In order for developers to see profit, a sales threshold must first be surpassed.
In the last few days the topic of a WiiWare sales threshold has been debated among game industry analysts and fans alike. The various industry reports say that before independent developers can see any profit on WiiWare they must first surpass a sales threshold. Developers do not see a profit from sales until that threshold has been surpassed. If the game doesn't pass it, the developers will not receive any payment until it's eventually accomplished.
The sales threshold is different in each region according to various sources. In America, the threshold is believed to be around the mid thousands while in Europe it's in the lower thousands.
Multiple developers have contacted news sources and confirmed this to be true, with some developers believing that they will never see any profit due to poor sales of their WiiWare efforts.
Nintendo's intentions for the threshold haven't been made clear, but it is believed that this is a quality control method that prevents developers from releasing poor quality titles, or "shovelware," on the service.
Days after the news surfaced, more details on the threshold were revealed. Apparently the size of WiiWare titles also play a part in surpassing the sales threshold, once again varying from region to region. According to Kotaku, North American titles over 16 MB must sell over 6,000 units in order to be profitable to its developers, while titles under the 16 MB limited must only sell 4,000 units.
In Europe the limit is far lower. Titles over the 16 MB limit must sell 3,000 units while titles under the 16 MB limit only need 2,000 units to be profitable.
Kotaku also claims that developers have two years to meet the threshold. Once this has been surpassed, the profit royalty is of 65/35 in favor of the developer.
Industry news website Gamasutra was contacted by various WiiWare developers who claim that this is not an issue whatsoever as they have easily surpassed the threshold. The new storage solution has also helped developers in obtaining this requirement as sales of existing titles such as Telltale Games' Strong Bad Game have doubled since the solution was made a reality at the Game Developer's Conference.