Wow, interesting article. It's the kind of article that really punches you in the gut with the reality fist.

I'm with you Jay, I love games for the sake of loving games. I grew up with games and I want to make the kind of games I enjoyed playing back in the day. Of course making games it tough and a huge time commitment so it's nice to be paid for the time invested.

I was reading through the comments of the article and I have to agree with this one:


raigan burns

I think a more suitable model for indie games is indie music: no one quits their job to form a band. Instead, they just play in the band in their spare time, until they're successful enough to be able to support themselves full-time with the band.

...


It is important to approach it that way I think. Not to give up the ol' day job and work at it until you start building up a fan base and things take off.

I guess the whole idea is make games because you love it first and then (hopefully) the money will follow.
 

What a great read, it's honestly sad that even GREAT indie developers have little to no chance... I think that indie dev's would of had a great chance with the iPhone if the average pricing points were higher.
 

@Otto - I agree entirely. I think there are more than a few parallels there. Except that being in a band is cool, and making video games... isn't. :)

@CodeJustin - Well, there are supply and demand forces at work. With something like 120 new games appearing on the iPhone EVERY DAY, it's pretty clear that supply is totally outstripping demand. The channel is glutted to hell and back. Market forces will have to have their day.

Actually - I think right now the way you'd probably stand out more is to come out with a high quality title that costs $10 or more. But that would be a gamble. But at least it would get attention.
 

I thought it was an interesting article. I've occasionally thought of trying to be a full time indie. Maybe I won't think about it so much now. :) I thought the part about iPhone development was especially interesting. Right now lots of people are like, "Develop for the iPhone! It's Steve Jobs' gift to the human race!" This puts a more realistic spin on it.

$40,000? If I weren't married with a family that would probably work. I like the money I make from my day job too much I guess.
 

@Jay
Ya I agree with you about supply and demand. The whole iPhone app store is pretty much flawed but I think if someone really does it right it can be a good thing for indies.

Right now due to the fact it is so hard to get your game seen with very little money for marketing, I'm actually starting to create flash games. I figured it would be a viable way to get my name out there.