How to make money as an indie game dev

By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie PolicyPrivacy Policyand our Terms of Service. How exactly do they make money gamee money? Do they go by a paid-per-copy system, or some dv form of compensation? Edit: To clarify, I just saw «Indie Ijdie — The Movie» and was wondering how developers like Team Meat get compensated for every copy of the game they sell. In-App purchases : Mainly mobile apps, in app purchases can be character upgrades, xp bonuses. Dontations : Releasing their game for free, and asking for donations. Dwarf fortress does. Subscriptions : Recurring fees to play their game, typically in an online setting. Their day job : Many indie makee don’t make money from their games. They have to work a real job to get paid. The world of in-app purchases is huge. And what you can sell depends on what kind of game it is. Then have permadeath and sell scrolls of resurrection in the store. Is how to make money as an indie game dev a shooter? Then sell the ability to «unlock» the better weapons.

I’ve got an idea… where do I begin?

At the time of writing, a quick check of stats on steamspy for player unknown:battlegrounds reveals this chart:. So the average income per employee there is a million dollars. Include sequels, potential DLC, merchandise and so on, and you can probably round it up to 25 million. But the problem is, the chances of Joe Indie game developer achieving this are close enough to zero as makes no difference. Taking the mid point, and looking at the top game I wont pick on it publicly, so lets not name it. Steamspy says…. Are we really thinking they sound so out of whack? You are either in the top 0. Its really no different from waiting tables whilst pretending to be an actress, or avoiding admitting you are unemployed by claiming to be a writer. There is virtually nothing I can do about this, and nothing you can do about this, but there is something we can collectively do to at least minimize the collateral damage:. Lets admit that the default position for an indie game developer is pretty much poverty. If you want to make money, maybe one day buy a house, start a family, have a pension, why are you making indie games? You KNOW you are almost certainly screwed right? Your chances of success are incredibly, incredibly small. This is not a sensible career. This is not a wise career move. This is almost certainly personal financial suicide. Han solo is wrong about his topic. Do not remortgage your house to do this. Do not both quit your job and live off savings to do this when you have kids to support. Do not assume you are different or special. Treat this as a disclaimer for my blog: You are reading the thoughts of a guy who was coding since age 11, has 36 years coding experience, has shipped over a dozen games, several of which made millions of dollars, got into indie dev VERY early, knows a lot of industry people, and has a relatively high public profile. Its extremely, extremely tough right now. My question then: how come there are these huge indie communities. So many developer and indie studios who mange build a sustainable business. There is a lot of work involved and less than half of that is even making a compelling game. The hardest part is often finding an audience for your creation. I work in indie games and there are unbelievably many people who have managed to sustain themselves and their families by making games.

Stardew Valley- a Million Dollar Game

People seem to be clamoring for more creative, indie-driven games that they can sink their teeth into. We all know Minecraft , and The Binding of Isaac , but how do you make money off of these great and creative titles? This is somewhat an anomaly in the gaming world, as Stardew Valley exploded, being ported to nearly every platform. The most recent release on iOS in October , and Androids at a later date. This should motivate game developers with a vision and a dream to bring an indie game to life and perhaps launch it on Steam to critical and commercial acclaim. Stardew may have sold 1. Not bad for a one-man project. The tricky part of this is making your indie title sustainable, scalable, and ever present like Stardew Valley is. And the many ports to other systems keeps it always relevant, always on the dashboard, literally and figuratively, of gamers every day. I stumbled upon the blog of game developer Cliffski , who regularly posts tips, stories, and helpful advice for game developers. I made more than k from gratuitous space battles, from democracy 3, from gratuitous tank battles and from production line still in early access. But it can be done. Luckily with the rise of game engines we no longer need to worry about porting games or building our own engines.

