BLUEPRINT TO AN INDIEGame Developer’s Collective

INDIE DEVELOPMENT FACTS▪ Solo indie salaries were down in

2013

▪ Members of an indie team earned more income

▪ Game sales made up most of indie dev income

▪ Indie crowdfunding is not overtly successful

▪ Most indie game devs didn’t make much

Total sales Percentage of developers

$500 < 57%

$501 - $199,999 41%

$200,000 + 2%

Gaft, Kris. "6 Key Points from the 2014 Indie Salary Report." Gamasutra Article. Gamasutra, 23 July 2014. Web. 20 May 2015.

INDIE SALES SUCCESS: DUSTFORCE▪ Game was released on Windows

initially (subsequently OSX, Linux, PS3, Vita, XBOX360)

▪ Won $100,000 in an indiepub contest and had Capcom approach about localizing and publishing on console

▪ They had a huge marketing push prior to release and received outstanding reviews (aggregate of 82.3 – Gamerankings)

▪ After one year of sales and development across 5 platforms they only earned $489,000

35

Day 60

101

Day 30

1,079

Day 7

4,796

Day 1

Sales per day (Windows – Steam)

Santos, Alexis. "A Game Developer's Guide to Sales." Binpress. Binpress, 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

MOST POPULAR INDIE SALES CHANNELS

▪ Steam

▪ Humble Bundle

▪ Bundle Stars

▪ Groupees

▪ Indie Royale

▪ Sell on your Own

▪ App Store

▪ Play Store

▪ XBOX One Store

▪ PS4 Store

WHAT DOES IT REALLY COST TO ‘INDIE’? (TEAM OF 2 PEOPLE)

Legal (startup) Equipment (startup) Expenses/salaries (monthly) Additional (yearly)$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$3,000

$8,720 $8,220

$14,500

Series 1

SAMPLE EXPENSESEquipment

$800 per PC$150 per monitor (qty 2/person)$20 per mouse$20 per keyboard$100 per desk$80 per chair$1800 in software licenses$1000 for company laptop$200 for printer/scanner$80 for business cards$3000 for miscellaneous

Additional (as needed)

$8,000 (Pax)$3,000 (Accountant per year)$150 (per song licensing)$5-10 (per sound effect)$1,000 (per PR campaign)$2,000 (per indie show non Pax)

Expenses (monthly)

$1000 rent$180 cell phone$20-40 bank fees$250 insurance (per person)$3250 salary (per person)

BACK TO DUSTFORCE …Analysis

With Dustforce they paid themselves lower than the figures we used two slides back. Much lower. So they ended up splitting the $295,000 four ways. Still, between that and the small salary they drew, none of them topped $100K. Also, this did not leave room for them to expand.

Amount

Total Revenue $668,490

Net $489,000

After expenses $295,000

WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT FUNDING?

Figure out your funding▪ Most of the groups in Game Developer’s Collective

have funding from private investors or are self funded

▪ Of the 50 + teams we spoke with, 85+% were going to use some sort of crowdfunding

▪ Crowdfunding is not a guaranteed success

▪ Physical items are not as easy as people think▪ T-shirts cost about $12 each.▪ Stickers about $0.50 ▪ 3D models are about $20 to $25.▪ This does not include shipping which can vary

worldwide

▪ Remember the 3 F’s

That $50 tier on Kickstarter with a t-shirt, 3d figure and copy of the game may actually end up COSTING you money. Don’t even get us started on cost of printing art books!

HOW ELSE CAN I BE SUCCESSFUL?

▪ Don’t try to develop a AAA title on a shoe string budget … or at all

▪ Keep overhead low▪ Don’t needlessly hire friends

▪ Be comfortable telling someone they aren’t working out

▪ Be ok taking jobs on the side to pay bills

▪ Keep focused

▪ Don’t expect you will get a million sales even with a big partner

▪ Utilize incubators and resources▪ Removes many of the typical financial roadblocks

▪ Will provide you interactions with investors, discounted legal/accounting and everything you need to startup outside of development skills (but even then they will mentor you)

GREAT SEATTLE INDIE RESOURCES

▪ Game Developer’s Collective▪ www.gamedevcollective.com

▪ Seattle Indies▪ www.seattleindies.org

▪ IGDA Seattle▪ https://www.facebook.com/groups/182761

815663/

GAME DEVELOPER’S COLLECTIVE

The Game Developer’s Collective provides empowerment to indies through:

– Game development mentoring classes– One on one individual mentoring– Team based mentoring– Special events– Amazing co-working spaces– Guest speakers– Service discounts– Discounted legal retainer– Discounted legal as needed services– Discounted accounting services– Marketing assistance– Project management mentoring– Access to investors– Help with presentation skills– Connections to strategic partners– Comprehensive business training programs– Advisory boards and mentors– Help with business etiquette– And much more!

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOUGame Developer’s Collective