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[Schrompf]

I quit my job as an software engineer for a consumer electronics company in June 2011. Since then I did a bit of freelancing and mainly worked on Splatter, a game I thought to be small enough to complete within a reasonable time. Haha. Now, about one year after I thought it would be completed I'm actually close to Release. My savings run out quickly, I'll have to borrow some money just to be able to see if the game actually sells.

It's been a blast so far. I've been doing game development for nearly 30 years now, I've worked my share of crunch time in the "professional" game development bussiness, I lead several games from scratch to completion. I also made all the mistakes one can make - starting a project way too large, developing my own framework and engine, founding and leading a team... but I learned so much during these years that I now hope it will give me an edge over all the thousands of other indie game developers.

[Miguelito]

To be fair, your game went from a pretty mediocre-looking affair to becoming a little technical marvel in that time, those height map effects are looking absolutely crazy.

Good luck with it, if you ask me a nice and readily available demo will get you players fast.

[Schrompf]

Thanks for the nice words! I'll try exactly that. I'll keep you posted how it turns out.

I enjoyed the other stories posted here so far. Especially the tips by FamousAspect are worth reading.

[eigenbom]

I quit my job about 15 months ago and have been working on two games since: a kids game for iOS, and an exploration/building game for PC/Mac. Before that I spent about 11 years at university, doing half a degree in engineering, a whole honours degree in computer science, and then a PhD in procedural graphics. During my PhD years the big indie boom was happening and I was very envious of all the good games being made, but I wanted to see the PhD to the end. After that I took up a postdoc but that went bad, and so after a year I quit and started working on the games.

Hopefully in 6 months time I'll start seeing some revenue from both the games, and if that doesn't happen then I'll have to start looking for work, probably back in academia or some small indie studio. I'm glad I chose this path for now, and I'm definitely achieving my primary goal: to go through the full process of building a game from scratch, including the engine, the artwork, and all the rest. I look forward to the day when I can move my office out of home and employ a second programmer.

[FamousAspect]

I enjoyed the other stories posted here so far. Especially the tips by FamousAspect are worth reading.

Thanks much for the complement. I'm glad my tips were helpful - they were hard won lessons from my first year of freelancing.

[marvinhawkins]

Do you guys have any stories/advice to share based on your experience quitting your day job to do indie game dev full time? Maybe you worked in the software industry, or as a programmer in a large game company? I'm curious as to how those of you who used to work a regular job got started.

Well about a month ago. I was called into my bosse's office for a meeting. It was a teleconfrence with the entire department. HR was inside. For some reason it didn't click. But my team was being restructured, and thus, our jobs eliminated. I did reapply for the new role, but found out Monday that I didn't get it. Honestly, that was a relief, so while I didn't quit per se, next month I will finally be a full time indie.

[Muz]

In a sense. Quit to start an unrelated business. Someone offered to pay for some consulting, since I had some free time. Before I knew it, I was making over twice my previous salary, with plenty of lucrative job offers to turn down.

The indie life actually suits me a lot better. I find that I'm most efficient working 12-18 hours a day, 3 days a week. The momentum really picks up with time, but I'd need a lot of spare time to clear off the fatigue. Under those conditions, I could probably do a month's job in a week. But good luck trying to explain that to an employer or convince him that I should be in the office only 3 days a week.

Also, in app development, you have like a programmer, a designer, a couple of salespeople, and some senior/middle management guys. Maybe 2 programmers if you're doing something like a web app. The programmers and the designers are the real rockstars. The others are useful but have diminishing gains. Even if you ignore unfair pay distribution, the people who add to the costs of the app are the most expensive. Cut them out and you have a far cheaper app... which means that there are a hell lot more opportunities open. What's worse is that most app development groups often have teams of 2-3 people who accomplish less than a single skilled person.

