Casual Market Potentials?

[hashemroshanaie]

Hi everybody,

I have been reading a lot of news about the growing market for casual games. There are a lot of stats saying this truth that casual games are earning more and more every month.
But there is a question: are the current giant games really made by indie developers!? We all know that there are big portals selling for big developers. How far the indie brackets can extend? 250,000 USD? what about 1M$? or ten and even tens of million dollars?
There are thousands of real indie developers who are trying to copy the ideas that industry giants have developed. Let's think to Time Management or hidden object genre which have been categorized on top in the portals. The community is being managed or even leaded by those on the top of the pyramid. This is not naturally a bad news; but what if they issue rules that copying ideas is illegal and they should be innovative original ideas???
I have been reading some related news recently that indie developers are going to be penalized for copied stuff; this could include from arts to game play, who knows?
Not going to say that everything is up for the small business, but it seems they are making it an exclusive society for top sellers.
As a result, if any wants to really survive as Indie Game Maker, they need to hurry and raise the revenue for their products. May be loans can help for them? Because it is not possible to make a good selling indie game with 20000 dollars dedicated to production budget, is it?

Please do not blame me, but I just tried to figure out the reality.

[Scharlo]

Hi everybody,
Because it is not possible to make a good selling indie game with 20000 dollars dedicated to production budget, is it?

Probably not. Someone might spend less than that to develop good selling title but it doesn't mean that the budget was actually lower. Cost of man month vary from $2K to $10K depends on the location and I can't see good selling game to be developed under 5-6 MM.
Some developers will claim they developed the game for less is due to the fact that they don't value their time as they should.

[J Fizzle]

Probably not. Someone might spend less than that to develop good selling title but it doesn't mean that the budget was actually lower. Cost of man month vary from $2K to $10K depends on the location and I can't see good selling game to be developed under 5-6 MM.
Some developers will claim they developed the game for less is due to the fact that they don't value their time as they should.

I never agree with adding a dollar sign next to the amount of hours you put into a game project. What if they made a crazy law that didn't allow you to sell games? It's not like you guys would just stop making games right? Well at least most of you wouldn't, I hope. The majority of us do it for the love of making games, and we would still do it as a hobby even if there was no money to be earned from it.

"If time = money, then nobody would go to work."

[hashemroshanaie]

Cost of man month vary from $2K to $10K depends on the location and I can't see good selling game to be developed under 5-6 MM.

And what is the guaranty to sell it? The sales manager on the famous portal of your favor may say a simple "NO!"

Ok, not to be looking at the dark side, let's suppose it sells. But how can an Independent Developer afford to pay $30K to produce the idea? They are practically small businesses and have been surviving on outsourced contracts.

[hashemroshanaie]

What if they made a crazy law that didn't allow you to sell games? It's not like you guys would just stop making games right?

Great reply; thanks man. The point is in this case the indie gamers will be just contractors, not company owners, am I right?

I agree working is a hobby, but life is going to be expensive specially when children grow up and they add zeros to the costs!

[Scharlo]

Ok, not to be looking at the dark side, let's suppose it sells. But how can an Independent Developer afford to pay $30K to produce the idea?

Quite simple actually. Spend few hours per day after work working on your game and invest part of your salary to buy the art and sound assets.
If you are working 3 hr/day on average (including weekends) this will end up being 5-6 man months worth of work per year. More than enough to finish your game.

[hashemroshanaie]

Quite simple actually. Spend few hours per day after work working on your game and invest part of your salary to buy the art and sound assets.
If you are working 3 hr/day on average (including weekends) this will end up being 5-6 man months worth of work per year. More than enough to finish your game.

yes I agree with that. It is a good solution, but what if your product is out dated or old becuase of one year passed by the original idea? You have not lost your current job, but the savings, overwork and time are bigger issues to consider.

Casual games are needed to be fun and Indie developers try to pace in this direction. So, is there any solution to make it fast, effective and upto date with the market needs?

Maybe trying out smaller projects with lower budgets can help? But will portals intend to buy it? Most likely some dealers are looking up these sorts of projects. I have been reading even on this forum that some developers have been cheated by some dealers. So this is a bad news!

I am sure there is a way out this mess; it is not supposed to be a paradox, but succes has always very simple and obvious signs that are ignored most often. Actually I am looking up those signs

thanks for your comments.

[jcottier]

but succes has always very simple and obvious signs that are ignored most often.

Signs!!! Stop dreaming and start working. There is no such things. You need hard dedicated work to produce a game that will be succesfull. If you work part time, it will probably take you more than a year, and yes, you will have to spend few 1000$ on art/snd/music.

JC

[Michael Flad]

And what is the guaranty to sell it? The sales manager on the famous portal of your favor may say a simple "NO!"

Ok, not to be looking at the dark side, let's suppose it sells. But how can an Independent Developer afford to pay $30K to produce the idea? They are practically small businesses and have been surviving on outsourced contracts.

There's no such thing as a guarantee for business owners - if you want a guarantee employment is what you're looking for.

It's a simple trade - you take some risks you get some chances.

An independent dev doesn't have to pay $ 30k in real money but you have to invest the same amount of time worth the money. I guess it's the very low barrier for indie development that even this seems to be too much.
Think about other kinds business and what they have to invest if they need a proper working place like a garage, an independent doctor etc. - they have to invest hundrets of thousands just to be able to do their work while we can start as low as a PC for a few 100 bucks, free devtools and working from the living room.

[Drakkheim]

.... So, is there any solution to make it fast, effective and upto date with the market needs?

here is a handy development guide:

• Fast Development
• Fitting with Market trends / Quality
• Cheap Development Budget

Pick any 2.


Seriously tho, it sounds a little like you're looking for the "Make easy money now!" button, which I'm afraid is just a myth.
There are no guarentees. Everything is risky. It is how you manage those risks that determine your success.

[ChrisP]

it sounds a little like you're looking for the "Make easy money now!" button, which I'm afraid is just a myth.

Now you tell me?

[Jesse Hopkins]

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