How much funding does an indie game need?

Indie games are typically developed by small teams on relatively small budgets. The average cost to make an indie game is about $250,000, but some small projects can cost as low as nothing + time you spend on development.

How are indie games funded?

The most obvious (and common) way indie game developers fund their projects is through self-funding. This money comes from personal assets, friends and family, another form of employment, or contractual work. If you're thinking of switching full-time to game development, you'd want to build your war chest in advance.

How much money do indie games make on average?

According to ALCOR, the average junior indie game developer in the US in 2022 earned $40,500, with mid-levels earning $55,500, and seniors earning $69,000.

How much money do you need to develop a game?

A 2D mobile game development cost can be between $ 5,000- $ 20,000, but it can go up to $ 50,000- $ 20,000 if the game has more functionalities. The cost of a 3D game is higher than that of one with 2D graphics. The price of such a game starts at $ 20,000 and can even go up to $ 250,000.

How much to sell an indie game for?

In short, pick a price that is comparable to other indie games and then charge 20% more. If people are really really excited about your game, charge 50% more than you think you should.

Why Most Indie Game Developers Don't Make Money

What is the budget of a small indie game?

The average cost to make an indie game is about $250,000, but some small projects can cost as low as nothing + time you spend on development. The lower numbers assume you're working alone and don't have any other developers on board yet; however, the costs stack up quickly once multiple people are involved.

What indie game genre is most profitable?

Most Profitable Genres For Indie Games

The most promising genres in terms of earnings are RPG, strategy, and simulation. They are followed by adventure, action, sports, and racing games, which are worth choosing only if you are completely confident in your idea.

How long do AAA games take to make?

But for games in the AAA category, it's a good assumption to say that they take something between 3 to 5 years to develop. This can be a lot more if the gameplay or assets need to be done from scratch, or if the assets are already there from the previous year (like they do with Call of Duty).

What game has the highest budget?

With a huge budget of $265 million, Grand Theft Auto V has surpassed every expectation laid out before it, actually making more than any movie ever made. It started development in 2008 right after the release of its previous entry, Grand Theft Auto IV.

What is the budget breakdown of a game?

A game budget usually breaks down into two parts, 'one-time costs' and 'recurring costs'. One time costs are for equipment, software, certain contractors, and down payments. Recurring costs are salaries, taxes, insurance, and rents. Once you have defined the following, you can start the spreadsheet.

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.

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.

Do indie game developers pay taxes?

Indie developers and other people who work on games for a living face all kinds of interesting income tax and small business formation issues that more traditional businesses simply don't: not being geographically bound, relying on alternative funding, long periods of time with no income, and having multiple options ...

Why are indie games so successful?

Indie developers do not have the opportunity to create large and technological games, so they make games with unique gameplay. As a result, indie games are small in size, have low system requirements, and have extraordinary gameplay.

How much do publishers pay indie game devs?

What percentage do game publishers take? The size of the royalty is typically between 10 and 20%. After the publisher has recaptured the costs, the team begins to receive the first deductions. At the same time, the publisher's expenses for the game may not pay off if for some reason the community does not accept it.

Do indie games need copyright?

If you're an independent developer and you receive graphic material, music, sound effects or written assets from others, you don't own these materials. Copyright law says, in most instances, the ownership rights to such material belong to the original creator.

Why are AAA games so expensive?

AAA Titles Continue to Rise in Cost

This is because AAA titles are significant releases that typically require months, if not years, of work to produce the end product and they can go through multiple changes during the development process.

How much did Hogwarts Legacy sell?

The video game generated $850 million in sales in two weeks. Online discussion before its release was largely about the “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling's comments on transgender issues. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month.

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.

What is the average budget for a Triple A game?

One team will create art and audio, work on game design, narrative, another will program and optimize the game for the desired platform, others will test it, and so on. On average, it will cost you between $60 million and $80 million to develop and launch an AAA game on the market.

Can a indie make a AAA game?

Indie games usually do not enjoy the big budgets that one can associate with AAA titles. This is often replaced by hardwork and dedication on the part of the developers to turn their projects into brilliant games that will be cherished by fans for years to come.

How much do indie game developers make a year?

Average salary for fulltime indie game devs is $11,782/year.

What is the hardest game genre to make?

MMORPGs, without a doubt, are the hardest game genre to build, for one very significant reason - the sheer volume of resources required to build them. As a common sense rule, +1 game content = +10 more development required.