With a typical company, a typical sized app might cost about $30k-50k. With a minimum sized indie group, more like $10-$20k (and the members get a bigger cut). You'll also find a lot more clients as it's easier to justify the costs.


Also, was going to give a bunch of tips but it would just echo what FamousAspect said.

Basically, you do need to know where the money is coming from, and at least have a bunch of numbers that support that, even if the numbers are biased. If you don't have the numbers, at least have enough cash on hand to survive if your hypotheses are false and your games flop.

I'd strongly recommend getting an alternative cash flow before quitting because games take a very long time to pay back. Buy some stocks in something, learn to play poker, join some multi level marketing scheme, sell some lemonade, marry a spouse with a salary.. whatever. Just make sure you have a way of living through a few years.

[mychii]

I quit from my work 2 years ago as web developer. I depend on my savings up to now but back then I was starting non-game business, which are still related to my previous work; websites. So I became a web dev freelancer for local business. I close down my freelance business in 2012 because of my poor management for a very tight local competition that causes the price for each project to go down (down to $250 for static website). Besides, I realized that my business was not promising as the number of my team increased (which it will as number of project goes where 2 - 3 projects are max projects that can be handled by a single developer and a designer) which giving a very slow margin and give me no time to rest at all (If I'm sick, then the time is delayed; project delay equals no money in freelance work), and there are times there won't be any project at all.

So a few months before I officially stop freelancing (end of 2011) (which causes some people in rage when notified), I was thinking something that could be mass produced (like you make one product, and maintain it while people keep coming in and buy/subscribe). So I started to go into the hype of web development that could give me one. Not to forget, I do this with a friend, I believe in business partnership. Ideas after ideas (probably 3 like online shop, web tool, etc.) it all went down without being shipped due to very fast market and our energy that can't build determination to even finish a thing. We thought it would be as the same as being a boss like freelancer world, but it's quite different, because the project is driven by yourself and only you who can push this business to the real world.

So after that we came up with an idea of being a publisher, a small publisher of games for HTML5, but then Mark Zuckerberg gave an ultimate statement that influenced many people back then where HTML5 is not ready yet (when it is already speculated of being not ready, AND actually officially not ready) for his Facebook app that he converted it to native. This is very shocking and we want to prove it ourselves.

We finally got one up to iOS at the end of December 2012 and before that we struggled to get approval for being Apple developer. It took me a month, probably because of my country of origin that only allow fax to send data to them, and got rejected once due to administration issue (which takes another 2 weeks that totals a month). After being approved, I had to push the game which took another month until it finally went up. It gives me only $11 with $1 return (which total $10) until now. In the end, we put up the free one with ads. Well of course, I didn't market it anywhere at all so the numbers aren't very surprising, I just want to see how it works using HTML5 in iOS and how fast the app is drowned into the sea of iOS app (which I found out that it is only matter of hours), there was no marketing effort, just marketing research (it was dumb, don't do it). So we're currently developing another HTML5 game but this time for browser, but we create a backup plan to run into Unity3D, in case of graphics/CPU hiccups that HTML5 might bring which also may prove that the HTML5 publishing is another failure idea. And that's until now.

I only tell you the story since 2011 when I quit my last job. But the point is, I won't get any of these wonderful experience of finding my success if I just stop not to do something, which is in your case, indie. Just jump in, make sure you have enough savings to take a risk and you're a go. Even Temple Run developer takes 8 games before people finally only see their successes out of their failures. I'm not telling you this to go gamble, that's too optimistic. Prepare everything, save money, tell your closest ones (boyfriend, family, etc.) what you're up to so they're ready (and you're ready for whatever they say to you to see how determined you are). See how long do you think you could take for this opportunity of yours, and switch back a little when you're out of money, and get back on when you're ready again. As long as its a passion, I don't find it tiring, because it gives me a purpose to work happily.

God that was long. Hope it helps.

[gambrinous]

This thread is fascinating already. Still only doing gamedev on the weekend myself..

