How important is geography to game dev? i.e. Kansas City vs. San Francisco. Or Austin vs. San Francisco?

As a personal aside, if I decide that this investment is not worthwhile in the long run, I will be moving to San Francisco to be as immersed in the game dev community as possible. The upside of this as I see it is a built in community. I can't imagine another place with as many eager game devs in as geographically limited a space as SF. However, the game devs and other tech people in SF may all be 30's plus, and may all be firmly ensconced in a corporate environment, with no desire to "get more indy."

Seattle?

I was about to move to Austin before I moved to Canada.

i would not move to SF without a job offer. It is iirc the most expensive city in north america.

I remember talking with someone on how his friend decided to just up and go to SF with no potential job and just a few month's worth of savings. He's gonna be in for one rough awakening, I thought. That would just scare me, and you can't even guarantee other non-programming related job offers to come up within that span of time.

I could live in SF comfortably for years with no job.

-Edit: But could not afford to buy property there.

I hope that didn't sound snobish, but I would like your enlightened opinion on the importance of geographical proximity to other developers and industry talent magnets compared to the cost of said proximity.

Would anyone consider a gamedev homeschool in Austin? Free of charge?

I remember talking with someone on how his friend decided to just up and go to SF with no potential job and just a few month's worth of savings. He's gonna be in for one rough awakening, I thought. That would just scare me, and you can't even guarantee other non-programming related job offers to come up within that span of time.

L. Spiro,

But Japan is an anomaly of easy money for Americans. Can you comment on how important proximity to major gamedev hubs is to the act of making games (independently) and if the proximity is a great creativity/productivity booster, or more of a job acquisition asset?

-Dave

Firstly, my experience took me far out of natural waters when I moved overseas and got a game-development job there (Thailand). This in itself has nothing to do with Japan.

But its location (Bangkok) allowed me to make contacts, and whether you are an indie or just a person or even a professional this is what you need to survive.

Bangkok is a tourist trap and I used that to my advantage in order to meet people from around the world. My company was French and so I naturally met a lot of French people, so I ended up working in France later.

But my goal was Tokyo so I had also used all of that time to make contacts in Japan, and it finally paid off when I was asked to head the iOS division of a Japanese company that had no prior experience in games.

I am not an indie, and even though I am from Kansas (Wichita) I would not move to your Kansas City house.

Mainly because what indies and businesses alike need to survive is to make contacts. You need to be located in a hotspot where that can happen, and that is all there is to it.

Major cities are more expensive, but that is where the contacts are, so you have to go there to branch out, period.

Anyone who goes for your idea should know this as well, or else it is a sign of that person’s severe lack of experience. In other words, even if you set yourself up in a cheap location, any tenants who actually moved in would just be a sign that they have no idea how to be successful.

There is no cheap way to win.

Your tenants have to be in a spot where they can make contacts. Period.

L. Spiro

L. Spiro,

But Japan is an anomaly of easy money for Americans. Can you comment on how important proximity to major gamedev hubs is to the act of making games (independently) and if the proximity is a great creativity/productivity booster, or more of a job acquisition asset?

-Dave

What do you mean by independant? If you mean strictly by yourself + some outsourcing then i don't see why location would matter at all, i'm outsourcing work to artists i've only met by skype and it's very easy working with them from the other side of the earth.

Wow, so many good replies. Thank you all. I have pretty much ruled out KC as an option at this point. After doing some more research on Google Fiber I have found that it may not be all that its cracked up to be anyway, I'll be it , it is the best home internet connection available atm.

I am now really considering Austin, because, as other posters have mentioned, it is far and away cheaper than SF and I can afford to buy a home there which will allow me to expand (my life and family) for the foreseeable future, and will isolate me from downside financial risks. I am still considering SF, but the base rents I could expect to pay for anything comfortable would be $1500 - $2000 / month, and if I save that cash I can just buy plane tickets to/from SF when needed, if needed.

From what I hear and read Austin also has a nice game dev scene, even a nice indie game dev scene. Can anyone else speak for this?

L. Spiro: Interestingly, I was born near where you were, in St. Louis Missouri, although I have no memory of ever being there. Maybe I'll run into when I go to Tokyo next :)