Game Development Community

Costs and Profit

by Kenn Austin · in General Discussion · 01/31/2001 (1:54 pm) · 5 replies

I've got a few money related questions.

Firstly I want to know what I'm going to be looking at as far as costs go as I make my game. I'm planning on things like licensing an engine (if we don't write one), paying the rest of the team, and paying for a publisher. I want to know if there's anything else that I should know about.

Secondly, I want to know how much I might expect to make out of my game. How much does the average game sell for in the industry? What's a reasonable price range?

Lastly, all my team members are working for a percentage of the total profits. How much should each team member get? Should the programmers get more? Or is everything based on the workload they take on?

This is all I can think of for now, but I'll probably revisit this forum with many more questions.

-Kenn
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Torque Owner Jeff Tunnell
#1
02/13/2001 (11:34 am)
There are no hard and fast rules for the questions you posted. But, here are a few guidelines.

Costs are what you make them. If you and a few like minded people agree to share the work load, and you cover all the skill bases needed, you will have no lobor costs. You need to come up with a revenue sharing agreement based on the amount of work put in and the worth of each person on the team. Again, no rules here. This is simply person to person negotiating.

Profits... There are none. Realistically, you will make no money on a game. From the content of your post, it is obvious that you are probably not experienced enough to make a game that will break through enough to make money. At this stage of your career, money shouldn't be your primary concern. You should be doing it for fun, experience, education, and resume building.

Once you get some experience under your belt, go for it all! Money can be made in this business, but it isn't easy.

At a later date, I will publish an article that shows more of the monetary aspects of the business in greater detail.

Jeff Tunnell GG

Torque Owner Kenn Austin
#2
02/14/2001 (6:24 am)
Thanks for the info. However, I assure you that I'll be able to make some sort of money with our first project. While it is true that I personally don't have the skills to make an incredible game, I'm not the one who's making it. I've got a team of 5, (including myself), and I've got a great amount of confidence in their abilities. All I'm really doing is putting the team together and helping out here and there. All the real work is going to be done by the rest of the guys. Don't get me wrong, however. I'm not in this entirely for the money. I'm doing this because I love playing games, and I love making games. Once again, thanks for the advice, and I'm looking foward to reading your article.

-Kenn

Torque Owner Jeff Tunnell
#3
02/14/2001 (11:31 am)
Kenn,

I am curious as to how you think you will make money. There are avenues for indies to make money and it is part of our mission to help unconver them, and help you tap into them. However, getting entre into the proper channels in order to make money is incredibly difficult. It takes an awesome product, with a great design, and stellar execution.

Again, good luck.

Jeff Tunnell GG

bob
#4
03/18/2001 (3:32 pm)
I have to agree with Jeff. Even if you make one of the greatest games on your first try bringing in a lot of money is difficult. Finding a publisher is very hard. Getting a publisher to see things your way can be even harder since you have no track record yet. They can pretty much tell you what to do and you won't have a choice. Think of your first game as a freebie to the world. Use it to establish yourself.

Alexander Bierbrauer
#5
03/19/2001 (1:33 am)
I personally don't think that it is hard to find a publisher -> It's hard to find a good publisher! If you search the web for publishers you'll find a lot but most of them are even for indie developers far to bad!