Indie game development is fun and exciting. You get to make what you want to make, without any
restrictions. But, to be successful, you need to understand the business side of game development.
I know, yuck. You’re saying, “oh, I’ll make my game, it’ll be awesome and everyone will love it.” While
your game may be awesome, unless you market your game, no one will even know it exists.
“But, there are so many games that seem to just be successful without any effort.” While that may have
been true before the indie game boom (pre-2009) getting discovered by accident just isn’t a good
business plan.
The indie game market is flooded. And it’s not a bad thing. It just means that more people are becoming
interested in game development and want to create, experiment and enjoy video games. But with a
bigger market, there is bigger competition.
There are some basic things that an indie game developer should know before publishing his or her first
game.
The indie game development industry is new. To make a long story short, everyone, even the AAA
publishers, are trying to figure out the market, and understand their consumers, so there’s no sure-fire
way to do things.
Is school the right way to go, or just dive in?
Well, that’s a tough question. Many schools offer game programs, but with how fast the industry
evolves, it’s hard for them to keep up with the technology. Technology is expensive, and some schools
just don’t have the funding. There’s also the issue with there being so many SDKs (software
development kits), game engines, 3D software, 2D software, programming languages etc. that schools
have a hard time figuring out how to focus the programs they offer. Not to mention all of the different
consoles and systems games can be developed for.
To figure out what school you would want to attend, you would need to research the programs they
offer, what classes they plan for you to take, and figure out where you would like to focus your skills.
In my experience, I went to college for game art and design. It was worth it, especially since I believe in
achieving a full education. But, if I did it all over again, I would attend a local or community college for
my general education classes, and then attend the school I wanted to get my degree from. Mostly
because most of the schools that offer game degrees are very expensive. My grandchildren will probably
be paying for my school loans after I die, with how expensive school was.
So, an education is important, and I think you should definitely attend college. But, to get into the game
industry, you don’t need a game degree. You need skills, and proof of your skills.
That being said, there are four things that you should definitely do, if you plan on becoming an indie
game developer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Business Licensing
Project Management
Marketing
Press
Licensing for your business is very important. Of all the things, it’s probably the most important thing to
do, especially if you plan on selling your game, using in-game currency or in-game ads. Licensing includes
registering as a corporation and contracts.
Registering Your Indie Game Studio as a Corporation
“Oh, my gosh. That’s huge! Do I really need to do that?” Well, if you’re just making games for yourself
and your friends, just for fun, or for no profit you probably don’t need a license. But I’m guessing, since
you’re reading this, you are interested in the possibility of making a little money.
So, yes. Get a business license. They are not expensive, they will protect your personal assets if you get
sued or audited, it makes for filing for grants go a little smoother, and you can claim your business
expenses on your taxes. There are two main business licenses, and probably the only two types you
would need to worry about: Limited Liability License (LLC) and Incorporated (Inc.).
An LLC is the license I got, and probably all you’ll need as an indie game developer. With an LLC, you can
get your Tax identification number, or EIN, open a bank account and operate as a business with your
business name. With an LLC, the owners, or members, have limited liability, which means, under most
circumstances, you are not personally held liable for debts and liabilities of your company. So, say you
have to declare your company into bankruptcy; you’ll get to keep your house and other personal
belongings. There’s also less requirements than other licensing options, like no required board meetings,
lenient tax plans, and no requirement for extensive corporate records.
LLCs are also less expensive to purchase and renew. The prices and requirement vary from state to state
and you’ll need to check with your state’s government website for the requirements and costs to
become an LLC.
There is also the Incorporation option. Like an LLC, your personal assets are protected under most
circumstances. Incorporations also tend to have a lower tax rate. However, the applications to become
and renew can be on the more expensive side of things for a small game development studio. There are
also more expensive tax and accounting services, and other operational procedures that are required.
