4 ms·

I think possibly living in a cheaper country makes a lot of difference to the economics. Especially if you live in a cheaper country and make something that peo

I think possibly living in a cheaper country makes a lot of difference to the economics. Especially if you live in a cheaper country and make something that people in the first world will pay first world rates.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
PaulRobinson 3y ago
If that was truly something that made a lot of difference to the economics and the market as a whole, you'd expect to see most indie games coming from such countries. Do you? I don't think I do. Costs obviously make a big impact on profit, but the truth is indie games likely have pretty fixed costs wherever in the World you choose to make them. A decent games artist is going to cost the same wherever you're based, because they can sell their services from anywhere to anywhere. The market rate is not local. Your $140k is what you're paying if you, or they, live in Jacksonville, Johannesburg or Juba. And it's not like those clipart libraries give you a huge discount if they noticed you're in a country with a terrible GDP/capita compared to the US. If their rate is $20, it's $20 for the guy in Seattle and $20 for the guy in South Sudan. The only difference is for the guy in Seattle its a couple of Starbucks trips, but for the guy in South Sudan it's 2 weeks median income. If anything, starting an indie game setup in a poor country is going to require you to be significantly richer compared to your neighbours than if you live in a suburb of Seattle, Marseille or Glasgow. You're therefore more likely to have the cash reserves to invest in indie game development if you are living in a richer country. Yes, it's true that once you get the thing built you're going to be able to sell at first world rates, but getting the thing built is not an equal playing field for everyone.
- yellowapple 3y ago
  > If that was truly something that made a lot of difference to the economics and the market as a whole, you'd expect to see most indie games coming from such countries. Do you? I don't think I do. I have no idea about "most", but quite a few successful indie games did get their start from such countries. Kerbal Space Program is one example with which I'm particularly familiar; its early development happened in Mexico.
  - therealdrag0 3y ago
    Flappybird was made in Vietnam.
sph 3y ago
The problem is that moving takes money, and time (which is money). In my case, I am stuck developing a fledgling business in London and I'm too broke and busy to move out. I've managed to survive like this for a while, so it's probably best for me to make my business profitable from London, than waste time and money I don't have to move to Romania or something. Honestly my #1 reason to move is not even the expensive rent. It's that I miss the countryside, birdsong and smell of grass so damn much.
- davidzweig 3y ago
  plenty of countryside, birds and grass in Romania and Bulgaria. Write me a mail, I'll sort you out.
  - sph 3y ago
    Haha thanks, Romania is an example, the language barrier would be a big issue actually — especially given that I am fluent in 2 other European languages. Anywhere would be cheaper than London. I'd like to visit Romania one day though, looks gorgeous.
- ImHereToVote 3y ago
  Can I ask what your business does?
  - sph 3y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39102398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39102398 + consulting here and there, but the job market isn't great
    - ImHereToVote 3y ago
      Thanks.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

PaulRobinson 3y ago

If that was truly something that made a lot of difference to the economics and the market as a whole, you'd expect to see most indie games coming from such countries. Do you? I don't think I do. Costs obviously make a big impact on profit, but the truth is indie games likely have pretty fixed costs wherever in the World you choose to make them. A decent games artist is going to cost the same wherever you're based, because they can sell their services from anywhere to anywhere. The market rate is not local. Your $140k is what you're paying if you, or they, live in Jacksonville, Johannesburg or Juba. And it's not like those clipart libraries give you a huge discount if they noticed you're in a country with a terrible GDP/capita compared to the US. If their rate is $20, it's $20 for the guy in Seattle and $20 for the guy in South Sudan. The only difference is for the guy in Seattle its a couple of Starbucks trips, but for the guy in South Sudan it's 2 weeks median income. If anything, starting an indie game setup in a poor country is going to require you to be significantly richer compared to your neighbours than if you live in a suburb of Seattle, Marseille or Glasgow. You're therefore more likely to have the cash reserves to invest in indie game development if you are living in a richer country. Yes, it's true that once you get the thing built you're going to be able to sell at first world rates, but getting the thing built is not an equal playing field for everyone.

yellowapple 3y ago
> If that was truly something that made a lot of difference to the economics and the market as a whole, you'd expect to see most indie games coming from such countries. Do you? I don't think I do. I have no idea about "most", but quite a few successful indie games did get their start from such countries. Kerbal Space Program is one example with which I'm particularly familiar; its early development happened in Mexico.
- therealdrag0 3y ago
  Flappybird was made in Vietnam.

sph 3y ago

The problem is that moving takes money, and time (which is money). In my case, I am stuck developing a fledgling business in London and I'm too broke and busy to move out. I've managed to survive like this for a while, so it's probably best for me to make my business profitable from London, than waste time and money I don't have to move to Romania or something. Honestly my #1 reason to move is not even the expensive rent. It's that I miss the countryside, birdsong and smell of grass so damn much.

davidzweig 3y ago
plenty of countryside, birds and grass in Romania and Bulgaria. Write me a mail, I'll sort you out.
- sph 3y ago
  Haha thanks, Romania is an example, the language barrier would be a big issue actually — especially given that I am fluent in 2 other European languages. Anywhere would be cheaper than London. I'd like to visit Romania one day though, looks gorgeous.
ImHereToVote 3y ago
Can I ask what your business does?
- sph 3y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39102398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39102398 + consulting here and there, but the job market isn't great
  - ImHereToVote 3y ago
    Thanks.