Startup Game Studio suggestions/intel
polycounter lvl 14
Greeting folks;
I know it is kinda tough question when it comes to think about how to start it. It would take about a week of research. Since I chose "startup game studio" for my Business project with the capital of 10k (what amount I've start up with). The goal is to convince others to invest in you, or give you some sort of loan.
The type of business was: Providing product and services.
Product: creating games for your own profit.
Services: offering assistance to other game studios to make a common game for shared profits. (as I've seen many studios doing that)
The location was found to be basement at first (since I thought it would be no big deal to set the location) but my team mates contradict to this decision and concluded to have an official office (I still dont think it should make a huge ass difference)
I have stuck up with the question Why would one provide the game products.
What is the starting business size. (my analysis assumed it was 4 people to start with)
What is the performance size. (some what knowledge of 3d arts and programming)
What is the product cost ($9.00+)
.
.
.
bottom line, can anyone direct me to the place (aside from the game industry mentor) to read about the back ground of the company and how they started, their initial capital, their business strategies, their initial products, etc?
I'd really appreciate if someone does.
Thanks.
I know it is kinda tough question when it comes to think about how to start it. It would take about a week of research. Since I chose "startup game studio" for my Business project with the capital of 10k (what amount I've start up with). The goal is to convince others to invest in you, or give you some sort of loan.
The type of business was: Providing product and services.
Product: creating games for your own profit.
Services: offering assistance to other game studios to make a common game for shared profits. (as I've seen many studios doing that)
The location was found to be basement at first (since I thought it would be no big deal to set the location) but my team mates contradict to this decision and concluded to have an official office (I still dont think it should make a huge ass difference)
I have stuck up with the question Why would one provide the game products.
What is the starting business size. (my analysis assumed it was 4 people to start with)
What is the performance size. (some what knowledge of 3d arts and programming)
What is the product cost ($9.00+)
.
.
.
bottom line, can anyone direct me to the place (aside from the game industry mentor) to read about the back ground of the company and how they started, their initial capital, their business strategies, their initial products, etc?
I'd really appreciate if someone does.
Thanks.
Replies
Maybe start at the business section at TIGForums particularly the How to Start an Indie Game Business (WIP) thread.
You should also give TIGRadio a listen. Quite a few indie developers get interviewed and go into detail about how they got started, especially Flashbang Studios the makers of Blurst games. Though 80% of it is just random craziness...
You could probably glean some info from the Infinteammo podcast series too.
The Business and Law of Game Development section at Gamdev.net probably has some useful info as well.
Though I'm sure if you're serious about indie development you already know of those, right?
Anyway my personal opinion on the subject is that ideal size of a startup should be 1-2 people (one programmer, one artist) until serious profits start rolling in. More than that is just extra "weight", cost, and added risk without much gain.
The cost of a first product should be much lower $3-5, which should also reflect the small scope of the game/project.
And lastly: Best of luck!
Yes it is an idea of game studio at the very starting stage, and you have the first product done. In other words, you create a business plan for it and you go for investors or a bank for loans/grants.
Thanks for the help Ben
EDIT: GameDev.net is not the business site, it is for Game Development (programming wise) and guiding you through step by step procedure of how game engines work, how to create them what recommended books and so on.
I'll probably ask there as well if I get stuck again.
Thanks guys.
First of all, collaborations aren't generally part of the business plan. They're happy accidents. The only cooperative strategies (worth putting in a business plan) I can think of are:
-Working as a subcontractor, making assets according to spec (as in. VALVe gives you sketches of a plant, you model the plant and get paid)
-Creating games for a publisher, according to a concept or a prototype they deliver (for instance a Tie-in game to Avatar)
-3rd party work, kinda like freelancing - making architectural visualizations, or mockups of industrial designs.
As for 'creating games for your own profit'... very very vague:
-what platform(s)? iPhone, Xbox, PC, flash?
-game types? RTS/FPS/Simulation/etc.
-development cycle? Quick 2 month simple cheap games, or intricate 18-month things?
Then start worrying about the people you need to hire (do you need extra focus on AI programming, do you need artists aimed at high- or lowpoly assets), what software to use (Zbrush is virtually useless for iPhone games. Do we need 1 or 2 copies of Photoshop?) and what physical assets you need to invest in (cellphone games can be produced with a relatively cheap desktop systems, but if you plan on using CryEngine you'll need something beefier.)
Simply said - start with the endgoal, and figure out how to get there.
And personally, I'd start off without an office. I intend to (eventually) start a small company with several friend (which can hopefully evolve out of lost-weekend-game profits) and base that largely on subsidized home offices with bi-weekly meetups ,either in a bar or at someones home - or you could re-purpose one room of your home or use the garage...
The idea is vague because I am still working on detailing it. I had to get it down on a piece of paper when it popped in to my mind. =\
but thanks! Your post did help me out a bit.
!! I have the same plan of start my own game studio and I'd highly base it on RPG type of games or Isometric RPG type of games, that is for later when I have learned everything and have a decent work flow. Right now this one is just a Business project.
You should watch this Ted talk by Seth Godin:
http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html
Thanks again!
1. Don't get an office unless you REALLY need it. In this modern age of distributed computing and easy teleconferencing, an office is more for prestige than practical applications. If you are a small studio with less than 10 employees, chances are good that you won't actually need an office. Get a Skype account for everyone and just work out of your homes. You will be able to stay in constant contact and get regular updates, but won't have to spend extra money on office rent. This is especially true for game development where most of the resources are digital anyway. If you are pitching your game, it is much more likely for you to go to the investors than the other way around, so you don't need a physical space for presentations.
2. If you are doing contract work, always have clearly defined scope within the contract. No matter what kind of contract work your company does to pay the bills, you have to be cautious of feature creep and scope bloat. The client will always try to get as much work as they can out of you for as little money as possible. Clearly defining the scope of projects within the contract, and sticking to it will keep your company in the black. It's fine if the client wants to expand the scope of a project...as long as they pay for the additional work.
3. Never be afraid to slash the features/scope of your own game projects. It is very rare for a game to be hurt by reducing the feature list or narrowing the scope. More often than not this behavior results in a more focused and polished product. Always question whether features are really necessary, and be willing to "table" ideas for future releases or updates. The more you limit the scope and feature set of your games, the faster you will be able to release them. Fast turn-around for small studios means much more regular income and financial stability. I would point you to Torchlight for a successful example of this practice.
It was fun for like 3-4 days since none of the group members were available for the weekend.
I came up with the business location being one member's basement.
With 10k being the initial capital and after the equipment was bought.
Anyways I thought I wasnt suppose to do the SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats).
along with the Risk analysis of the first product.
So I didnt realize after the 4th day that other four members have changed soo much of this project. I left the presentation room with 70%. Seriously I wish it was a single man indi game studio project so I could atleast bring advantages and disadvantages of Sole Proprietary Analysis and support my project to 80% at least.
Anyways.
This gave me an idea of what I want to do in about 4 years after the bachelors.
Really entertaining. <.<