If your game studio becomes largely successful and you need to start hiring many employees, already
having you Inc. license will be beneficial. Converting from an LLC to an Inc. can be confusing and costly.
Truly, you will need to decide which license would serve you best based on how you expect your game
studio to grow.
For more information about business licenses you can go to your state’s government website and decide
which would serve you best based on how much you can afford and what you need. You could also
consult a business professional or a lawyer, but they can be expensive.
Contract, What Do I Need Contracts for?
There are lots of contracts you will need as an indie game developer. Probably the most important ones
are your legal documents for the users of your website and games/apps. These include the “All Rights
Reserved”, “Privacy Policy”, “Terms of Service” and “User Agreement”. These should all be publicly
available on your website. I keep mine in the footer of my website, allow for people to easily find them.
The “All Rights Reserved” is part of the copyright law. It basically states that everything that is within
your website or game/app (text, pictures, downloads, etc.) is yours, you hold the right to use it, and
unless otherwise stated, people must ask for your permission to use your stuff. In short term, it means
don’t steal my stuff and claim it as your own.
The “Privacy Policy” is important because it protects you and your users. This statement declares how
you use any information that your users give to you, either on your website or your game/app. It state’s
that you will protect your users’ information and it publicly states what information is required in order
to use your service. Win – win.
The “Terms of Service” are the rules you declare in order for someone to comment on your website,
purchase a product from you, or other services you might offer. If someone were to break your rules,
your TOS would come into play and you would handle it accordingly. A good example is when someone
creates a bot in an MMO to collect in game currency. Most developers frown on that and have some
form of TOS to deal with the situation, including canceling service to the user.
The “User Agreement” is used for software and is a contract between the user and you. It is sometimes
called a “software license” or “end user license agreement”. This contract states that the user will agree
to the privilege of using or purchasing your software and promise to comply with all of the restrictions
stated in the User Agreement.
Those are your most important contracts. You can find links to mine in the footer of my website, eimgames.com for a reference. You can also find them on many other game developers’ websites.
The other important contracts that you should have are a Confidentiality Agreement, an Employee
Contract, and a General Contract.
The Confidentiality Agreement is for anyone working with you on your game. This states that anything
created for the game is owned by your company, and not the creator. This protects your company from
your employees or contract hires from steeling your intellectual property and claiming it as their own, or
any information that you don’t want released yet. That’s not to say your employees would do such a
thing, but it’s always nice to have the law on your side, just in case someone goes crazy.
The Employee Contract is if you hire any full or part time employees. This can state how the pay
schedule will work, when the employee will receive pay, any paid holidays, paid sick days or paid
vacation days you might have, and other various things. This contract helps you and your employee fully
understand what you are offering him or her. This type of contract should also be used with interns.
The General Contract is basically the same as the employee contract, but can be used for contract hires
and freelancers who do work for you.
Contracts are important, and you don’t need a lawyer to write one up. You can Google search for
examples and write one up that suits your needs.
Project management is the key to completing your game. If you don’t manage your project, you risk the
possibility of becoming overwhelmed, depressed from being overwhelmed and eventually giving up on
your project. Don’t get lost on your game dev adventure, manage it!
Game documents are important for 3 key reasons. It will keep you and your team on the “same page”, it
sets and (hopefully) keeps your goals, and is needed for presenting your game to third parties.
Keeping your team on the “same page” is always a good thing. Your game document should describe in
detail all of your characters, both playable and non-playable, describe the scene for your game’s worlds
or levels, and any other detailed information. A game document is basically the same thing as a business
document, with lots more details. Having all of the information readily available will help your team
know what you want for your game, and hopefully be able to develop it much faster than without a
game document.
A game document also helps you to set your goals. You can schedule a once a week meeting (or once a
month or whatever works for your team) to discuss what they are working and be able to identify where
you are in your project. This will allow you to easily estimate how long things will take to complete,
which will allow you to give your investors and fans a more definite release date.
