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GDC: How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmwbYl6f11c

TL;DR: prepare for this to happen, and build a long tail of games/sales.

I don't want to sound mean but I don't think anyone should buy the game because they feel sorry and he is begging. I can't condone it. It has become trendy for people to make GoFundMe campaigns or write articles begging people to help.

Assume people do buy your game because they are sorry, and you manage to get by. Is that how you intend to create a sustainable business? What about other indie devs who failed, maybe even harder? Should they also write articles with their sad story? What about those who don't make it to the top of Hackernews? Should what is essentially charity support people taking risks?

I take this article as a cautionary tale of what could go wrong when you go indie, one of those that we need more of in face of the wild success stories that saturate media.

⬐ k__

lol, of the 11 years he did mostly the same game over and over plus a bit of consulting.

It's a wonder that he survived at all

⬐ ravitation

Seriously. His advice should be "don't make the same game for 11 years, especially when that game is either a generic card game (solitaire?) or a generic match three puzzle game."

⬐ k__

I don't know if this makes me sad or angry.

This guy works for 11 years in the industry, aquired a whole bunch of knowledge on how to ship and market games, runs communities for indi game devs and what not and then when it comes to the actual games, he fails hardcore.

⬐ cylinder

It doesn't seem like a business story really, it seems like an artist / craftsman wanted to practice his craft and ran into commercial realities. It's a starving artist situation. There wasn't any market analysis, financial analysis, etc upfront. He wanted to make a game, and he did, so he should be commended for that. It wasn't really a business venture.

⬐ krapp

I think it became a business story as soon as the developer quit his job and risked his future livelihood on sales. He could have worked on the game in his free time and released it for free, otherwise.

⬐ twothamendment

That is exactly why I'm happy working for someone else. I love to code, solve problems and make things. I do not what to run a business. As soon as you are in your own you are running a business.

⬐ rocky1138

Same, except that I still sell my game and work on it at home on my own time.

⬐ JabavuAdams

Almost all indie game developers think like this, though.

⬐ hub2017

"Imma be a rapper" of programming.

⬐ chii

If it wasn't a business venture, then don't treat it like one. Needing sales means it's a business venture.

⬐ SolaceQuantum

Unfortunately we don’t live in a society where people who are passionate about art can pursue their passions fully and avoid starving or otherwise risking their quality of life. In our society merely choosing to pursue your art to your fullest extent is considered a business venture and not an artistic venture, and even choosing not to because of money reasons is itself a business decision.

⬐ ameister14

There are plenty of people who are passionate about art and also able to pursue their passions fully and avoid starving. They get grants from the city or private organizations or they sell their work.

⬐ MrScoobs

following your passion may not be the best advice for anybody. See Cal Newport's perspective on why. One of his examples is Steve Jobs. http://calnewport.com/blog/2015/04/05/what-steve-jobs-meant-...

⬐ lap42

It's fortunate that society is like that.

⬐ barney54

True, but now is the greatest time in history to be able to pursue art. It's obviously tough, but people can sacrifice for their art and share it like never before. Just think how many incredible artists have lived but spent their entire lives merely surviving.

⬐ eropple

The idea that art must be sacrificed for is itself a profoundly toxic one.

Art is the culture that underpins society. Normalizing the idea of sacrificing to create it is itself antisocial.

⬐ chii

> how many incredible artists have lived but spent their entire lives merely surviving.

what you describe is basically the entire human condition as it has ever been since time inmemorial.

⬐ jamesrcole

> It doesn't seem like a business story really, it seems like an artist / craftsman wanted to practice his craft and ran into commercial realities.

The author does say "I have been warned against going full time indie by everyone on the internet and by my friends and family. I believed I could make it, all I had to do was ship just 700 units of my game on steam." They also say "After more than 10 years of writing games I believed I had acquired enough know-how, knowledge and experience to make it in the industry on my own, on my own terms and on my own schedule." [my emphasis].

That implies they had thought about the financials, and were believed they'd be able to get a sufficient amount of revenue.