[marvinhawkins]

I'm really excited honestly. I've recieved a  lot of advice saying to 'never quit your day job'. But in my case, my job quit me. I've applied to many jobs, and got to the interview stage. I'm a social media/online marketer by trade. Game design is my hobby. But what i've noticed is, its extremely difficult to start a business on the side. Family and friends will always demand time. Im taking the rejections for new jobs I'm qualified for, and the lay off as a sign. While I'd never quit with no safefy net, now is the perfect time to start. Best of luck to you! If anyone needs any pointers on Social Media marketing (Its tough, but worth it.) Feel free to reach out. [email protected]

[tanyaxshort]

I was a game designer/scripter in MMOs (Funcom) for 5 years, and early this year, that all went south. Literally, they moved the dev team to North Carolina. I wanted to stay here in Montreal, so I was out of a job. I'd made indie games on the side (Dungeons of Fayte woo, with my husband, who goes by 'pulsemeat' here) and before that in school in C++ and Lua, but never with any commercial ambitions. I've been active in the local Montreal games society and met awesome people!

Recently, I was lucky enough to hear about an incubator/accelerator program here in Montreal (http://www.executionlabs.com).. and got in! So, now my job is leading a team of four for minimum wage-ish, and trying to design a commercially viable mobile game, to come out late this year! All advice welcome. Wish me luck!

[FamousAspect]

Recently, I was lucky enough to hear about an incubator/accelerator program here in Montreal (http://www.executionlabs.com).. and got in! So, now my job is leading a team of four for minimum wage-ish, and trying to design a commercially viable mobile game, to come out late this year!

I know Jason Della Rocca of Execution Labs. He's a very good guy. Congratulations on getting into the accelerator! After you've completed the accelerator program I would love to read a postmortem on the process and how it compares to corporate work.

[tanyaxshort]

Thanks a ton! It definitely promises to be ... different. I feel a bit bipolar already honestly, wavering between excitement (it might be SO GOOD OMG) and sheer terror (wtf am I doingggg).

[trilby]

Thanks a ton! It definitely promises to be ... different. I feel a bit bipolar already honestly, wavering between excitement (it might be SO GOOD OMG) and sheer terror (wtf am I doingggg).

Yeah but on the days when it feels SO GOOD, it feels SOOO GOOOD!!  Ignore the downers 

(wish I could listen to my own advice)...

[ekun]

One of the misconceptions I had before starting work full-time was that I'd have a lot of free time and consequently be able to work on independent projects. But although I do have some free time, it's difficult to do game dev on the side. It's like all of my energy is used up doing work-related programming, and I just need time to recharge on weekends.

This is why I want to go fulltime indie, I really want to force myself to have nothing other to do than game dev.

(disguised bump, love reading these stories...)

[panicBarn]

I quit and went Indie, but I left it very late. I'm old and have responsibilities. Wish I did it earlier before the responsibilities tie you down and it becomes harder and harder to leave the monthly wage packet.

[rimau]

For me it's still a transition time. From one self owned business to another. Hard as hell but it's just temporary, and satisfying in many ways. When you have responsibilites you simply need to have some kind of backup before everything starts to work out well.

[Tuba]

Yes, 3 years ago, tried to make iOS games with a friend and finished none, after 8 months I got kinda depressed about not being able to accomplish anything and grabbed a job opportunity that appeared.

I've been wanting to try it again, I think I'm more mature now and have a lot more experience with development but I'm not living with my parents anymore and don't have enough money saved for emergencies.

[OkijinGames]

Thanks to everyone, this is an interesting thread with some valuable information for starters as I am.

I quit a job in the financial sector last month to create an indie game company (Okijin Ltd) with the immediate goal to finish and publish my first game. The game has now been released on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Store where it is enjoying positive reviews - being featured on Microsoft store spotlights has helped a lot!