Game documents are also needed for many competitions and your investors. When you enter your
game into a competition, a game document helps to show how serious you are, and helps the people
judging your game more easily identify with it. The same goes for your investors, although they are
probably more interested in you completing deadlines so that they can make some money from their
investment.
A game document is always important, and no matter how detailed your game is, you should always
have one.
Online organizations tools are great, especially if you and your team do not work out of the same office.
Trello is a popular one, and the one that I use.
Trello has what they call boards, and you can add cards to your board. This way you can list all of the
things that need to be finished in your game before it can be published.
Trello also offers an assignment system allowing you to assign tasks or cards to team members. This will
help keep everyone on task, and help you to know who is doing what for your game.
Trello is a great tool to use, and it’s free. All you need to do is create an account, invite your team
members to your Game’s board and start assigning tasks. You can find out more about Trello at
Trello.com.
Marketing is very important, if you want to create a fan base and let people know that your game exists.
There are many different types of marketing, but I will just focus on the free, or mostly free ways to
market your game.
Once you start creating your game, you should let people know that you have started a new project and
any updates that you feel are noteworthy about how you are working or what you are working on. This
may or may not peek people’s curiosity at that point in time. It’s kind of a hit or miss with that. But the
main reason you want to do it right away, is so that when you are ready to have a press release for your
game, or getting ready to launch a Kickstarter, there is a history of your game on the internet. If a
journalist sees your press release and decides to do a Google Search, you will want more than just your
press release to pop up on the first page.
One way to start talking about your game idea is through social networking. Facebook and Twitter are
probably the most popular, since basically everyone has one of those accounts, with Google+ being a
close second, since most people have a gmail account. “Oh, *insert I hate social media whiny statement
here*”. Social media is important. Get over yourself and post something about your studio, your game,
your work process, whatever at least once a day, four times per week. Also, respond to people when
they ask you questions, or leave a comment. They like to know you are a real human being, and not
some jerk robot that auto posts.
Tumblr is a sort of blog site, but not really. I don’t use it as much as I probably should, but from what I’ve
seen on there, it’s mostly just “fan boys and girls”, at least involving video games. So, what I do is push
any blog posts that write to my Tumblr page, but I also post anything that I may find on the web that I
like, that also has to do with video games. This will build up your followers on there, and hopefully, they
will see you also posting stuff about your game, and become interested, leading to fandom.
Instragram and Pinterest, while both are image posting sites, are completely different. Instagram is
more for posting photos and selfies, like so many people do. This is good for your marketing because
people feel like they can get to know you. Post pictures of your cat, you hanging out with other game
devs, your dog dressed up as an Ewok. People love it, and will follow you.
Pinterest is more for fan art, art in progress, and photo tutorials. Post pictures of your concept art for
your game. People will re-pin it, and then new people will be curious about your stuff.
YouTube is not just for idiots making idiots of themselves and cute cats playing the piano. With YouTube,
you will want to create a Channel for yourself with playlists. Make tutorials, dev journals, promo videos
for your game, and anything else (no drinking videos, that would be bad PR – keep it more or less PG-
13), and place them in the appropriate playlists so when people watch your videos, that playlist will play.
Do not be afraid to let people see you. People want to know you, or feel like they know you. Unless, of
course, you want to go the Deathclock way and just become an animated persona. I suppose that is also
a possibility. Your videos will each need a description. Try to use keywords in your description that
people might look for when search for a game like yours. Like if your game is a flight simulator, find a
smooth way to use that phrase in your description.
LinkedIn is great for networking with game developers you may not ever meet. It shows your work
history, awards you may have received, your education, etc. which allows people to see how
experienced you are and what your skills are. LinkedIn also offers a way for you to make posts, much like
a blog, so you can write about what you know in the game dev world. LinkedIn is great because it can
lead to opportunities with developers from around the world, and you can network with developers
from around the world. So, next time you’re in the United Kingdom for a game dev expo, you might be
able to bunk at Joe Smith’s house and save some cash, and possibly be introduced to more devs. It’s all
about the networking.
