MCV/DEVELOP gives individuals a platform for their own views in their own words. Do you have a burning hot take for the world of games? Get in touch!
IF THE JOB SITUATION IS TEMPTING YOU TOWARDS INDIE DEVELOPMENT, YOU MIGHT WANT TO HOLD OUT FOR A NEW JOB
EVERY TIME I see news about industry layoffs, some people come up with the same old narrative: go indie. Let me say this: I have been an indie since the late eighties. I slaved on my first game for a very - very - long time, and saw it released in the late nineties. A lot of you may know my story.
Being an indie is not for the faint at heart. It requires
passion, drive, sacrifice,
talent, money management, survival
instincts - and compromise
Derek Smart, indie developer and CEO of 3000AD
I have never interviewed for nor held a games industry job. Ever. So, I was an indie from day zero. If I sell ten copies of my games, it pays the bills. If I sell eleven copies, the difference goes towards my next game. I don’t live above my means and never have. In fact, like most of my many old school industry friends that I came up with, I am notoriously private. I could be rich as fuck or as broke as a church mouse and you’ll never know it because I come from humble beginnings. As an indie in a highly competitive industry, I have always been one failed game away from disaster. In fact, if any of my games made even 1/10th of what a top end indie or even AA or AAA game makes, I would literally die laughing because I wouldn’t even know what to do with all that money.
So, I play it safe and stick with making the type of games that my ten loyal gamers will buy because I know that 11th copy is going to come from someone they know.
I have never - ever - strayed from this formula because I am exceptionally risk averse. Plus, being eccentric and on the autism spectrum, I don’t like change. It increases my blood pressure and spikes my anxiety to debilitating levels. Not fun.
I am 60 now and as ludicrous as it may sound, I grew up with my install base. Ponder that for a moment. Being an indie - in any profession, let alone in games - is neither a walk in the park nor for the faint at heart. It requires a LOT of the things that most people take for granted. To name a few - things like passion, drive, sacrifice, talent, money management, survival instincts - and compromise. The list encompasses some of the
12 | MCV/DEVELOP February/March 2024
reasons that see many startups fail. Failure is not always about money. Don’t do it.
Some of the very same people chanting that going indie somehow solves this problem with wanton layoffs in our industry, are as misguided as those who thought that a corporation spending billions to buy a competitor is somehow doing it for altruistic reasons instead of for the bottom line of investors. Don’t do it.
If you do decide to go indie, which means that you stand an 80% chance of your game failing, those same people probably aren’t even going to buy your game. Don’t do it.
Unless you succeed and somehow get a hit, if you do fail, most of them won’t even remember you because they’ve moved on to the next thing. Don’t do it. You’re only as good as the games that ten people will
buy. If you try to chase that all-elusive 11th sale to the detriment of the ten, your project will fail. Don’t do it.
If you take on investors - of any kind - remember, except for a few edge cases, they’re not your friends. They’re people you probably know and who gave you money. You’re only as good as that all-elusive exit - which depends on your game. Don’t do it.
If you happen to join an indie studio, remember that
you are the product that may lead to a success story. In that, your founders are likely to cash out long before you realise that you’re likely out of a job. Don’t do it.
As someone who thinks of himself as one of the OG
relics of the gaming industry as we know it, I know what it’s like to lose; to feel so desperately that you’ll win, then to lose all the same. I am burdened with sadness that this happened to you, my friends; but this too shall pass.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