I have no advice to give about the post-production process as this is something I am currently learning by doing (and already made my share of mistakes ) but here are my 2 cents about the process of creating a first game as a one-man indie.

I had wanted to create a video game for many years but everything I started always ended up in an archived folder on my laptop. The biggest reason for this was that the scale of the projects was not tailored to a one-man's life (who's never dreamed of creating the next generation RPG or grand strategy game with life-like freedom, physics and graphics can throw the first stone...

"Start simple and evolve"

I read this sentence in some book and decided to make it my motto on the project. It may be frustrating at times but it worked as I was able to meet all set deadlines during the production stage and at the end, the satisfaction of finishing the project is just worth it.

To me, starting simple from a project perspective meant:

• Basing the game on a simple - but hopefully enjoyable - gameplay.
• Sticking to technologies I knew. I made one exception to this and coming from C++, I still decided to learn JavaScript from scratch but the gains in that specific project outweighed the initial curve.
• Aiming for a consistent graphics style while remaining efficient to produce time wise. To me that also meant giving up on 3D since I have no experience whatsoever with 3D software but at least I could populate my world with something else than non-textured spheres and cubes.

From this point of view, it is immediately easier to exclude the unnecessary from the timeline and help realistically scope the tasks ahead.

I intend to also apply this principle on a larger scale, for now just releasing a few more games on my own and hopefully grow to a point where I can assemble a small team around bigger ideas and one day maybe the - so to speak - next generation RPG or grand strategy game with life-like freedom, physics and graphics may become a reality

Regards

[team23]

I quit my job a little less than two years ago to try my hand at indiedom.  Basically I had a non-gaming software dev job, saved up for ~ 2years of expenses and made the leap.  Its been a bit of a mixed bag, I would weight on the negative side.  I'm working on releasing my first game by the end of the year.

I made a number of mistakes.

First, I didn't understand my work ethic/style.  In my 9-5 I was working under constant tight deadlines (Sometimes even zero or negative deadlines of getting stuff working that other people screwed up).  And my work had a number of people immediately invested in it.  So immediate and direct feedback on my work was a natural byproduct of my job.  This was extremely good for my productivity.  I work well under stress and make decisions quickly when required to.  However making the transition to working at home caused my productivity to drop.  My deadlines were soft, I had no one immediately invested in meeting those deadlines and my work suffered.  This was probably the biggest mistake that I made.

Second, I made too big of a game.  I thought it was going to be a quick 6 month project, but now its looking like a 24 month project, and that's still with me cutting stuff I had planned to include.  Common mistake, but made it anyway. 

Finally, I hadn't released a game before.  So now I'm in the late stages of trying to wrap/polish up my game for release and its taking much longer than I thought.  Experience releasing  game would likely make this much faster (Knowing where to spend time, what is ok and what actually needs work). 

So would I do it again?  Maybe, I think I definitely need to work with at least one other person.  With someone else to work off of I think productivity would be better, assuming that person is equally as invested in the project as I was.  I would also work on a smaller project.  But the timing was good for me, I had the savings to make the leap and an idea that I think could still be relatively successful if I can get it out the door.  And I've always wanted to chase the game dev dragon as it were.  If it doesn't work out then I can scratch that off my bucket list and go back to my other job that I still find enjoyable. 

Tips if you want to do this:

• Get someone else invested in your game from day 1.  A business partner or friend/relative.  Someone who will care about the game but also understand what's going on.
• Don't quit without savings.  Your game will take longer than you think, probably much longer.  I would shoot for 4x your projected time to develop. 
• Don't quit until you've released something.  It doesn't have to be big, but something polished to the relative quality that you expect of your full time game.  This may not be a hard requirement for success but I think it is a significant contributor. 
• Understand your work ethic/style.  Find out what you need to work hard.  Do this before you quit.  The same effort that gets you working on a game outside of work will be the effort that keeps you working on the game during month 9 of your 3 month project. 

Hope that helps...