Starting an indie game development business

October 28, 2008 9:11 AM

I want to start a small business making/selling casual video games. I'm aware of the many smart and committed people who have tried this and failed, but I want to make a go of it anyway. How do I improve my chances of success?

I do programming, art and design, and I have the means to contract out the stuff I can't do well (music, internationalization, etc.). For purposes of the question, let's assume that I can execute on a reasonable game idea until I have a solid, playable, fun casual game. The question is how best to monetize this.

There are a lot of good AskMe threads about starting a small business in general (and my wife, who would be my business partner, has a lot of small business experience), so this is more about the game- and tech-specific aspects.

1) Platform: Flash, Windows, OS X, iPhone, XBLA, _______? While I have my personal preferences as a gamer, I'm open to any of these for development. My general impression is that there are more Windows gamers than Mac gamers, but Mac people are more likely to pay for software. Flash is ubiquitous but may be more difficult to monetize. And what about implementing the same game for multiple platforms--how much does a company like PopCap benefit from this?

2) Revenue: advertising, direct sales, subscriptions, _______? This obviously ties in with choice of platform. I'm aware of things like MochiAds for Flash games, but I can't tell if anyone is making more than pocket change that way. My strong preference is for a moderate, sustainable income stream rather than trying to get rich by capitalizing on the flavor of the month (I realize this means releasing new titles on a regular basis).

3) Free for all: any advice you would give to someone starting out on this crazy venture? The one piece of advice I'm not really open to is "Don't do it," as well-intentioned as that might be. This is one of those things I'll always regret if I don't give it a shot, and even if the business fails, I'll consider what I've learned along the way to be a personal success. Other than that, I'm open to anything.

I realize there isn't a One True Answer to be found for any of these questions. I'm just looking for pros/cons and suggestions, based on experience, for what to do and what to avoid. Thanks in advance.


_{Disclaimer: I know I won't get rich. I'm not quitting my day job. I won't risk my mortgage or my ability to put food on the table. I know I can't compete with AAA titles (nor would I want to). I know spectacular failure is likely despite my best efforts. I know I'm not a design genius, and I have no intention of changing the world.}

posted by [user was fined for this post] to work & money (7 comments total)

I suggest you think about your overall strategy by looking at some examples of successes that appeal to you and decomposing what those companies have done in terms of platforms, biz models, and distribution. Some of your assumptions are probably incorrect, for example, there is a booming paid-casual games business on the PC. Some "good ideas" might seem less so when you think them through, for example, there are a slew of companies that have sprung up to make iPhone games and there are some notable successes, but that (very new) channel is becoming cluttered and I've seen a raft of discounting in the last couple of weeks so that bandwagon may not be one to jump on willy nilly.

It's doubtful that you'll want to both build and market/distribute your game so you're likely going to need to do distribution deals with the large aggregators. Check out the offerings from Yahoo!, RealNetworks, Big Fish, et al and look for games that are similar to what you're thinking about. You'll see lots of clones, some good games, some lousy games, and you'll get a sense of how they're being monetized.

Essentially, do a bunch of environmental scanning and research before you commit to a plan.

If you're not already familiar with it, your should check out Casual Connect, which is the resource vault of the Casual Games Association. As you suggest, there's a lot more to making a business (even a small one) than simply building a game. A good starting point for learning and networking would be to attend one of their events. (I've spoken at these and other game conferences before but am not otherwise associated with the CGA).
posted by donovan at 9:42 AM on October 28, 2008

A lot depends upon your exact skills and the types of games you're best suited to producing, but Flash may be a sensible entry point. You can put a game online quickly and easily, try out MochiAds and putting it on third party sites, and sell premium downloadable versions for Windows & Mac, letting you dip your toe in the water and make mistakes cheaply. Also, if you're not earning enough from your own games you can attract clients who'll pay you hundreds of dollars per day to produce games for them.

The biggest danger for a new venture like this is that you'll get bogged down and never release anything, so whatever you choose make sure the initial goals are modest and attainable.
posted by malevolent at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Donovan beat me to the Casual Games Association recommendation. I do not work in casual games, but I do work in videogames, and have some acquaintances who moved into the casual arena. I think that self-publishing is going to multiply your risk and stress levels exponenatially. I would start by checking out the big publishers like PopCap and Yahoo to see if they are interested in working with third party developers such as yourself.