Cliffski and Solo Game Developing

Game development is a very hobby fueled passion fueled industry. So if I set up a shop that sells protein powder all I got to do is figure out how to get that in from the right people. You have to entice them. It was a big risk it still is a big risk right. But one of my thoughts was hey I know how to get clients I know how to build a business doing freelance gamedev is a great alternative because I can make games which I love to do but I can also get paid by clients to build the games. And I felt like that was a safer business move at least initially for me to kind of to build up get more games done make some money pay the bills with that kind of stuff versus actually starting out making a game. So freelance is a really great way to make money with games especially if you have some skill in some software. There are a lot of people that will pay you to make games for them. Getting clients is going to be hardest part obviously. But you can always find clients you can go in freelance sites. You can go on Craigslist. And it can be really lucrative when you figure out how to kind of navigate the whole thing. If you have a paid game and you sell it. But you can also sell your game independently. You can fill your game on a website with a download link ready to go. There services like Gumroad or whatever you can sell your game directly.

Or maybe you have a vague idea, but the sheer volume of things to consider makes going beyond your initial idea seem overwhelming and stops you from getting past the first steps in creating something amazing. To help you get over the first hurdle, we asked developers of the best indie games for practical advice on getting started. This article is only the start of a long and potentially life-changing journey if you’re prepared to work hard like, really, really, hard and leave your preconceptions.

Subscribe to Official Xbox Magazine in print or digital for more in-depth features, reviews and previews about Xbox One, Xbox One X and the future of Microsoft’s console. You also need to be doing it for the right reasons.

There are plenty to choose from, such as Gamemaker Studio 2Unreal engine or Unity to name but a. Unity is the most popular among indie devs as it works well with both 2D and 3D games. However, it does require you to learn coding. Once you have your engine the real fun begins. Be careful not to get ahead of. To help yourself, set your own deadlines and try to achieve something every day, no matter how small.

Just look at the diversity of games [in the past], you will see many of these niches to. Choose one, and take it to new heights with modern physics, visuals and storytelling. Try not to bite off more than you can chew. Many people are bumping into the same problems as you and gaining their insight is invaluable. That excitement and pride of creation can push you for a long time, but game development is so much longer than.

You start a company, you create a team, then you make a game. These three tasks are massive and interdependent. How to make money as an indie game dev have to get your hands dirty in every aspect of production, and you have to get good at it. This is something you can use to your advantage to gain visibility. This is great for getting players interested in your project, but you can use that same accessibility to get a publisher to know who you are.

That being said, if you end up finding yourself with a publishing opportunity, being prepared will help you in the long run. Publishers are interested in the project they signed, while investors focus on growing your studio and long-term sustainability. Also, everything is negotiable. The ID Xbox program is a great way of doing.

The indie game world is scary but every indie developer is rooting for you. Want more Xbox features, interviews and advice? OXM Staff. See comments. Topics Action RPG. Show .

My Indie Game Launch Revenue Numbers

Technical skills alone might not be enough

Search Unity. Log in Create a Unity ID. Unity Forum. Forums Quick Links. Could I make a living being an Indie Game Dev? Joined: How to make money as an indie game dev 17, Posts: I’ll admit, I’ve been doing a lot of google searches lately about how much new indie game devs make, or the average, but for a different reason. I’m not trying to make thousands of dollars, although it’d be nice it’s not what I’m expecting. I’m not asking for numbers, as of right now I work at UPS, 3 days a week 5 hours a day. I’m not making very much money, I want to go gam college to get a degree in Computer Science which UPS will pay for so I don’t have to worry about that, but I still have a lot of other things I have to pay for, and getting a second job as well as going to college would make things really difficult for starting my career as an indie game dev. I see a lot gamf people asking this question but for all the wrong reasons, I have a few questions to ask and I’ll list them. I want to note, I know these questions can be yo to answer as there isn’t a direct yes or no, depending on different things to take in to account it can be different for everyone, so statistically speaking: Could I make a living off being a new Rev game dev? I ask because if I can make a living, I could power through this tough time barely making enough and develop a game and not worry about having to get a kndie job, giving me more time to continuously mke on this If I can make a living, even if it’s very small, where would I start? I mean like, would the best place to start be steam greenlight? Or what sources are out there to put a game out What would be the best way to go about maake this a thing til the point I can make it a full time thing? Being able to quit my job at UPS and work on games full time, maybe this is pushing it, idk.