How big are indie game teams?

Indie games are usually made by companies with less than 30 people, and some are even made by less than five people. On the other hand, AAA games

AAA games

In the video game industry, AAA (pronounced and sometimes written triple-A) is an informal classification used to categorise games produced and distributed by a mid-sized or major publisher, which typically have higher development and marketing budgets than other tiers of games.

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AAA (video game industry) - Wikipedia

are made by much bigger companies, usually with hundreds of employees.

How big is an indie team?

The main characteristic of an indie game is independent development. That means that large studios like EA, Ubisoft, or Rockstar are not in charge of the process. You can create an indie game alone, but often it is done by small teams of 5-10 people. So, “indie” means independent of major publishers.

How many people work on an indie game?

Typically, indie studios are made up of just a few people. Most often, their number does not exceed 10 experts. There are also indie developers who make games alone.

How big is the average indie game studio?

In the indie game industry, studios are often made up of less than ten people (sometimes even one person) and usually depend on crowdfunding and donations to fund their games.

How big is the average game development team?

The development of a complete game usually involves a team of 20–100 individuals with various responsibilities, including designers, artists, programmers, and testers.

Why Most Indie Game Developers Don't Make Money

How many developers for a AAA game?

A lot of time – AAA games can be developed for years, from 3 to 10 or even more. A lot of resources – it usually takes a team of at least 100 experts to make a AAA game.

How much does it cost to make AAA game?

AAA games are the big-budget games that large studios and publishers typically make. The average AAA game takes about four years to develop, with an average cost of about $80 million and higher. But this amount can vary significantly depending on the type of game and its level of complexity.

Do indie game devs make money?

According to VG Insights, only 15% of all solo game developers take home more than $100,000 annually. VG Insights also reported that only the top 5% of indie games released each year make over half a million dollars each, and the average game only makes $13,000.

What is the average indie developer salary?

How much does an Indie Game Developer make? As of Mar 8, 2023, the average annual pay for an Indie Game Developer in the United States is $84,556 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $40.65 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,626/week or $7,046/month.

What percentage of indie games are successful?

Yes, only 3% of indie developers ever make more than $1m, but that's still over 1,500 indies who have done so. Let's see what they do that others don't.

Is it worth becoming an indie game developer?

Some of the most captivating and innovative video game experiences have come from passionate and dedicated indie developers. So to say that small game projects can't be good is a lie. However, as an indie developer you'll never get the chance to work on the biggest projects in the industry.

What is considered a AAA developer?

What is a AAA game studio? In the video game industry, a AAA ('triple-A') studio is a mid-sized or major game publisher with a more robust development and marketing budget than other tiers of studios to produce (usually) higher-selling, retail AAA games.

How hard is it to start an indie game studio?

Developing an indie game is hard work. You need to be able to design and build the game, market it to the public, and get it published. Some people usually begin indie studios to develop passion projects, which later can become successful or develop smaller cult followings.

How many sales does the average indie game get?

The median game earned just $1,136 lifetime; 68% of all titles released in 2019 generated less than $10,000 to date; 91.5% of all titles earned less than $250,000; 96% of all games generated less than $1,000,000.

How long do small indie games take to make?

Creating an indie game can take anywhere between a matter of days and a number of years. With indie games, coding experience and budget will be the biggest influences on a game's development cycle. Here's a few examples of quality indie games all made within vastly different timeframes: Cuphead.

Can a developer make 500k a year?

It is possible for a software engineer to make $500,000 or more in a year, but it is not typical for most software engineers. The salary of a software engineer can vary greatly depending on factors such as their experience, skillset, industry, and location.

Can I make 100k as a software developer?

Yes, you can make $100,000 per year as a software developer.

The chances of earning over $100k for a software developer are actually pretty good because the highest-paid software developer positions typically pay at least $122,000 per year. The average annual salary is $94,431 for software developer jobs.

Do software developers make 200k?

Software Engineering is a very well paid career field. It's definitely possible to make $200k as a Software Engineer.

Who is the richest indie game developer?

The success of Minecraft did so well that Notch ended up selling Mojang to Microsoft for a $2.5 billion cash deal. This makes him the richest indie game developer.

Who is the richest indie game developers in the world?

Mojang. It's the big one. With over 200 million copies sold, Minecraft is not only the best selling indie, but the best selling game ever, at least at the time of publishing. As of the end of 2021 they had a mind-blowing net worth of 1.7 billion dollars.

Can you survive as an indie game developer?

Yes, indie developers can survive, but it's not easy by any means. You'll have to figure out how to pay the rent, buy food, and keep health insurance (if you live outside the US, this is easier) while you make your first few games — your first one will almost certainly be a huge flop .

Can a single person make a AAA game?

Can one person make an AAA game? Making an AAA game alone would be incredibly difficult, as it takes hundreds of people to create an AAA game . However, Bright Memory is made by a single developer and is the closest game on this list to a AAA studio quality video game.

How many man hours does it take to make a AAA game?

It really varies by game, but the middle of the range is about 4000 person-months. It could easily be more than double that, say 10,000 person-months or as few as 1500, depending on the concept, genre and feature set. Why do AAA games often take 1 to 2 years to make if they have big teams working on them?

What game has made the most money?

Top Grossing Games 2022

Honor of Kings snatched the title from PUBG Mobile, which had held it for three years previously. PUBG Mobile had a noticeable decline in 2022, from $2 billion to $1.12 billion.