OK, I'm getting ahead of myself, do you have a track record of any published videogames? If not, then maybe you should self-publish a few small ones in order to prove yourself to a publisher. And if you manage to crack the nut of self-publishing/marketing etc then that's great.

Also take a look at the IGDA's Independent Games Festival, as that is a GREAT way to get some exposure, make connections etc. Oh and the IGDA local meets may or may not be useful for networking (they can be 99% students and 1% actual developers, but its worth a try). the Game Developer's Conference each year in San Francisco is very expensive, but good networking if you are breaking in (or maybe you are in videogames already, I can't tell). They have a casual games summit and an Independent Games Summit. Both are likely to be good to get some answers and meet some people. GDC was extremely helpful for me at the beginning.
posted by Joh at 10:02 AM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am in no way qualified to answer this aside from being a gamer and knowing people trying to do what you're talking about. That being said, releasing a game via Steam isn't a bad way to go about things. It answers a lot of the distribution problems for a small company. I'm sure it comes with its own costs, lack of a physical release for one thing, but if you're making PC games, that's the first place I'd aim for.

If you're thinking even more casual than that, Armor Games seems to be doing pretty well for itself in terms of free flash games. I'd dissect them as an example and see if you can pinpoint where the revenue is coming from for them. The nice thing about flash games is that they dodge the platform question to some extent.

As far as I've been able to surmise, you will not make any great amount of money selling a game yourself on a website. It's fine if you're doing it as a hobby, but for a business you're going to want a more official distribution model. Small websites seem like they're more likely to have problems with piracy too, especially if they're small games that can easily be put on a service like rapidshare. This would be another perk of something like Steam that has built in (and largely unoffensive) DRM.

You absolutely have to prove yourself first. The best way to get noticed as a game creator is to create something free that people enjoy playing. Consider for instance that the team who made Portal cut their teeth on the free Narbacular Drop. Another example would be Audiosurf where gamers became interested in it when a pre-release version of the game started making the rounds and garnering attention.

Finally, I do know someone who is attempting exactly what you're talking about. From what I can surmise of their situation, my number one piece of advise would be to make sure you have a secure source of funding to see this thing through. You already know you're going to have to contract some parts of this out so I'm sure you've considered that already, but I thought it still bore saying.
posted by CheshireCat at 10:32 AM on October 28, 2008

i'm not a game developer, but work in the industry. that said, i'm also not an independent anything, and I don't have experience with the things you want to do. but i'll add this, anyway. what time i have spent working around video games and gamers, and as an avid gamer my self, has taught me that independent developers pick up a lot of players by having bloggers play and love their games. however, bloggers are fickle and respond very poorly to open attempts to entice them to shill for you. so my one piece of advice would be, no matter how tempting it may be, do not ever try to coerce, cajole, bribe or otherwise convince some blogger to pimp your game for you. instead, find out where they hear about the indie games they mention, often times they'll say it right in the blog post, and see what it takes to get mentioned in those places. they've really come out in support of games like World of Goo, Line Rider, Echochrome, Fl0w, and some others. Find out where they heard about those games. Often times it was as part of some indie developers contest they heard about. See if you can submit something. Whatever the source was, go there and see about getting in. If your game is clever, or ingenious in some new way, or unique, chances are it'll get a mention somewhere.
posted by shmegegge at 11:01 AM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Check out Caffeinated Games. They have a small community and forums regarding independent game development. I grew up with the founder-- he's super nice and can probably offer some advice!
posted by madag at 1:49 PM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am truly impressed by, and grateful for, the quality of suggestions here. You've all given me a lot to think about, and you have my sincere thanks.

Although it seems almost greedy to ask at this point, the question is still open if anyone else reads this and has additional thoughts.


_{These are all best answers, but to mark every answer seems silly. I've marked the two that most touched on areas I had failed to adequately consider thus far, and favorited the rest. Again, my thanks to each of you.}
posted by [user was fined for this post] at 8:55 PM on October 28, 2008