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Greetings!
A little bit ago I wrote an introduction and promised a chronicle of my experience of creating a video game studio. It's been 6 months since inception and about a month since my intro post... so here we are.
Foundation
Growing up I think I've always known I would tackle creating a video game. It's been on my list of things that need to be done and I'm at the point now where I can both afford the costs associated with getting the thing going. The whole thing started while I was on a business trip to Arizona. I had hired a firm to handle a large project, and during an off topic conversation in between the day-long meetings, one of their employees was asking about games. I had casually said that I've been sitting on a project for a while now and this guy jumped at the opportunity. "Oh? Well that's how I learned to write code. Can I help?"
That got my mind going and since I'm always running down a potential idea, I said sure. I gave him my contact information and told him to call me after the trip was complete. Did I think he'd actually call? Absolutely not... most people are all talk. I was pleasantly surprised when this guy reached out though and wanted to talk about the project. I explained the core idea and that this would require a decent sized team in order to pull off. It was at this moment that the studio was formed.
The irony here is that 5 months down the road, this guy bailed for a slow-lane opportunity. In fact, as of writing this, there are only 2 people left from the original team of 8 that formed. To say that attrition is high on large scale projects that require sacrifice is an understatement - but we all know that right?
I digress... so the team formed and we dug into technology exploration first. How are we going to do this? What engine do we use? What does the MVP look like? What are the steps necessary to rapidly acquire funding beyond my bank account? All of these plus a hundred more questions are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to properly planning out the execution of game development. Ultimately we landed on the following attack strategy:
1. Create a rapid prototype to request grant money from Epic Games. (12 months)
2. Once funded by Epic, create a thriving community and bring attention to the end product. (6 months)
3. Once at a large enough mass - create a Kickstarter to function as a second round of funding to further fuel the studio and project (1 month)
4. Release the first version of the game (24 months)
5. Sell the IP or studio
The whole goal is to establish a cash flow positive game within 3 years so the IP/studio can be sold.
I don't think there are savable drafts so for now, consider this part one....
A little bit ago I wrote an introduction and promised a chronicle of my experience of creating a video game studio. It's been 6 months since inception and about a month since my intro post... so here we are.
Foundation
Growing up I think I've always known I would tackle creating a video game. It's been on my list of things that need to be done and I'm at the point now where I can both afford the costs associated with getting the thing going. The whole thing started while I was on a business trip to Arizona. I had hired a firm to handle a large project, and during an off topic conversation in between the day-long meetings, one of their employees was asking about games. I had casually said that I've been sitting on a project for a while now and this guy jumped at the opportunity. "Oh? Well that's how I learned to write code. Can I help?"
That got my mind going and since I'm always running down a potential idea, I said sure. I gave him my contact information and told him to call me after the trip was complete. Did I think he'd actually call? Absolutely not... most people are all talk. I was pleasantly surprised when this guy reached out though and wanted to talk about the project. I explained the core idea and that this would require a decent sized team in order to pull off. It was at this moment that the studio was formed.
The irony here is that 5 months down the road, this guy bailed for a slow-lane opportunity. In fact, as of writing this, there are only 2 people left from the original team of 8 that formed. To say that attrition is high on large scale projects that require sacrifice is an understatement - but we all know that right?
I digress... so the team formed and we dug into technology exploration first. How are we going to do this? What engine do we use? What does the MVP look like? What are the steps necessary to rapidly acquire funding beyond my bank account? All of these plus a hundred more questions are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to properly planning out the execution of game development. Ultimately we landed on the following attack strategy:
1. Create a rapid prototype to request grant money from Epic Games. (12 months)
2. Once funded by Epic, create a thriving community and bring attention to the end product. (6 months)
3. Once at a large enough mass - create a Kickstarter to function as a second round of funding to further fuel the studio and project (1 month)
4. Release the first version of the game (24 months)
5. Sell the IP or studio
The whole goal is to establish a cash flow positive game within 3 years so the IP/studio can be sold.
I don't think there are savable drafts so for now, consider this part one....
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