Hello all,

Thanks for making such a rich forum available for us to learn from and participate in. I need your feedback and I appreciate all the help I can get.

What I want to do:

• I aspire to create a game for the community. I have some ideas about the storyline. I am considering to hire/contract a team to work for me to develop the game.

What I can do:

• Work with the a development / art team to create a game that almost matches my vision
• Create a high level story line and draft dialogues
• Fund the game (not starting from zero)

What I can't do:

• Program
• Draw art

Concerns:

Geographic barriers, as I am located in the middle-east. I am not sure if long distance communication is effective.

Legal disputes on things like intellectual properties.

I have absolutely no clue how to get started. I e-mailed a few game development studios located in the Philippines as I assumed they would probably be more cost effective but got no response so far. Any advice? This forums seems like an amazing citadel with lots of information and I even not sure if I am posting in the right place!

Thanks again.

Note: I do not intend to start a business or make profit from this first experience. But keeping costs optimized is strategic choice I want to make for the time being.

have some ideas about the storyline. I am considering to hire/contract a team to work for me to develop the game.

...

I e-mailed a few game development studios located in the Philippines as I assumed they would probably be more cost effective but got no response so far. Any advice?

Yes, pay better.

Expect to pay around $5K USD to $15K USD per developer month, depending on the location of the world. Philippines is a good start, development costs are on the lower end.

For a very small game with rapid turn around -- on the scale of a tiny phone game -- expect around 5 devs * 3 months = 15 developer months, around $75,000 USD in an inexpensive country. Have it developed in the US or UK or more expensive areas for a quarter million USD or so.

For a small PC game -- normally considered "shovel-ware" -- expect to spend around $3MM to $10MM USD in an inexpensive country like Philippines. In the US or UK expect anywhere from $10MM to $20MM.

That is just development cost. Marketing is usually that same amount of money, and distribution costs are usually the same cost again.

Thanks. Wow, I didn't think that would be the range for a PC game! Does include other costs like art, music tracks and sound effects?

If you could program, I would say that you can program it yourself using stand-ins and get artists on board. But you can't.

I'd suggest to join a mod team which makes total conversions (i.e. a full game which is tied to a specific propriety engine). No investor would invest in something until they have a solid marketing plan and IRR. But the IRR of a free game is zero. Depending on what your vision is, I know of a few teams who would welcome good writers with open arms.