So...

We've started building what I would refer to as 'Game Templates' (not 'engines') and we're trying to ascertain whether there's any demand for what we're doing.

The realization came from working in parallel on projects that would require several common 'pieces'. Nothing user-facing, mind you, but rather, a set of tools that, if done right (modular, limited assumptions) could result in tangible gains without rendering more complex any attempt at stepping out of what the tech was made for. 

We've leveraged these tools to give our clients very fair discounts (and we're getting a lot of positive and constructive feedback on the work done so far) but it also gives us a slight edge which eventually helps pay for the tech itself. On paper, this is a win-win.

My question here is whether you feel this would be a viable model. As a decision-maker, would you be more likely to purchase an asset off the store and integrate it in-house (possibly cursing in the process as many of these 5-star rated assets are ultimately only good so long as you don't leave the realm of what they were meant to do, and then there's a steep learning curve and bad surprises when you DO want to leave the scope of that) or consider hiring a team that promises to leverage their tested proprietary tech and let them handle the 'custom' game code (at which point it becomes a question of whether you trust the team, and their claims)?

There's an undeniable tech angle to this, which I'm more than willing to expand on, especially given the realization that this was the way to go came from having been in studios before that took a different route to middleware development and failed either by producing tech that was too complex (and tried to do too much) - becoming narrow in what it could do - or failing on the service end by providing it 'as is' with some kind of a customer hotline or in-house jumpstart team, but ultimately leaving it up to the developer to figure things out.

At any rate, any insight on the matter would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks!

(@Mod: I wasn't sure where to post this, but it feels 'at home' here given the business angle. If you feel it would benefit more from being in a tech-related forums, feel free to move!)