Starting a small indie studio... mobile or PC? Freemium or paid?

vinnyvicious · 2014-01-13T05:54:41

I'm starting a small independent game development studio with my wife. We can't really "all-in" on it, so, we're working on the weekends and whenever we manage to find some free time. She's a talented 3D modeler and i've been programming games as a hobby for years now. We decided to start this studio to, someday, generate enough revenue to "replace" our normal jobs and live a happy life. However, i'm having a hard time deciding which market we should tackle first. The mobile market is tempting because we have to develop less content (both in terms of quantity and quality), maximizing the time we have available for the project. Unfortunately, the market is full of indie studios with exciting projects, for the same reasons. The PC market usually requires more content, with higher graphics quality, and longer gameplay. This somehow changed in the last months, by analyzing some of the most sold indie games on Steam, but i'm not sure. Which market do you guys recommend, considering the costs and benefits, for a small indie studio trying to establish itself in the industry and generate a steady revenue? Are paid games better on mobile or PC? Any margins? Or is freemium better on mobile?

Games Business and Law Business

Started by vinnyvicious January 04, 2014 11:36 PM

9 comments, last by Unduli 10 years, 3 months ago

Unduli

2,498

January 13, 2014 05:54 AM

I am always with project having some entrance barrier and tending to fill a gap.

But I think you should more tailor your idea, not get any idea fitting your business plan.

And for paths, stated above but,

Mobile gaming is infested with yet another X type games trying to rely on tiny advertisement revenue (looks more like hit and run games to me) or freemiums. You might check good book of "Free2Play" by Will Luton (from NimbleBit (TinyTower and Tiny DeathStar)) .

for PC gaming, I think you have to play "big in niche" , create hype for Steam / Kickstarter. It is not hard for good projects to be funded (Starbound, Don't Starve)

And finally, actually there is browser gaming that gamedev like to ignore :)

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Starting a small indie studio... mobile or PC? Freemium or paid?

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