Deviant Art is one that I am not a fan of, but many people use it as a way to display their works of art to
other artists. It is good for that, however, DA is flooded with kids who draw fan art, and sometimes
really gross fan art. On the other hand, it can be a good way to find an artist to help you out for minimal
money on your game, so check it out at DeviantArt.com and decide if it is for you or not.
Reddit and Forums are a great place to talk with other game developers about the forum’s subject. I
don’t use Reddit much, but I should. Forsums are a great way for developers to help each other out with
problems, discuss game topics, and argue about whether or not Halo is better than Unreal Tournament
(I think Unreal Tournament is better, but I’m an FPS for PC kind of gal). There are tons of forums on the
internet for every topic you can possibly think of. Just Google search your topic with the word “forum”
typed after your topic, and you should receive a large list.
“Oh waaah, social networking will take time away from me working on my game”. You’re right, but not
as right as you think you are. There is a wonderful tool called Buffer that you can set up to schedule your
Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn updates. It’s easy to use, and free. They also offer a paid
version which will allow you to use more than just one of your accounts and you can also use Pinterest.
I don’t know of any ways, yet, to auto post to Tumblr or Instragram, so if you find something, let me
know and I’ll check it out and if I like it, add it to this. Devient Art, Reddit and other forums are a live
thing, so auto publish is not available. Check out your favorite forums once or twice a week, and post
some stuff. It doesn’t take long, and will help you in the long run.
For many social networks, there are key times to post things.
• Google+ from 9am – 11am
• Twitter from 1pm – 3pm
• Facebook from 1pm – 4pm
• Instagram from 5pm – 6pm
• LinkedIn from 5pm – 6pm
• Tumblr from 7pm – 10pm
• Pinterest from 8pm – 11pm
That’s not to say that you should only post during those time segments, but try to keep your more
important things at those times, since those are the peak hours when people are actively on those social
networks. You also have to remember, that not everyone is on the same time as you. The best way to
catch everyone is to post one thing at the beginning of the time segment and one thing towards the end
of the time segment, at least to hit the United States’ social media market. To reach other countries’
social media markets, you will need to research their peak hours, and then figure out when their peak
hours are happening in your time zone.
Also, don’t expect to get a million followers overnight. That’s ridiculous, and only for Justin Beiber. Let
your fan base grow naturally, and they will be your true fans. Learn from them about what they like and
want in a game through interacting with them, and you and your fan network will do well.
Paid marketing is not always an option, especially if you are new to indie game development. But, if you
have the extra money to put into it, it can be very helpful.
TV Commercials are probably the most expensive, with national commercials being anywhere from $50k
- $1 million. I’m sure some are less, but for primary network television, it can be expensive. Local TV
advertising is much less, usually starting at about $300. If you decide to air a commercial, research your
predicted primary consumer first. When do they watch TV and what shows do they watch? What type of
commercial advertising would they like, funny, sexy, serious? In general, unless you are the makers of
the next Angry Birds, Candy Crush or Game of War, you probably won’t need or have the funding for a
TV commercial.
Facebook and Twitter Ads are a much more affordable option. You can have an ad with a click amount
limit, or money spent limit that can be focused on the type of consumer you are marketing towards. You
can spend as little as $50 a month and maybe gain a few more fans. I don’t consider them necessary for
a start-up indie dev, but if you have some extra cash to spend per month, it wouldn’t hurt.
Google and YouTube ads are very similar to the Facebook and Twitter ads. The difference with Google
ads, or Adsense, is that they are all over the web, and are based on Google’s tracking of what people are
looking for. So, you set a list of keywords that you want your ad to be shown with, and your ads are
shown to people who are using those keywords in their searches, at least until your daily spending limit
is up. And YouTube ads are the same way, but are only played on YouTube videos. A good amount to
spend to get a decent feedback for this is between $75 and $100 per month. So, if you have that kind of
money to spend, go for it.
