Ever since id paid off their venture capital investors and bought Vipers, it's just been "the thing": Make a computer game, make a lot of money.

It's a phase that's passing, mind you, like all phases do. I would say right now that "the thing" is: Make an Internet company, make a lot of money. A few years ago, it was: Be a rock star, make a lot of money.

Who knows where it's going next? Maybe: Make a satirical cartoon for adults featuring foul-mouthed 8-year olds, make a lot of money... ;-)

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DavidRM
Samu Games

Not sure that I agree with you that it is a phase. Call me a business school grad but what you have been witnessing over the past few years is the growth stage of an industry. As the industry grows opportunities attract new players into the market. Yes some of them get rich and other's poor, but as the industry approaches stability things become more difficult. The number of players attracted into the market cause attrition to happen and this keeps competition thriving in a stable market. The only way to make money in a stable market is to gain competitive advantages or find new market segments. I tend to believe the increase interest in making money is going to attract more savvy business people to the market. Gamers traditionally have not been business savvy which probably explains the raping they have been enduring from the publishers. All that is happening as the market becomes more stable is that you have to learn new ways to compete. Wishing for it to go back to the garage days is not going to allow you to have a successful company in the future.

Lets take an analogy from another industry. I am refering to the industry that creates every day items.(toothpaste, baking soda....) If a person or company without a solid business plan, thinks it can compete with the likes of Proctor and Gamble then they are mistaken. P & G has taken innovation techniques to a whole new level and they have made significant amounts of money on items in a much smaller profit margin. Proctor and Gamble operates in a stable industry.

Gaming will operate in the same type of industry before long. If a company can't organize yourself like the big companies, and it can't approach the marketwith an idea from a business perspective while still maintaining passion and love for what the company does, then it will be left in the cold and yes it will not make money. The dream is getting harder to attain as the industry gets more organized about how it develops.

Just my opinion.
Kressilac

ps If I am correct then the game I am trying to produce will work and I won't have to go barefoot to work everyday and eat mac and cheese.(not that mac and cheese isn't a good food or anything cause it is a staple)

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Derek Licciardi

My point was this: Every couple of months it seems there is a new "big thing" that sparks a "gold rush". The "gold rush" mentality is sparked by (a perceived) low cost of entry and potentially very high returns.

Thus, it is a phase that people are rushing into game development hoping to make lots of money. That this phase is passing is a sign that the industry is beginning to stabilize--and that the cost of entry is going up.

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DavidRM
Samu Games

I didn't mean to send people off the loop with my reply. I do believe you have to love what your doing and I do. As far as the experience goes, I have some, but I tend to think of a large scale game as a team effort. Therefore, I find that my abilities would be best put towards getting the right people on board to do this with me. If I can't provide them with a stable job and secure environment to work in then why start the company. To do this requires me to have a sense of a business plan for the game that is focused on how the game will make money. You see all I really believe is that it takes both and it is much harder to produce a hit game without both, passion and a gear towards money.

Kressilac

ps DividRM I see your point as even a mature industry has these.

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Derek Licciardi

I guess I should clarify my thoughts a little more. When people talk about passion for a game, I assume that it means they have the desire to see the game in satisfied customers hands. The benefit really comes from people ranting and raving about how this game is the best yet etc etc. Since all of these games have made tremendous amounts of money, it is easy to follow this to a logical assumption. If you want to make a large amount of money in games then you have to produce a game that is minimally of the quality attained by your predecessors. To this point, I have assembled my judgements on the video-game industry.

No longer will a company with a not-enough-money-to-buy-a-shoestring budget be able to produce top notch games capable of the sales needed to make good amounts of money. Because of this, I see a need to have both a great game with all the art, story, mechanics, ease of use... and a solid business plan.

My intention is to build a video game that will sell hundreds of thousands of copies. I have built these assumptions into my business plan because it is one of the only ways to show the revenue needed to secure funding so that I can even get a chance to make the game. I also believe that along with a good idea, you can systematically approach the project like it was any other IT project.(just different variables and dependencies) My business plan proves this is possible and shows that I can reduce the risk involved in investing in a video game.

The problem the 14 year old faces is the lack of business knowledge, and the lack of resources. Both of these contribute to a less than top-notch game. This column discusses games!=money. I totally disagree with this. Aside from a flop product and poor planning, you can make a game with a good idea, proper planning, marketing, and a business strategy, that will sell well and produce the revenues you seek.

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Derek Licciardi