should have a clear out. I would but I want sims studio 4 and it refuses to work on my laptop! I am disgruntled on that.
As for sites that want you to deacitvate adblocker you can just keep hitting the back button and eventually it gets you where you want to be. I cannot tell you the times I have gone back and forth for something. But the thing is, usually if I take the time to find a piece it is because I want it in my game and so will work for it. I will not take out adblocker though.
Well there are websites that specialize in sharing locked creator content be it hair/CC or mods. Some are easy to find and others less easy but once you do the content is more or less all there. I've only encountered a few patreon exclusive content and its from fairly unknown developers.
Having been a Cities Skylines and Skyrim player forever, I'm very used to referring to huge databases for mods for these games via the steamworkshop for free. So I don't really know if I totally agree with this argument - I understand it but I don't think that Sims creators should be exclusive being paid for content when much bigger projects (like overhauling Skyrim into Morrow Wind) that require a lot more work receive nothing in return...vs the biggest Sims 4 mod of a whim that earns its creator around 15K a month...for basically keeping it updated now.
But how people want to spend their money is obviously based on personal choice and what they feel is most valued to them for it. Although I do have to ask, much like Cities just how much individual CC do you need or animations to the point where you probably forget about what you downloaded.
So in that respect I see some of these creators earning money just for existing now since I suspect most of their content either goes unused, replaced or is forgotten in a couple months.
On the plus side I do find a lot of the CC clothing to be sometimes better made then official content...