4 ms·
It doesn't seem like a business story really, it seems like an artist / craftsman wanted to practice his craft and ran into commercial realities. It's a starvin
by cylinder 9y ago
It doesn't seem like a business story really, it seems like an artist / craftsman wanted to practice his craft and ran into commercial realities. It's a starving artist situation. There wasn't any market analysis, financial analysis, etc upfront. He wanted to make a game, and he did, so he should be commended for that. It wasn't really a business venture.
- krapp 9y agoI think it became a business story as soon as the developer quit his job and risked his future livelihood on sales. He could have worked on the game in his free time and released it for free, otherwise.
- twothamendment 9y agoThat is exactly why I'm happy working for someone else. I love to code, solve problems and make things. I do not what to run a business. As soon as you are in your own you are running a business.
- rocky1138 9y agoSame, except that I still sell my game and work on it at home on my own time.
- chii 9y agoIf it wasn't a business venture, then don't treat it like one. Needing sales means it's a business venture.
- SolaceQuantum 9y agoUnfortunately we don’t live in a society where people who are passionate about art can pursue their passions fully and avoid starving or otherwise risking their quality of life. In our society merely choosing to pursue your art to your fullest extent is considered a business venture and not an artistic venture, and even choosing not to because of money reasons is itself a business decision.
- barney54 9y agoTrue, but now is the greatest time in history to be able to pursue art. It's obviously tough, but people can sacrifice for their art and share it like never before. Just think how many incredible artists have lived but spent their entire lives merely surviving.
- chii 9y ago> how many incredible artists have lived but spent their entire lives merely surviving. what you describe is basically the entire human condition as it has ever been since time inmemorial.
- eropple 9y agoThe idea that art must be sacrificed for is itself a profoundly toxic one. Art is the culture that underpins society. Normalizing the idea of sacrificing to create it is itself antisocial.
- ameister14 9y agoThere are plenty of people who are passionate about art and also able to pursue their passions fully and avoid starving. They get grants from the city or private organizations or they sell their work.
- MrScoobs 9y agofollowing your passion may not be the best advice for anybody. See Cal Newport's perspective on why. One of his examples is Steve Jobs. http://calnewport.com/blog/2015/04/05/what-steve-jobs-meant-when-he-said-follow-your-heart/ http://calnewport.com/blog/2015/04/05/what-steve-jobs-meant-...
- lap42 9y agoIt's fortunate that society is like that.
- JabavuAdams 9y agoAlmost all indie game developers think like this, though.
- hub2017 9y ago"Imma be a rapper" of programming.
- jamesrcole 9y ago> It doesn't seem like a business story really, it seems like an artist / craftsman wanted to practice his craft and ran into commercial realities. The author does say "I have been warned against going full time indie by everyone on the internet and by my friends and family. I believed I could make it, all I had to do was ship just 700 units of my game on steam." They also say "After more than 10 years of writing games I believed I had acquired enough know-how, knowledge and experience to make it in the industry on my own, on my own terms and on my own schedule." [my emphasis]. That implies they had thought about the financials, and were believed they'd be able to get a sufficient amount of revenue.