Hey /biz/ I'm working on a game that I know will make at least a million dollars, because it's something original that hasn't been done before. I have the advantage of having years of both programming and art training, so I have all the necessary skills to finish it myself. I plan to sell it on steam and I'm confident it will get greenlit fast as fuck, so I'm not going to submit it until it's close to being finished.
But it's a long term project that I know will take me at least a year to finish IF I can work on it full time. Meanwhile I have a shitty programming day job that I have to do to pay the bills, but it's drastically limiting the time I can work on this game and I don't see any way I can finish it while having to spend most of my day doing other shit.
What do I do in this situation? I can't borrow money from my parents because they think video games are fucking stupid and would never approve of this as a legitimate way to make a living, so I'm pretty much on my own.
Take your savings and go and live in Thailand for a year while you make it.
>>1374750
>because it's something original that hasn't been done before
the market is oversaturated, we have "never done before games" made every week. the most common trait they share is that they suck.
make a prototype and generate interest. then use crowdfunding.
>>1374755
Sure, which is all the more reason that this will be successful, because it won't suck and will stand out from the stuff that does. If I price it at $10, I would just need to get 100k users, which is something like 0.08% of the entire steam user base.
>>1374759
I'm not sure crowdfunding would work for this game. It doesn't have the broadest appeal in the world, and would probably get banned on kickstarter for being "too offensive" or something.
>>1374788
If it's too offensive why are you confident it will get greenlit?
>>1375245
It won't be offensive at all to normal people. It's just the sjw's that will probably complain about it. Which will probably a be a good thing for driving more publicity to it.
>>1374750
Give me 10% share, I'll support you. No, I'm joking. Start a patreon or kickstarter.
Let me give you some advice OP, you definitely do need time off in order to finish your game, it definitely will help a lot and boost your creativity. But don't get lazy, because if you're not pressured to work, you might waste time. You could also show your idea to the bank and they might give you a loan.
>>1375283
Your defensive mindset tells me that its probably not going to succeed and make a million dollars.
I coincidentally work in the video game industry. However I am curious about what kind of game one person can do which you think will be such a success.
My suggestion is to save up for a year and then work for a year after or perhaps find a part time programming gig and then program half time.
You could consider moving to a really cheap country to give you more time (easier living expenses).
Stick with the day job. There are over 3000 games added to steam every year. Good art + original gameplay means very little. Release on Early Access asap. If it goes well quit job, if not stay at job.
>>1375321
Where exactly was I being defensive? I was simply stating that it's sure to piss off the sjw's, which will help drive even more people in the target audience to buy the game. Also, pretty much every successful indie game of the past 10 years has been created by one person, or a team of like 2, so not sure why you're so surprised by this goal.
Oh also
$1,000,000 revenue
- 30% steam cut
$700,000
- 15% sales tax (yes this is not included in steam cut)
$600,000
-20% Corporation tax
$480,000
- 40% Dividend tax (this tax kicks in if you want to actually withdraw the money for yourself - Maybe UK only not sure about USA)
= $288,000 for you
>>1375348
>Good art + original gameplay means very little
Please show me one game that has both of these (and is also fun to play) that hasn't made at least $1 million in sales.
>>1375367
Browse steamspy, and compare the games quality with your own games. be very honest with yourself. I wont post them here, there are 1000's.
Also understand you only ever see successful games. The other 2980 games released in 2015 you never heard of arent factoring in to your decision making, and they should be.
The average game sells <30,000 copies. You are saying that you will be above average. I am 90% every game dev thinks this.
>>1375365
I live in America buddy. None of these things apply except the 30% cut. Single person llc's and s-corps are passthrough entities and taxed the same way as normal personal income.
If you have pics of your art I can give you a guess on where you sit quality wise.
>>1375382
I see the exact opposite thing. The majority of "above average" games look and play like complete shit and yet still sell very well. There are probably only a couple dozen indie games on all of steam that are actually good, and of course they've sold very well. Many of them upwards of $10 million or more.
>>1375383
You might wanna research tax a bit more, just to be sure. At the $1 million mark rates go higher than normal person. This is beause the rich get fucked (for good reason probably) The UK is actually great for video game tax, one of the best places in the world. I'm willing to bet USA is worse or the same.
>>1375395
If you're being honest with yourself, and you are better than everage, the $1 million is doable. I just doubt that you are evaluating your abilities accurately. You go blind after working on a game for a while. Get some friends to play it. Not in front of you as well, they will act nice.
>>1375398
Unless you plan to keep money in the company (which I obviously wouldn't, since it would be all going to me anyway) llc's are simply taxed as personal business income and there is no double taxation on top of that. You pay the same personal federal and state income taxes as everybody else. Also, sales tax isn't collected on digital goods in almost any state in america. So for sales of $1 million, you would end up with about $450k after all is said and done.
>>1375431
Well then I should move to America!
>>1375367
Go on /agdg/ on /vg/, its a graveyard of games with good art and good gameplay
>>1374752
First post is best post. Who worries about bills when you can count chickens before they are hatched.
>>1375365
>30% steam cut
Absolutely disgusting. Kali was the pinnacle of an online gaming interface minus the spookware.
Hi gamedev here, the biggest issue is the marketing, if you do this by yourself probably will take 1/3 of your development time, and you have to show your progress to get a fanbase.
Without fanbase:
No Crowdfunding, and fell sells.
tell me a bit about your game OP
>>1375357
Is the main character named Not Important?
I bet your game is going to be garbage OP, considering it will be as cancerous as "SJW boogeyman" shit but on the other side of the spectrum
