From Idea to Income
How to be successful at independent games
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Who is this guy?
Daniel Menard
Co-founder and CEO
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Big Action Mega Fight!
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First Cohort
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Founded
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Creative Expression
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No Limitations
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Innovation
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Creative expression
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No limitations
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Innovation
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Push the industry forward
The Indie Dream
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Entrepreneurship first
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Probably won’t make you rich
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~90% of new companies fail
The Indie Reality
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Crowded Market
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Failure is part of the game
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Passion alone isn’t enough
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Releasing is only half the battle
The Indie Reality
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Financing
Scope / Time
Right project
Right market
Hiring
Management
Your Battlefields
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No content
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No content
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Puzzle-platformer
Party of Sin
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Puzzle-platformer
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Local coop
Party of Sin
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Puzzle-platformer
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Local coop
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Steam release
Party of Sin
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Puzzle-platformer
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Local coop
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Steam release
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Originally meant for
consoles
Party of Sin
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Team of ~8
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Working remotely
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Revenue share deal
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Kickstarter
Party of Sin
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3.5 years
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Part time
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I quit my job in
April 2012
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Released in
December 2012
Party of Sin
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Decent reviews
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Massive Steam sales
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Profitable over time (~1 year)
What we thought would happen
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Mixed reviews
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Marketing and store placement not great
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Mediocre sales
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98% piracy
What actually happened
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My career is over!
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It’s okay to fail
It is a necessary step toward success
Most important lesson
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From Toyota
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Ask “Why?” at least 5 times
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Get to the root cause
Five Whys
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Honest picture of our game and process
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Mistakes we would never make again
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Crankshaft Games Code of Conduct
The great postmortem
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Is this going to be your hobby or your career?
• Party of Sin started as a hobby
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Must be accountable to your players
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Constantly learning
Professionalism
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Be clear on how you will make money
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Pricing is complicated
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Keep in mind the expectations of anyone giving you
money
Business Model
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Hire talented people you will trust
Build a solid team
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Hire talented people you will trust
Build a solid team
Hire people when you know they’re the one
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Hire talented people you will trust
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Good teams don’t need managers
Build a solid team
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Hire talented people you will trust
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Good teams don’t need managers
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Give everyone a stake
Build a solid team
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Hire talented people you will trust
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Good teams don’t need managers
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Give everyone a stake
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Generalists
Build a solid team
Breadth
Depth
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Keep an open mind
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Share creative freedom, it will be good for you
• Party of Sin was too centralized
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Take feedback as an opportunity to learn
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Acknowledge your weaknesses
Leave your ego at the door
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Sustainable Development
Work-Life Balance
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Sustainable Development
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Eliminate crunch and burnout
Work-Life Balance
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Sustainable Development
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Eliminate crunch and burnout
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Give people control over how they contribute
Work-Life Balance
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Sustainable Development
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Eliminate crunch
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Give people control over how they contribute
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Work-Life Balance
Work-Life Balance
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Common pitfall: put everything you think is cool in
your first game
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Don’t fall in love with your project
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What if you were paying someone?
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Don’t build an engine unless you sell engines
Mind your time / scope
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Think beyond just one project
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Have a unifying vision
• Most studios will not display it publicly
• It’s important to stick out
Studio Thinking
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You will be defined by the games you make
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How you make those games is more important
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Your first few will be bad
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Focus on the process
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Build your company culture
Hit Driven Business
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Incubator program for mobile indie games in
Montreal
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Funding for 9 months
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Mentorship from industry experts
Execution Labs
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Team Catalyst
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Support Resouces
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Mentorship
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Amazing Network
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Feedback all
through the
process
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Shared experience
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Leadership / vision coaching
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Someone on your side
How Incubators Can Help
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Nurture your team
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Be ready to learn
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Speak out, give feedback
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Think as a company, not a product
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Evolve your process
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Mind the schedule
Make the best of incubator
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The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
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Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
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Valve Handbook for New Employees
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Ideas per Second by Nathan Marts (GDC 2013)
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http://mashable.com/2013/02/28/indie-game-statistics/
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http://indiegames.com/2013/04/the_8_keys_to_indie_success.html
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http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ThomasSteinke/20130415/190484/Repon
References