ZJ 2016-01-15 21:52:14

I gotta say, brother, I give you all the props in the world for living off that type of income. I'd be terrified to think that my way of life financially was based on factors like people like Markiplier and if people clicked ads for CookieCutterGames.com in my work. I'm not being sarcastic, either. I'm so anal that if I had to do that shit, I'd be up all night worrying.

Nugit 2016-01-15 22:48:25

Great post, Tyler!

matt-likes-swords 2016-01-15 22:59:51

I think it's important to mention that anyone starting game dev should expect to work for free for a couple of years while their skills improve. Your first few games will be terrible, and it'll take a bit of practice before you make anything people will actually want to buy or publishers would want to sponsor. You might get lucky if you make something super fun, but you shouldn't count on it.

I've been very lucky lately with Epic Battle Fantasy 4's success on Steam. The game didn't get any press coverage, no major YouTubers mentioned it, I didn't show it off at any events, the Steam version had no publisher, and most of the game was available for free for a year before it came out on Steam. And yet somehow it sold great with 98% positive reviews. I don't get it. I may have to write a blog about it at some point and take some guesses as to what happened there. I think it's mostly down to having a big fan-base to get the sales started, and then Steam's recommendation algorithms carrying it on from there.

*shrugs*

Plebs 2016-01-16 04:22:58

'Even if you hate Let's Players, remember: they can be a valuable tool in drawing eyes to your games.'
You're so right, let's players are all tools huehuehue

All jokes aside, this was very insightful. I hope to make a game at least once and it's posts like these I will have to hold on to and remember. I'm really suprised that people still don't get they need to build up an audience first in order to amount anything really. They throw stuff on youtube and get 2 views, when they could start here and grow first then move over to wherever they feel like.

Luis 2016-01-16 09:00:07

i feel like every person named Tyler ever ends up as a game dev.

TomFulp 2016-01-16 09:26:07

@Luis - @Nogfish is still just doing animation and music. If he got into game development though he'd have the trifecta.

dylan 2016-01-16 13:23:00

that jump from amateur/hobbyist to paid profesh is a really confusing one. congrats on being able to bridge that gap, and thanks for giving your advice out to the community. i think there's always an air of secrecy about these things in indie communities, game or otherwise. talking about money and how to make it seems to be taboo when it comes to 'art' stuff for some reason, as if talking about that ka-ching ka-ching invalidates your work. feels like keeping it secret will just screw over the whole community in the longrun, and everyone'll end up as underpaid starving-artists.

Glaiel-Gamer 2016-01-16 16:24:14

@Luis @Tyler

I was here first
get your own name

BoMToons 2016-01-16 17:42:00

It's getting harder and harder to make good $ on Steam (the golden age is over). Finding a publisher is good, but only certain genres (it seems) make the bigger bucks. Though some staple genres are pretty much guaranteed a certain # of sales: https://medium.com/steam-spy/some-things-you-should-know-about-steam-5eaffcf33218#.qajlk0jbb

Best way to bust out though is, as you said, building a fan base and following. I wish I had been more consistent with my brand and interlinking all my stuff when I was starting out (and now) - Originality is also a huge plus for getting attention rolling on Steam. Edmund wrote a really good article covering a lot of good advice for upcoming indies:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/117521/Opinion_Indie_Game_Design_Dos_and_Donts_A_Manifesto.php

HeroPower 2016-01-17 04:42:38

I am absolutely loving these posts dude ^_^ Please keep them coming! I'm really interested about the whole Publisher process and everything that entails. You didn't mention it in your post (although you did say you would talk more on it in the future) but I was under the impression that some Publishers want to own your IP for backing you. I have no idea if that is true at all though....thus why you should elaborate on Publishers in a future post haha :)

Glaiel-Gamer 2016-01-17 15:40:14

@Tyler

Challenging me to a fight eh? Bold move. Though I guess you've never met me in real life, so I can see why you might not think that's a bad idea.

juako04 2016-01-17 16:20:13

What are the current options for ad revenue currently? I just Google it and found out you can use AdSense in flash, couldn't understand if its for developers or flash sites.

MrChambers 2016-01-18 06:20:32

Thanks for the awesome info Tyler! I've always wanted to get into game design but it's a big beast to tackle. But reading your post makes it seem more doable!

Bill 2016-01-18 17:52:16

I don't know how to read but your post looks like it was structured well or something.

Alex1839302 2016-04-28 06:35:35

You read my thoughts! I play such games and teach my brother to do the same. He's newer and just plays slots like 777spinslot or smthng similar, but I hope once he'll began earn a lot of money

T-Needle 2017-07-19 02:36:55

I prefer the gambling. It doesn't make me so nervous as gaming and you don't need to get the perfect videocard, so I go to https://www.azartlist.com/casino/playojo-casino sometimes to get ten dollars or more.