Hello everyone,
A lot of people seemed to take interest in my introduction where I briefly explained my career as an indie game developer, so I thought I would write a detailed article of my journey from start to present. I will be as open as possible with my numbers, failures and even struggles as it was a long, rough road for me and hopefully you can take something valuable from my story.
The Beginning - Mid 2016
I joined a platform called Roblox back in mid 2016 as a regular player to experience some of the games shown in my favorite gameplay videos from my favorite streamers. At this time, I was a consumer on the platform. I spent at least $100 in total on virtual currency to purchase special passes in games and virtual accessories for my character/avatar.
The Spark - Late 2016 - Early 2017
Just a few months after joining the platform, I realized that I wanted to create my own experiences. I installed the creator app and got to work. I used preset maps supplied either by Roblox or other users and mashed it all together into one "game". Most of my early games consisted entirely of "free models" (or, in other words, things built/scripted by other users that were available for use by anyone). I still remember that one game I made where you got chased by random characters without any objective... Ah, the good old days. But if it hadn't been for "Person Survival" (or whatever weird name I gave it) I probably wouldn't be where I'm at today. This game gained a total of 50 plays (which was incredible to me back then even though half of the visits probably came from just me playing it). Regardless, seeing 50 visits on my creation back then was insane and encouraged me to go further.
Starting Slow - Early - Mid 2018
At this point I was starting to gain some skill in creating games. It's been a while since my first ones but these were still very primitive. I decided to create a spider simulation/survival game. A few days/weeks after publication, I noticed it was beginning to gain a few visits (a couple hundred). I began updating this game frequently with new content to keep my players and it was working! Sort of. It had a high of 15 concurrent players but usually had 2. But still, to me, this was amazing. This was when I began experimenting with monetization (by selling exclusive character packs). I made a maximum of a few cents per day from these sales. This game may not sound all that great, but out of my dozens and dozens of games this was the only one that had gotten some players, it had been the base of many games to come.
Finding Success - Mid 2020
With much more knowledge and professionality, I decided to create a sequel to my spider game. This time, I gave incentive for players to return (which is the biggest key to creating a game). As they played, they would collect in-game money which unlocked new characters for them to play as. This time, people would come back to continue progressing in the game as I added new characters on a regular basis. I had more decent purchasable characters and made about $20/day. Had it not been for my first spider game, despite its low quality, this would have never become.
The Explosion (not literally) - Early 2022
I noticed that people enjoyed my spider games so I decided to make a big one. With lots of connections to other developers and tons of money earned from my first spider games, I was able to hire experienced coders to help out with the coding of my newest one. After two treacherous months of building, coding and bug fixing, my new game was completed. We had issues with character hitboxes, animations and UIs which helped delay the release of the game but luckily we were able to solve them. It has the same concept as my first two, but this time it was professionally executed. All I need is two words to describe this: Instant Success. Well, almost. I wasted a lot of money on ads as they only provided a temporary boost in players. I needed something consistent, so then an idea hit me. I put an optional teleport to lead players from my spider game to my new game and I had gotten more players than I could have ever imagined. Now, I make over $100 /day, and I can still scale it even further (currently working on that).
Now - Mid 2022
I am now growing my newest game while working with some of my old dev pals to create a giant PVP combat game which has been an idea we've had for ages.
Things I wish I knew early on (AKA my mistakes)
- Do NOT partner with just anyone to create a game (or any product for that matter) - make sure they are legitimate and trustworthy first
- Make your product stand out from others. Consider: "What would make consumers use/buy my product over a competitors?
- Don't give up, even though it may seem like the easiest option, it isn't. You could be right around the corner from success.
Ending
I sincerely thank you for reading this thread and hope you were able to take something from this whether it is motivation or a lesson. Remember, you can do anything if you are committed to it.
If you have any additional questions I will gladly answer them for you.
- iivalky
A lot of people seemed to take interest in my introduction where I briefly explained my career as an indie game developer, so I thought I would write a detailed article of my journey from start to present. I will be as open as possible with my numbers, failures and even struggles as it was a long, rough road for me and hopefully you can take something valuable from my story.
The Beginning - Mid 2016
I joined a platform called Roblox back in mid 2016 as a regular player to experience some of the games shown in my favorite gameplay videos from my favorite streamers. At this time, I was a consumer on the platform. I spent at least $100 in total on virtual currency to purchase special passes in games and virtual accessories for my character/avatar.
The Spark - Late 2016 - Early 2017
Just a few months after joining the platform, I realized that I wanted to create my own experiences. I installed the creator app and got to work. I used preset maps supplied either by Roblox or other users and mashed it all together into one "game". Most of my early games consisted entirely of "free models" (or, in other words, things built/scripted by other users that were available for use by anyone). I still remember that one game I made where you got chased by random characters without any objective... Ah, the good old days. But if it hadn't been for "Person Survival" (or whatever weird name I gave it) I probably wouldn't be where I'm at today. This game gained a total of 50 plays (which was incredible to me back then even though half of the visits probably came from just me playing it). Regardless, seeing 50 visits on my creation back then was insane and encouraged me to go further.
Starting Slow - Early - Mid 2018
At this point I was starting to gain some skill in creating games. It's been a while since my first ones but these were still very primitive. I decided to create a spider simulation/survival game. A few days/weeks after publication, I noticed it was beginning to gain a few visits (a couple hundred). I began updating this game frequently with new content to keep my players and it was working! Sort of. It had a high of 15 concurrent players but usually had 2. But still, to me, this was amazing. This was when I began experimenting with monetization (by selling exclusive character packs). I made a maximum of a few cents per day from these sales. This game may not sound all that great, but out of my dozens and dozens of games this was the only one that had gotten some players, it had been the base of many games to come.
Finding Success - Mid 2020
With much more knowledge and professionality, I decided to create a sequel to my spider game. This time, I gave incentive for players to return (which is the biggest key to creating a game). As they played, they would collect in-game money which unlocked new characters for them to play as. This time, people would come back to continue progressing in the game as I added new characters on a regular basis. I had more decent purchasable characters and made about $20/day. Had it not been for my first spider game, despite its low quality, this would have never become.
The Explosion (not literally) - Early 2022
I noticed that people enjoyed my spider games so I decided to make a big one. With lots of connections to other developers and tons of money earned from my first spider games, I was able to hire experienced coders to help out with the coding of my newest one. After two treacherous months of building, coding and bug fixing, my new game was completed. We had issues with character hitboxes, animations and UIs which helped delay the release of the game but luckily we were able to solve them. It has the same concept as my first two, but this time it was professionally executed. All I need is two words to describe this: Instant Success. Well, almost. I wasted a lot of money on ads as they only provided a temporary boost in players. I needed something consistent, so then an idea hit me. I put an optional teleport to lead players from my spider game to my new game and I had gotten more players than I could have ever imagined. Now, I make over $100 /day, and I can still scale it even further (currently working on that).
Now - Mid 2022
I am now growing my newest game while working with some of my old dev pals to create a giant PVP combat game which has been an idea we've had for ages.
Things I wish I knew early on (AKA my mistakes)
- Do NOT partner with just anyone to create a game (or any product for that matter) - make sure they are legitimate and trustworthy first
- Make your product stand out from others. Consider: "What would make consumers use/buy my product over a competitors?
- Don't give up, even though it may seem like the easiest option, it isn't. You could be right around the corner from success.
Ending
I sincerely thank you for reading this thread and hope you were able to take something from this whether it is motivation or a lesson. Remember, you can do anything if you are committed to it.
If you have any additional questions I will gladly answer them for you.
- iivalky
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