While the insane number of indie games releasing every day on Steam might suggest a highly profitable gold rush, the reality is that it’s incredibly difficult to make money as an independent game developer. One such developer, Cliff Harris, recently had a frank talk about the realities of turning a profit with small games.
Positech Games, a one-man studio run by Harris, has had a fair bit of success with its Democracy and Gratuitous Space Battles series, but it’s certainly not an easy road. The standalone expansion Democracy 3: Africa released three months ago, but has yet to break even. Then there’s the issue of how you define “breaking even” as a one man studio, when the cost of development is essentially the cost of living.
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“Normally everyone takes their salary, and after other costs are paid, if money is left over, there is profit. The thing is, as the company owner, you normally take a tiny salary and thus working out if ‘game x’ made a profit is not as simple as it seems. Do you consider a game profitable if it makes more than the bare minimum salary you pay yourself? or if it makes ANY money at all? or if it earns more than the average salary you would get in a comparable job elsewhere? and WTF is a comparable job anyway?”
It’s an interesting dichotomy, and the wide array of passion projects–along with the numerous cheap, bad games–out there means that it’s even tougher to stand out. “its VERY RISKY to be dependent on just one game. It really is a hit driven business.”
