A Viable Career?

Are you in this for the long term?  Do you think of your game development as a career as opposed to a hobby?  If you want to do this full time for the long haul, this lesson will show you how to survive as an indie as given by the experience of Jake Birkett.

Key Principle

What is it really like, what does it really take to be a successful indie dev?

Key Verse

Proverbs 30:7-9
“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

Homework

• Watch Eleven Years Without a Hit

Discussion Questions

1. What did you get out of the video?
2. Jake started game dev with Iron Fist.  A game he admits was too big for him to complete and no market for.  He then switched to something smaller.  This is common and necessary milestone for developers. Have you already experienced this scope down-scaling?  Was it difficult?
3. As of right now, what is your runway for game dev?
4. It took Jake 5 years before he really started making money, how are you prepared for that?
5. Jake found significant increases in revenue when he invested in professional graphics and sound.  What lesson is there for your project?
6. Jake had a business partnership that went pretty well, where he did programming and design while the partner took care of business and marketing.  This is a common split in indie game dev (Vlambeer is a good example) but also in general entrepreneurship.  How have you divided the design and production from biz and marketing.
7. Who is your jogging partner?