A public relations representative is someone, or a company you pay to handle your advertising, and
sometimes your press releases, for you. This is very expensive, but if you can find a budget for it, is
totally worth it since you won’t have to do it yourself. Most start-ups do not have a budget for a PR rep,
but many PR reps write blogs. Indie Game Girl is one who writes a blog, and writes reviews on video
games. She gives great advice, and you should check her out. There are others, but she is my favorite.
She doesn’t beat around the bush or candy coat anything, and tells you exactly how it is.
Another option is to advertise in Newspapers, Magazines, or other print media. Prices will vary,
depending on the size of your ad and what you are putting your ad in. Local is probably cheapest, while
national and/or popular media will be more expensive. Also, many print media outlets have gone digital,
but they still release on a weekly, monthly, or however often they release their issues, basis. To
advertise in one of these outlets, you will need to contact their PR rep or advertising agent.
Paid advertising can be very good, but only if you can afford it. Don’t make yourself broke just to get an
add out. If you can’t afford it, just stick to a regularly scheduled social network technique, and you
should do just fine.
Conventions are great for advertising. Go to as many as you can. They are a great experience, great for
networking, and great for letting people know about your game. There are many types of conventions;
big and small, local and national, popular and foreign. Attend as many as you can, and don’t limit
yourself to just game conventions. If your game is a science fiction game, attending a science fiction
convention can be beneficial to build your fan base.
There are two ways to attend conventions: either as a developer and get a booth or as a consumer.
Some conventions, like E3, you would only be able to attend as a developer, since the convention’s
focus is for the press. But for most conventions, you can attend as either. Pricing varies, but in general,
the bigger the convention, the higher the ticket price.
If you attend as a developer with a booth, make sure you have everything you need. Read the rules and
guidelines for the convention to see what they will be giving you with your booth area. Will you have a
table? Will they have equipment to display your game, or do you need to bring some yourself? How are
you going to decorate your booth? Do you have displays? Are displays allowed? Make sure you find out
all of the info at least a month before you attend the convention.
If you go as a consumer, bring your game with you and do some guerrilla marketing. What is guerrilla
marketing, you ask? It is a more active way of promoting your game at a convention. It’s a great way to
promote your game if you can’t afford a booth, or don’t really want a booth. Basically, you bring a copy
of your game on a mobile device or handheld, and randomly go up to people and ask them what they
think. Then you hand them some swag, or a brochure about your game and tell them to
download/support on Kickstarter/or however you want to interact with them later. It’s quick easy, and
sometimes can be more memorable for the person you approached.
No matter how you attend a convention, be like in The Lion King, and be prepared. Always have some
swag for people. A notebook with your game’s logo and QR code to download it on the back, a t-shirt to
give away, a pin with your game’s logo or character on it, or even a pen with your logo. Any way that
you can help people to remember your game when they are done with the convention will help. You
may also want to have some form of a flier to hand out about your game, a CD or flash drive of your
press package to hand to any press you run into, and you definitely want a business card to hand out.
The business card is important in case that person wants to contact you. You’ll want two business cards:
one for the consumer with your company contact info and one for press with your company and
personal contact info. Swag and print stuff can get costly to order, so you may want to get crafty and
make some stuff yourself. Sew a plushy of your character, make those plastic bead magnets of a pixel
version of your logo or character, learn to screen print a t-shirt, bake a clay model mini action figure or
whatever. Just don’t forget your business cards. They make you look official, professional, and people
like that.
Contacting the press can be time consuming, tedious and confusing. But it is a necessary evil. If you can
afford it, pay for a professional PR to do it for you. However, I know most indie game devs (including
myself) cannot afford a PR person. So, to help you out, here are some things to know about contacting
and writing to different press mediums.
