Introduction: A Game of Risk

There is nothing simple about starting your own company. There are major risks and potential financial burdens that you will step into if you decide to set out on your own. Being your own boss takes discipline, financial responsibility, and serious determination. However, it is also potentially rewarding and, in some instances, even lucrative.

The games industry is a high risk and high stakes business. Setting out on your own in a risky industry obviously requires careful thought and a realistic assessment of your goals and needs. You should first ask yourself whether you are financially, emotionally, and personally able to handle of consequences of lean and difficult times ahead. There are several business planning books on the market that start with checklists that provide a quick and dirty risk assessment. However, how much of a risk it is to you depends primarily on your own experiences, abilities, and resources.

This article is not meant to convince you to set out on your own. Quite the contrary, it will probably scare many people away. The rewards may be slow to come, if they come at all. Some of the resources provided below can be helpful to those who pursue game development as a hobby and would like to sell their product. The bulk of the information is dedicated to providing information to those who are seriously pursuing the independent production and release of their games.

This article is the modification and adaptation of several blog articles written over the course of a month. I’d like to thank the folks at GameDev.Net for giving me the opportunity to share this with you.

Part I: The Building Blocks

The first part of this article concerns decision making. In the early stages of business planning, you have to put together your business team, settle on an entity type, choose a name, and determine how your business will be structured. These are the first steps you should take when formulating your business strategy.

Building your Business Team