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From Idea to Income. How to be successful at independent games. Who is this guy?. Daniel Menard Co-founder and CEO. Big Action Mega Fight!. First Cohort. Founded. Creative Expression. No Limitations. Innovation. The Indie Dream. Creative expression No limitations Innovation - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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From Idea to Income
How to be successful at independent games
Who is this guy?
Daniel MenardCo-founder and CEO
Big Action Mega Fight!
First Cohort
Founded
Creative Expression
No Limitations
Innovation
•Creative expression•No limitations• Innovation•Push the industry forward
The Indie Dream
•Entrepreneurship first
•Probably won’t make you rich
•~90% of new companies fail
The Indie Reality
Crowded Market
•Failure is part of the game
•Passion alone isn’t enough
•Releasing is only half the battle
The Indie Reality
FinancingScope / TimeRight projectRight market
HiringManagement
Your Battlefields
•Puzzle-platformer
Party of Sin
•Puzzle-platformer
• Local coop
Party of Sin
•Puzzle-platformer
• Local coop
• Steam release
Party of Sin
•Puzzle-platformer
• Local coop
• Steam release
•Originally meant for consoles
Party of Sin
• Team of ~8•Working remotely•Revenue share deal•Kickstarter
Party of Sin
•3.5 years•Part time• I quit my job in
April 2012•Released in
December 2012
Party of Sin
•Decent reviews
•Massive Steam sales
•Profitable over time (~1 year)
What we thought would happen
•Mixed reviews
•Marketing and store placement not great
•Mediocre sales
•98% piracy
What actually happened
My career is over!
It’s okay to failIt is a necessary step toward success
Most important lesson
• From Toyota
•Ask “Why?” at least 5 times
•Get to the root cause
Five Whys
•Honest picture of our game and process
•Mistakes we would never make again
•Crankshaft Games Code of Conduct
The great postmortem
• Is this going to be your hobby or your career?
• Party of Sin started as a hobby
•Must be accountable to your players
•Constantly learning
Professionalism
•Be clear on how you will make money
•Pricing is complicated
•Keep in mind the expectations of anyone giving you
money
Business Model
•Hire talented people you will trust
Build a solid team
•Hire talented people you will trust
Build a solid team
Hire people when you know they’re the one
•Hire talented people you will trust
•Good teams don’t need managers
Build a solid team
•Hire talented people you will trust
•Good teams don’t need managers
•Give everyone a stake
Build a solid team
•Hire talented people you will trust
•Good teams don’t need managers
•Give everyone a stake
•Generalists
Build a solid team
Breadth
Depth
•Keep an open mind
• Share creative freedom, it will be good for you
• Party of Sin was too centralized
• Take feedback as an opportunity to learn
•Acknowledge your weaknesses
Leave your ego at the door
• Sustainable Development
Work-Life Balance
• Sustainable Development
• Eliminate crunch and burnout
Work-Life Balance
• Sustainable Development
• Eliminate crunch and burnout
•Give people control over how they contribute
Work-Life Balance
• Sustainable Development
• Eliminate crunch
•Give people control over how they contribute
•Work-Life Balance
Work-Life Balance
•Common pitfall: put everything you think is cool in your first game
•Don’t fall in love with your project
•What if you were paying someone?
•Don’t build an engine unless you sell engines
Mind your time / scope
• Think beyond just one project
•Have a unifying vision
•Most studios will not display it publicly
• It’s important to stick out
Studio Thinking
• You will be defined by the games you make
•How you make those games is more important
• Your first few will be bad
• Focus on the process
•Build your company culture
Hit Driven Business
• Incubator program for mobile indie games in Montreal• Funding for 9 months•Mentorship from industry experts
Execution Labs
Artist
Programmer
Designer
Programmer
Programmer
Team Catalyst
Analytics
MarketingMonetization
Support Resouces
Mentorship
•Amazing Network• Feedback all
through the process
•Shared experience
•Leadership / vision coaching
•Someone on your side
How Incubators Can Help
•Nurture your team
•Be ready to learn
• Speak out, give feedback
• Think as a company, not a product
• Evolve your process
•Mind the schedule
Make the best of incubator
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries• Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank• Valve Handbook for New Employees• Ideas per Second by Nathan Marts (GDC 2013)• http://mashable.com/2013/02/28/indie-game-statistics/• http://indiegames.com/2013/04/the_8_keys_to_indie_success.html• http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ThomasSteinke/20130415/19048
4/Reponse_to_quot8_keys_to_indie_successquot.php
References
Thank You!
www.doublestalliongames.com@dblstallion