To all people who have made money from a game.
by DME · in General Discussion · 06/07/2003 (7:27 pm) · 10 replies
Well the time has come to think of investors =P
Our demo will be done in a few months and I have to get to work on a 3 year business plan. I should be able to do most the stuff myself but my first game is going to be a low budget Indy game using torque. I need to know information about games published using torque. This includes tribes and tribes 2, I need to know time to make a game, people working on the game, and most importantly money spent and made from the game.
These are all very important to a business plan. If you have published a torque game please fill me in on the details. If you don't want to post here email me bricejohnson@projectraven.com
Thank you for your time
Brice Johnson
Our demo will be done in a few months and I have to get to work on a 3 year business plan. I should be able to do most the stuff myself but my first game is going to be a low budget Indy game using torque. I need to know information about games published using torque. This includes tribes and tribes 2, I need to know time to make a game, people working on the game, and most importantly money spent and made from the game.
These are all very important to a business plan. If you have published a torque game please fill me in on the details. If you don't want to post here email me bricejohnson@projectraven.com
Thank you for your time
Brice Johnson
#2
I can't go to a investor and say this is how much money I need but I have no idea how much I'll make =P
Anyways thanks for the other information
Brice Johnson
06/08/2003 (9:52 am)
Thank you for the information, unfortunately I need the prices made. I can't go to a investor and say this is how much money I need but I have no idea how much I'll make =P
Anyways thanks for the other information
Brice Johnson
#3
In Jeff's GDC talk he said he expected Marble Blast to make $150K-$200K.
I sort of remember that Tribes 2 sold in 300K units (no idea what the sell through was).
Have you ever shipped agame before?
06/08/2003 (10:42 am)
well, for ThinkTanks, it would not do you any good. It has just started it's life. We are hopeful that it may sell 10K units lifetime... In Jeff's GDC talk he said he expected Marble Blast to make $150K-$200K.
I sort of remember that Tribes 2 sold in 300K units (no idea what the sell through was).
Have you ever shipped agame before?
#4
I can share with my experience in shareware industry. I know lot of teams who is making different games (usually shareware) and according to my experience if you can sell 1000 copies a year it will be big success. Usually you can sell less then 1000 copies a year. BTW I am very curious in GG selling abilities.
And one more idea. It is better to read forums at www.regnow.com, or game shareware forums. They can give you much more information about marketing and on-line sells.
06/08/2003 (11:01 am)
Well,I can share with my experience in shareware industry. I know lot of teams who is making different games (usually shareware) and according to my experience if you can sell 1000 copies a year it will be big success. Usually you can sell less then 1000 copies a year. BTW I am very curious in GG selling abilities.
And one more idea. It is better to read forums at www.regnow.com, or game shareware forums. They can give you much more information about marketing and on-line sells.
#5
06/08/2003 (11:07 am)
Not that it matters but the Tribes 1 dev team consisted of around 5 members at most I believe, while the Tribes 2 dev team was around the 10 to 20 member range if I remember correctly. But like I said, irrelevant ;p
#6
The original question is really one with no answer. If you have not shipped a game before (and I am assuming this based on the question), I would advise against looking for external funding as you will probably spend a great deal of time persuing it only to come up empty.
06/08/2003 (11:27 am)
That is inaccurate. On Tribes 1, There were at least 10 people on the team (including artists), and I am sure I am missing some (as I only counted the 10 people that immediately jumped into my head).The original question is really one with no answer. If you have not shipped a game before (and I am assuming this based on the question), I would advise against looking for external funding as you will probably spend a great deal of time persuing it only to come up empty.
#7
I might as well look for funding there is no reason not to.
And even if I don't get funding I'm still going to want a 3 year business plan.
06/08/2003 (2:14 pm)
No I have never published a game before. I might as well look for funding there is no reason not to.
And even if I don't get funding I'm still going to want a 3 year business plan.
#8
No publisher is going to pay any attention to you when you only have a demo. Even if you had published a game before, it probably wouldn't help (unless it were some huge hit).
06/08/2003 (4:00 pm)
I haven't published a game before either, but I suggest getting your game finished (or at least almost finished) before you worry about trying to obtain money from people.No publisher is going to pay any attention to you when you only have a demo. Even if you had published a game before, it probably wouldn't help (unless it were some huge hit).
#9
Investors and Publshers don't even matter, every company should have a minimum 3 year busines plan. Thats what I'm doing.
06/08/2003 (4:22 pm)
Im not worried about publishing, Im looking for investors. huge differance, publishers just distribute the product. Investors and Publshers don't even matter, every company should have a minimum 3 year busines plan. Thats what I'm doing.
#10
I respect your opinion, but I must disagree. If you continue a search for funding, you will be squandering your time, and time is the only non-renewable resource.
It is my opinion that if you search for investors, you will most likely not find any willing to give you any money.
I agree that making a business plan is a good thing, but it should not be confused with making a game. They are two different things.
Also, if you are looking for investors, you had better be worried about distribution, as that is the way you will make money on the game, and the investors will want to know 'how' you are going to make them money.
In any case, it is your choice, and I wish you luck.
06/08/2003 (8:40 pm)
Quote:I might as well look for funding there is no reason not to.
I respect your opinion, but I must disagree. If you continue a search for funding, you will be squandering your time, and time is the only non-renewable resource.
It is my opinion that if you search for investors, you will most likely not find any willing to give you any money.
I agree that making a business plan is a good thing, but it should not be confused with making a game. They are two different things.
Also, if you are looking for investors, you had better be worried about distribution, as that is the way you will make money on the game, and the investors will want to know 'how' you are going to make them money.
In any case, it is your choice, and I wish you luck.
Torque Owner Joe Maruschak
The Tribes 1 and 2 teams were quite large, I would guess in the 20-25 person range? (not counting all the support people , QA, etc..) The Trophy Hunting series of games were done with a team that ranged from 8-15 or so?
Don't recall the timeframe for Tribes 2 (too long?) Trophy hunting 4 took like 9-10 months, and Trophy Hunting 5 took considerably less time (though I kind of remember it being spread out over 6 or so months).
ThinkTanks, the game we did with the TGE (and our first as an indie) had a team that comprised mostly of 3 people, with another 5-6 contributing to certain aspects of the game. Funding for the game was $0.00 (we lived off our savings)
ThinkTanks took like 9-10 months to make, but we were not working on it full time. Don't remember the actual total number of man years exactly, but the time cost was like 1.5-2.0 man years.
As we are so close to launch, we am not ready to give out sales numbers yet, other to say that it appears to be doing okay for an indie title (and that the numbers of sales are not even close to what one would expect from a title released from a major publisher).