How Much Does an Indie Game Cost to Make?
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- Опубліковано 23 лип 2023
- What is the true price of an indie game and how much do they cost to make in terms of game development? We at Blue Gravity Studios have been working on game dev for a long time and we thought we would share you our thoughts!
Our website: gravity.blue/
#gaming #gamedevelopment #unity #unrealengine - Ігри
I particularly find it difficult to evaluate the indie games cost based on the big games, as shown in the video. I believe it would be better to do this based on "medium" indies, which would be those games released on steam with a few hundred or thousands of downloads.
Yeah I’d agree - my game cost about $150 to make and made about $2500. With that knowledge I’m absolutely certain I could’ve made a better game for less
Sadly, many of those indie games with only a few hundred or thousand downloads had time sinks and budgets about on par with what you are seeing in this video. In other words, they were terrible losses for the developers. About 80 to 90% of the indie titles released on Steam never make what was invested in them back. Even if it's just some guy working on it as a passion project in his free time 10 or 20 hours a week for a year, if you add up what his time was worth it's tens of thousands of dollars worth of work he put into that 5$ game with like 300 downloads. I've seen much worse. Like a recent game made by famous devs from back in the day that flopped so hard they didn't even sell a thousand copies after a team of half a dozen professionals worked on it full-time for a year and a half.
@@progress_games Only $150? How long is the development? I'll assert that you consume resources in that time, yes?
As an indie dev i would say, indie devs pay the thousands/millions in pain and suffering. While AAA spread that pain between lot of devs that's why it is a big cost. Indie devs do shot themselves in the foot because publishers expliot this fact that other devs "Did it" but those are a small %.
I really like this style of editing! Please keep making more videos like this!
Very good information. I’m making my own 3D exploration game as a hobby, started April 2022 I’m about halfway through now.
hey man! I'm interested :D
maybe give me an insta/discord and we can talk about it
I'm a Graphic and Web Designer, so maybe I can help you a bit.
Ah halfway through, nice, so only 80% left ;-]
I know this wasnt the point of the video but this video explains exactly what I tell people when they talk about "kickstarter scams" saying things like a 10 person team working on a game for a few years and having to get additional funding or not being able to finish the game and they respond with "where did the 600+ grand go?" Or "they ran off with the money!"
I have to remind them no, no they didn't. Sometimes a project just fails and that risk was shared rather than on one group who tried to make something. Which is the whole point of kickstarter. It's not a pre order platform.
The only cost to making video games solo is your time.
true, but if you look at things more broadly someone has to pay for the gamedev food and housing, be the taxpayer or their parents.
Yes, only time...
And foods.
And drinks.
And electricity.
And water.
And gas.
And toiletries.
...
And bandwidth.
And health.
And opportunity cost.
No, there is a cost - it's "opportunity cost."
If you quit your job for 1 year and make a game that makes $0, you could have instead spent that time making a salary.
Not saying it's a good or bad idea to do so, but there are definitely costs to not delegating.
In before this channel blows up.
Gotta get in on the ground floor
Here 🚩
Here
Here
Here 🚩
I think it is misleading to talk about costs, it is more correct to talk about hours of work required (from which the costs can then be estimated). A good example is "mortal glory", which took 1,000 hours to make. A simple game but one that adequately repaid the time dedicated to it
Really useful video, gives a better perspective of what devs can expect!
Eric Barone received funding from Chucklefish who were the publisher at the time, Eric eventually got publishing rights from them (maybe bought it off them or contract expired). But he did not spend 5 years on no money at all working on the game. Chucklefish tend to be one of the most generous of indie publishers when it comes to funding too.
Thanks! This his a great video for all indie game newbies and a great pitch for your company at the same time. Nice one! 🎉
When I finished watching the video and then saw the small number of views and subscribers, I was a little sad.
You really deserve way more attention than you get for such a high quality. Keep going❤
Edit: Grammar
amazing show :) , im an indie dev working on my project since 8 month and i love your content :) sometimes i feel like im loosing my time
I'm in the same case, and I began when Unreal Engine became accessible...
This channel is pretty cool, I hope you get lots of subs
Great video, I would love to see more content like this!
6:07
I do recommend to do a unpaid development like Eric did bc people can see the passion in the work and they'll see something special about this project that you were working. There's a unique story why he/she development a game by himself/herself.
Eric case was trying to get a job but overall, he made a good game. That's what you are trying to execute in the end of the development.
Sometimes it's not a good idea to take people money like early investors. Money has a funny psychology on people mind. It's a comfortable feeling that you don't have to worried about it since you don't have to worried about money anymore.
You can make a bad game and have a big kick starter campaign with a lot of money. Then you turned out to be a huge scammer that's something you don't want over your head. It's something most developers are afraid when they're released their product.
It does happened in the industry.
You do want to create stress but not too much bc you want to create a game early as possible so people will play it but with less bugs but you promised the people you will keep updating the game to make a better verison of it.
That's why Eric is a multi millionaire and everyone should take a page from his development journey
Your explanation makes a lot of sense.
Honestly, considering how price-sensitive consumers are, it's a miracle game development is profitable at all, considering how much human time cost it has.
excellent vid, ive just finished a switch game. Cost me about $1500 us for all assets but around 350k usd in my own time. which means basically its kind of high budget lol, of course i didnt pay anyone apart from the 1500. I also have another game ive done over 10 yrs on, i estimate ive spent $50k on assets and over a million in my own hours.