Television media tends to be on the more professional side. When you write a press release to a video
game TV station or your local news network, you will want to write it in a more professional method
using a standard PR template (company / game project letterhead, headline, date then info about your
game, a quote from someone on the team or some who has reviewed your game, company info and
contact info).
I’ve never been on a talk show, but it is considered press release worthy. Send a press release to Steve
Colbert. You never know, he might find it amusing and give it a positive noteworthy review on his show.
Local network channels should always be professional. In general, they are mostly news stations, so you
will need to write the press release to have some kind of meaning to your town. Your local press
probably won’t care that you are releasing a game, but they might care if you are somehow making a
positive impact in your community with your company. So write about that, and lightly mention your
game.
Game networks are not on your regular cable, but on the premium cable channels. G4TV was one at one
point in time. I’m not too sure if they still air on cable, but it does still exist. There are also some on Hulu
and Netflix that don’t air on cable. You might also want to look for upcoming shows that could be
relevant to indie game developing and send a press release for that, or maybe even apply to be on the
show. New game networks and shows are always popping up, so keep an eye out for them, and it never
hurts to try.
Print media is very similar to television media. They are on the more professional side of things, most of
the time.
In general, any print media you are going for is going to be a newspaper of sorts, but there are some
magazines you may want to try out, like if your game has something to do with a comic hero you could
contact a comic book magazine review.
There are also the options of applying for convention program ads, which cost money, but can be good
for your public relations. If you are taking out a booth at a convention and they have little memos about
some of the developers in their program, apply to be featured.
There aren’t as many print media options, and less and less are becoming available, but it does not hurt
you to try and get some print press. Many people still read printed material, from comics to event
programs to newspapers.
YouTube (or Vimeo or wherever else the video will appear) is a bit different. There are several types of
press on YouTube including the Let’s Play reviews, video cast reviews, personal vlog reviews, and so
much more. You will absolutely need to do a little research to who you are sending to and write the
press release based on how you think that person might want to receive a press release.
You will also want your own YouTube channel to feature yourself and your games. Create playlists for
your tutorials, dev journals, your game’s videos, and whatever else you want to display. This will make
your stuff available for the press to find, and it will make it available for you to send as an attchement or
link in your press release.
Bloggers and websites are a lot like the YouTubers, except it is written rather than viewed. Just like with
YouTubers, research who you are sending it to.
Most of the time, you will be sending to someone’s written blog. In general, a lot of bloggers do their
blogging in their free time and tend to like a more personal approach. So, be friendly and inviting, and
address them with their name.
Writing a guest post on someone else’s blog is also a great press opportunity. When you write a guest
post, you will need to ask for permission to write it from the blogger, and then submit the post to the
blogger for review. You won’t be writing about you or your game as a promotional piece, but you might
write a post about a topic you know a lot about and can possibly help inform others about in game
development. This will show people you are a professional, help your SEO, and get your name to viewers
that may not have otherwise known you exist.
Podcasts should be done just like a written blog, since most podcasts are done by other pros or fans in
their free time. The only difference is you will sometimes be invited to speak with the
reviewer/interviewer for their show, most times via Skype. So, make sure your Skype account and your
microphone works. Some Podcasts are aired live, and others are recorded to be aired later. It doesn’t
really make much of a difference, but it might be something you’ll want to find out before you chat with
them. Also, just as an FYI, a podcast is an internet radio talk show.
No matter who you are writing your PR to, there are a few things you should always do. Your Subject
line should contain “Press Release: Your PR Headline”. Use proper English and check for typos. You will
not write the same press release all the time, you might need to make one more personal, and another
strictly professional. You will always have your basic press release template as a PDF and a Word
document. Always include both file types because one person may prefer Word while another prefers
PDF docs. Always include any images, screenshots and/or videos relevant to your press release. Always
learn a little bit about who you are sending your press release to. Not all press mediums are the same.
