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[KinoftheFlames]

I'm looking to make games for the Xbox Live Indie Games section and I'm starting out learning XNA (and getting a refresher in C#) by making a pong-like game. Anyone that's looked through the games there will know that quality and polish are lost on most of them, so I figure if I get a good graphics artist and a decent sound artist (alongside some unique and polished gameplay) I'd probably immediately outsell the majority of games.

But I'm unfamiliar with the business-side of things. As in, what to pay my contractees. Now I'm on a tightrope budget (coughing up the $100 for the XNA membership was painful) and I have no idea of what kind of sales figures to expect, so I planned on paying in % royalties. But what is a good rate?

In this case there will likely only be 3 producers: the developer (myself), the graphics artist, and the sound artist.

• I figure it's obvious that the developer should get the biggest share due to the time/work put into the project. Also in this case I'm the designer and the CEO (business stuff).
• The graphics artist should have the second largest portion because as I understand it graphics (especially the amount in a typical game) takes longer to produce / require more work than the music and sound effects. Graphics are also a huge draw factor that make or break a game before even playing it, whereas sound is usually only noticed after played, and even then only if poorly done.
• The sound artist should get a minimal amount, due to factors described above and the limited work needed in this specific case (two tracks and a handful of sound effects)

So what is an even split? I read 70/20/10 (dev/gfx/sfx) is a good rule of thumb. But given the factors above I think 70/25/5 or 65/25/10 would be a more reasonable percentage.

What do you think is a reasonable split? Or would you suggest an alternate payment method?

I'd also read that ownership of assets is a determining factor in pay. How would this affect the rates if I gave the sound artist (and the graphics artist, if applicable) ownership of their respective creations?

[Vino]

I think you're getting ahead of yourself if you're thinking of spending money on game development. You don't know how much money you're going to make, you should figure out how to do the art and sound yourself until you have a need for an artist and sound designer that you can't ignore, and revenue to throw at them. You also will have trouble managing them when you don't know what it is they're doing -- you're better off getting that experience yourself. Also, revenue sharing and royalty agreements are incredibly complicated and probably require lawyers, which you want to avoid.

[KinoftheFlames]

Well I'm somewhat familiar with the tasks. I've used sound effects made from sfxr and placeholder art made by myself. I've also dabbled in making music in the past so I have some kind of idea on the process. Is there anything else I need to know? Unless you mean making the game in full and wanting professional work done on top of my visuals/sounds (which are terrible) when I have a clear vision of what I want? I'm not sure what other experience I could get by doing it myself before having someone with more skill do it. For example, I've already designed the box art for my game, but I still want someone to professionally do it because it will look better (shaders, proportions, blur effects, etc).

As far as the royalties, that's good advice. Would you suggest I wait until I can pay in flat sums up front? And in that case, what would be an average going rate for a graphics artist/sound artist for a small indie game?

[SundownKid]

I think the better course of action would be to first create the game, with programmer art and sound, and then, once you are sure that it's playable, pay and/or collaborate with an artist and musician to replace the assets. That way you can tell them everything they need to create.

[KinoftheFlames]

I think the better course of action would be to first create the game, with programmer art and sound, and then, once you are sure that it's playable, pay and/or collaborate with an artist and musician to replace the assets. That way you can tell them everything they need to create.

I was planning on doing that in this case, since it seems the most natural way for the process to go smoothly for everyone. I figure in the future when I work on titles with longer development I could ready work for the artists as sections of the game which aren't likely to change much more are completed.

You know it's funny that I can find tutorials for all kinds of languages, libraries, and game design on the web, but no where but TIGSource have I actually seen anyone discuss the business side of indie games. I know it's a little off topic, but I would welcome any resources on the subject you might have.

[Christian Knudsen]

http://forums.indiegamer.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Indie-Business

[Nix]

http://forums.indiegamer.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Indie-Business

The indiegamer forums are much more business oriented than TIGSource. Not a lot of people here have successfully sold games.

[KinoftheFlames]

http://forums.indiegamer.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Indie-Business

Very awesome link! I'm checking out the How to Sell Your Game - Boot Camp sticky and can already tell it's going to be indispensable. Definitely looking forward to checking out the rest of the site.