Can the average indie developer make enough to earn a living?
by Philip Loyer · in General Discussion · 03/26/2012 (9:16 am) · 4 replies
Howdy guys, this is just something I have been thinking about and I know many of you do this for a living! I am not necessarily asking for numbers or anything just your thought and opinions on the topic. I am 31, married man, and I work during the day as a software developer for a company ( business applications etc ) and I do ok. Now granted i am not going to up and quit my job and become a game developer over night! But my plan is to create a game using Torque 3D in my spare time, once i am finished shop it around and see what happens. But I am just curious among devs that actually finish games how likely is it to make enough to earn a ok living? Thanks for your replies!
Phil
Phil
#3
03/28/2012 (6:16 pm)
@Matt: Great info!
#4
If you are an "average" indie developer working on iOS (most indies are either making their money on games on iOS or Steam right now) then you are not going to make enough to live off of with a single game.
There are obviously exceptions and outliers but this is true for an "average" indie.
However, the more games you make, the more likely it is that you will make enough money to live off of (as you gain experience and exposure). Also, multiple revenues streams which are individually not enough to live off can add up to being enough (again making more games).
Once interesting thing from that article is how rarely a 1 man studio does well...in general it looks like 6-10 people working on a game is the sweet spot (you just have to then make enough for everyone to live off =P).
03/28/2012 (6:28 pm)
To kind of quickly summarize that article:If you are an "average" indie developer working on iOS (most indies are either making their money on games on iOS or Steam right now) then you are not going to make enough to live off of with a single game.
There are obviously exceptions and outliers but this is true for an "average" indie.
However, the more games you make, the more likely it is that you will make enough money to live off of (as you gain experience and exposure). Also, multiple revenues streams which are individually not enough to live off can add up to being enough (again making more games).
Once interesting thing from that article is how rarely a 1 man studio does well...in general it looks like 6-10 people working on a game is the sweet spot (you just have to then make enough for everyone to live off =P).
Torque 3D Owner Ted Southard
If you get that demo done and put together enough to convince people that you're capable of getting what they need done, then they'll ask you to do it. Considering that you're already a developer in a different field, then I'd say it wouldn't be all that difficult for you to make the switch. As for exactly how much? Good question, and I'd say that it depends on all the usual factors for employment.
Good luck though! :)