Some TV stations may not be as serious as others and might want a more personal press release. Always
check for what systems/consoles/devices the press you are writing to. Lot of press don’t like to write
about, or can’t write about Android devices, or maybe one press person is strictly Xbox. They hate
getting spam press that isn’t relevant to what they are doing. Don’t piss off the press by sending an Xbox
reviewer an Android Press Release.
This isn’t necessary, but can sometimes help you get in with the bigger press, like Kotaku. Mail the press
contact some swag. Everyone likes cool free stuff, and it might just motivate them to write a small
review about you.
Don’t pester the press. They are busy and receive tons of press releases every day. If you don’t see
anything about your game after a week, send them a friendly reminder. Do not send them a reminder
the next day. That’s irritating and shows you have no patience.
The last thing about the press, is that they like to be appreciated. Whether or not they write a good or
bad review doesn’t matter. Write them a thank you card, or at the very least, send them an email
thanking them for taking the time to review your game and write about it. If they didn’t like your game,
maybe ask them what they didn’t like in a polite and friendly manner. This will help you build a good
reputation with the press, which may lead to more press wanting to talk to you. Remember, any press is
good press.
The ultimate question: Will you be successful? I don’t know. Your success depends on if you are looking
for financial success or just knowledge and completion success. I’m sure most of you are looking for
financial success.
There is no 100% confirmed way or method to indie video game success. What worked for one game,
may not work for you. Maybe you can’t speak on a podcast due to stage freight. Who knows. All you can
do is try your best and stay dedicated. Make sure to respond to your fans and keep people informed
about what you are doing.
Launch a crowdfund campaign like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo to help you finance your project. Get to
know people, and maybe you will be introduced to the editor of Kotaku, become best friends and always
get featured with your games. Who knows who will meet by leaving your house/apartment/basement
dungeon.
Get lucky. It happens. There’s no rhyme or reason. Take Flappy Bird. That guy freaked out so much over
how lucky he got, that he removed the game from the Play store. Some people can’t handle their luck, I
guess. Either way, don’t be sad if you’re not a lucky one. I’m not either.
I don’t advise this one, but maybe it’s your cup of tea. Do something crazy and record and post it on
YouTube. Go viral. Make money from the viral video to support your game development and you’re
instantly moderately famous.
You won’t know what will work for you and your game unless you try. So, go on and try.
Don’t wait for something to happen, because it won’t. You make it happen. Jump right it, get to work
and just do it. Don’t let fear hold you back because you think you’re not good enough. With everything
that’s available for you to use to make a game and publish it, there is bound to be something available
for you at your skill level.
And let’s face it, to get started and publish your first game, whether it’s successful or not, won’t cost you
more than $500, and that’s on the high side if you need to buy license or software.
And remember, indie for love of making games, not the money. Indie developers on average make
about $15,000 per year. That is horrible money. Some do well and make significantly more than that,
and other make nothing. Maybe you want to start out indie to build a portfolio so you can work for
someone else, or maybe you worked for someone else and didn’t like it, so you’re going indie. Whatever
your story is, be prepared to be broke for a while. Learn how to budget with groceries, expenses, and
taxes, and even you can live semi comfortably off of $15k a year. Or maybe you can’t so you’ll need
another part-time job. Do whatever you need to do.
Ask for help and advice and take it willingly, but with a grain of salt. Like I wrote above, what worked for
one person, may not work for you. Try something out and see if it works, or maybe you can’t because
you don’t have the tools for that type of marketing or game development available to you. Your game
developer experience will be with a lot of trial and error.
Above all, don’t be afraid to ask for help. But, when you are asking, be specific. Don’t ask “how do i
make a video game?” on a forum. They hate that. Be specific. Try and focus your questions down ad
maybe ask something like “I’m looking to get into Android game development using the Unity 5 game
engine. I have a college education and would like to learn more on my own. Are there any books or
websites that you would suggest for tutorials? Thanks in advance.” Also, while in the forums, make sure
you are asking your question in the right section. Don’t ask about Android development in the iOS
section. People will figuratively yell at you.
