This feels a little like link bait to me, because it's silly just to drop arbitrary numbers on game development that determine its success. Nobody would disagr

This feels a little like link bait to me, because it's silly just to drop arbitrary numbers on game development that determine its success. Nobody would disagree that a high quality game requires a big blockbuster-movie size budget. Nobody would disagree that an indie developer can make $100k in a year if the game they make has a little polish. A great indie game requires talent first. The ability to code well and make pretty graphics. Then it takes the patience required to apply the time it takes to make the game work perfectly and the graphics to look just right. I think a lot of indie devs race to get their games to market because they're hungry to make money. Then when it doesn't earn anything because it isn't finished, they give up a little because it becomes obvious very quickly how much time and energy is required to make an awesome game.