That is wild
Serious dedication
What do you mean 350k in time?
@@marcapouli7805 i mean if i was being paid the same price as i do when im working, the hours i put in would have cost that.,
I like your style, very unique. You're going places.
Well, now I'm scared to develop my inde game.
well you could develop indie game for free if you develop solo or with your friends and only use free tools
1:59 don't think you can sneak that Dream Daddy past me!!!!
Great breakdown well done 👏
Right now I am coding a top down video game and I am doing it almost completely for free I am coding it in unity which is free to begin with. So the only things that I actually have to pay a lot for is a steam license to publish which is 100 dollars and I am probably gonna get FL for the music which is 200$ but if your maki n your own assets and music in a free game editor you could in theory get away with making a game with only 100 dollars assuming your publishing on steam.
Cost is a month's rent and utilities
I can tell this video is really detailed
I was wondering what game engine do you guys use? And can I join your team;)
First vid of new years
Well made, and well earned a subscription ✋✋
(Whispers) In before the channel blows up... ✋✋
well made video
this guy uses Vampire survivors as example...
that thing is a asset flip, you can buy them 25 dollars if you want to
For me it`s free to make games(:
500th SUB!!!
little bit confused on how all this money actually is distributed, since youve mostly been talking about teams and stuff i would imagine this money is being paid to the devs and the audio team, software licenses and marketing, correct ?
peoples salaries. so you could devolop a game for 0 dollars provided you live on the dole (government or parents) and use a good computer from the 2015.
Am i the only one who does it for free?
have you gotten much money from any games?
@@heartrobin haven't released. I keep chaniging my ideas :(
I get what he's saying but also there is a slightly different aspect when a solo developer makes a game where it's a blend of art and business. Investing free time in a project is different than quitting a job to work full time on something
i want to make a video game that is based on Castle Crashers with a good and dark story but thanks to the video, idk how much the cost of making a beat em up or hack and slash game
If your making a game yourself the only cost is your time. If you actually want to sell your game on steam then you have to pay them $100.
then a person come and said can you do me a prototype of Hearthstone for 50 bucks ....?
To earn money I have to make a game, but to make a game I need money. No wonder why I still can't earn a cent after almost 10 years of game dev. I'm stuck in a loop 😅
This channel is bouta bloww
I am glad I contacted you before watching this. I would never have dared to contact you, had I seen this video. Amazing voice by the way.
I just looked you up. Your game Little Sim World looks very interesting. White-listed!
this video actually made me not want to develop a game, fantastic, exactly what i needed.
Im nearly done with my game and haven't spent a single £1
Same, I somehow made a decent game for free
I'm assuming their estimates are based on developing a game full time and paying your self a wage, having a team, plus the costs incurred for console release (dev kits etc) and marketing. So more like making AND releasing a game as a indie studio.
you are real patriots o7 @@GamepadStudios
Does it cost anything if you make everything yourself? Like what do you spend money on?
Software licenses. Computer parts. Source control to backup game data.
a kidney and 10 piece nuggies
Years of one’s life
Do you think my kickstarter would be successful if I only asked specifically for money to smoke pot while I design? lol
it depends how much someone spends to assest flip.
I needed this thank you
wow that video editor is very talented, great video guys!
The finance and economic side of producing media is by far the least appealing thing about it especially for games. At best being a fan fic writer is what I can possibly do. Least it doesn't require over $100,000 to create.
Awesome!
I don't understand this video. 🤔 With free tools like Blender, Unreal, Unity, Gimp, and countless procedural plugins integrated into them, with, say 5 hours a week, making games has never been cheaper and easier. 🤔 As for publishing your game, there are indie platforms with no fee. 🤷♀️
Unless you are making a multiplayer where you have to pay for hosting servers.
It's the culture of poor financial management. People will buy literally anything to make themselves feel important, like they are doing something big.
All the modern games do not require that hyper-expensive industry-standard software to make.
Look at numerous modern games being recreated on Unreal by single individuals on a daily basis.
The perpetual hamster wheeling of money making instead of making a good paying game is what brought down Ubisoft, Blizzard, EA.
Back in the 90s there was no budget or gamedev salary. Games were made by students with minimal equipment.
Don't invest into Maya, ZBrush, Substance, Photoshop nonsense. Invest into learning coding or blueprints, some minimal art, animating, and level design.
Pace yourself too because burn-out is very much real even for the most passionate of us.
I think they forgot that the majority of indie devs (like myself) work in their free time. There are days where I can spend 2-3 hours on my game, sometimes 8-10+ hours and sometimes 0 hours. If I would work full-time on my project, then these numbers are quite realistic. I think full time I would need around 100.000$ to cover rent and living expenses.
Solo develop almost make Eric quit making Stardew Valley
He really makes an Impact for the Game Community
:o
The edition is very good ❤
Its free
Nice vid bruh am your 304th sub
Hello Neighbor is 250 000$
.....oww this constant shaking and vibrating of everything is very painful on the eyes
nothing, its free, if truly independent. cant depend on money.
149th Subscriber. Aug 4, 2023.
225th Subsriber. Aug 11, 2023.
I'll stick to web development.
At least one human soul...