Be dedicated and patient with yourself and everyone else. Indie game development, especially if you
have another job, will take up a lot of your time from researching, marketing and actually creating your
game. Your friends may stop asking you to hang out, because you always have to say no since you have
lots of work to get done and probably no money. Just explain what you are doing and I’m sure your
friends will understand. But don’t work too hard, or you will burn out. Every once in a while, take a day
to yourself. Have a movie day, go visit you parents, take your dog to the lake to go swimming. You’re
human, not a robot. At least, not yet. Once your game is released, take a vacation to celebrate the
release. If you didn’t make any money with your release, take a stay-cation and play some video games
that I know you fell behind on. Or maybe you missed out on seeing a few great movies. Just enjoy a few
days to yourself and pat yourself on the back for completing your project.
Success won’t happen overnight. It takes time, experience, practice, and lots of work. Just work on
building your fan base via social networks, writing press releases about your game, and posting in your
own blog and you will become successful naturally.
You will make mistakes. I can’t stress this enough. Everyone makes mistakes. Don’t freak out. Deal with
it. Mistakes happen, no matter how big or small. But, just as an FYI, always keep a backup of your
project on a separate hard drive.
Don’t go too big, especially with your first game. You will become stressed because it’s taking too long
or overwhelmed because you are trying to do twelve things you have never done before. Stick to what
you know, and expand into new things a little at a time. Maybe you’re not ready to make your first big
game, so make a quick small one for mobile or PC and do it in a new game engine, or a new
programming language.
If your first game makes you any money, you are among the lucky ones. You probably won’t make much,
if any money on your first game. Everything is new to you, so you are learning how to do things. Just be
happy you published a game, and move on to the next project.
Don’t lie to your fans. That means, don’t promise them something you can’t deliver. For instance, as a
one person game developer, you probably will not be able to make that MMORPG and publish it in your
lifetime. MMORPGs are huge, and require a lot of things that would be very improbable for one person
to do within a reasonable amount of time. So don’t tell your fans that you’re making an MMORPG for
them, at least not until you have figured out how you are going to do it and have gotten your dev team
situated.
Earning you fan’s trust is not just about not lying to them. It’s also about responding and chatting with
them. You should dedicate at least 20 minutes of your day to go over your social networks and respond
to any messages or comments you may have received. This will show your fans you are prompt, you will
interact with them and that you exist.
Be proud with what you are doing. You may be broke, but you are happy that you are one of the few
people in the working nation that actually get to enjoy what they do for a job.
You should also be proud to be part of the growing game development industry. This industry is still in
its infancy, so everything is new, and really no one knows what they are doing 100% of the time, even
the triple a publishers are struggling. Barely 100 years ago, the movie industry went through its infancy.
Be proud that you are a part of the process that goes into defining a new industry.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Your first game will probably not make you much money. But
that’s okay. By now, you should already be prepared for it to not make any money and are looking into
getting a full or part time job.
Make sure you have an EIN, or Tax ID #. This is useful for when you do your taxes. This will allow you to
claim all expenses related to your game development on your taxes, which will help you keep what
money you do have.
• Your Internet Bill (if you work from home %50 of it)
• Your phone bill
• Any devices/equipment/software you buy
• Research purchases
• Marketing costs
• Convention trips (hotels, food, gas, flights, etc.)
• Office supplies
• And plenty of other things you need in order to run your indie game studio
Apply for grants. With a tax ID #, you can more easily apply for government grants, or so I’m told. I have
yet to find a grant in the U.S. that I can apply for. Applying for grants is something I have never done, but
would like to do, so I honestly have no experience with it. But I’m told that your tax ID # will help you in
this area.
However you run your indie game studio, make sure you enjoy what you are doing, have fun, and learn
a lot.