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[Slashandz]

I know nothing of game design.  I want to hire someone to make a game for me.
How much do you expect to be paid?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

this depends on too many factors to list

but basically $50-70k a year per person is about standard

[Slashandz]

this depends on too many factors to list

but basically $50-70k a year per person is about standard

Whoa whoa whoa.  Really?  I work in the Finance Field and don't get that much in a year.
Is that really the expectation of an entry level indie designer?

[ink.inc]

this depends on too many factors to list

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

well, if they would be working for you, they would no longer be "indie", now would they? instead they'd be a part of the videogame industry. and yes that is what is standard in the videogame industry, at least for programmers. artists may get slightly less

and yes, entry level programmers make more than entry-level people in finance. it's a skill that's in higher demand

[Slashandz]

Fair enough.  Thanks for the replies.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

you may be able to get away with less if

- the person you are hiring has no degree in programming and is a self-taught amateur
- they aren't 18 yet
- you offer them a % of the royalties of sales of the game

but if you do these things (especially the first two) the quality may suffer a bit of course, since if you go after some 16 year old who taught himself programming he may not have the dedication and skills to do what is required (or he may, if he's really good)

[Zaphos]

For reference, here is a set of game industry salaries w/ job titles: http://realtimecollisiondetection.net/blog/?p=107

Although also note that these are people who are working for established companies; I imagine the market for people to work at tiny un-established companies or startups is fairly different.

[VDZ]

well, if they would be working for you, they would no longer be "indie", now would they? instead they'd be a part of the videogame industry. and yes that is what is standard in the videogame industry, at least for programmers. artists may get slightly less

and yes, entry level programmers make more than entry-level people in finance. it's a skill that's in higher demand

Also, he said 'make a game', not 'work on a game'...I think he's referring to the entire package, which will likely also involve multiple people (AFAIK there aren't that many programmers who can also do commercially viable art).

Really, it depends on many things. Do you want 'stock graphics physics based puzzle flash game' or do you want Modern Warfare 342? From what I know (and that's very little, so this is probably grossly inaccurate) simple flash games go for a couple thousand dollars, but modern triple A titles cost tens of millions of dollars to develop.

[moi]

given the fact that you could become as rich as Notch with a game, I'd ask for $10 millions (you can borrow the money, and it's not a lot compared to all the money you can earn)

But honestly I doubt that you work in the finance if you start by asking how much we want to get paid.
You must lure the best professionals of the field using human psychology, make them sign an abusive contract and pay them as low as possible. That's how the best videogames have been created.

[ink.inc]

^

[hanako]

I know nothing of game design.  I want to hire someone to make a game for me.
How much do you expect to be paid?

And along with the "it really depends", you could post a request on some crazy freelance board offering a few hundred or a few thousand and you'd probably get a taker.

But would they actually make anything that wasn't complete crap knocked up in a few hours with GM/RPGMaker?


(Disclaimer that shouldn't be required but probably is anyway - Of course you can make a decent game with such tools. But they're also the obvious thing to turn to if you want to make some sucker a crap game in 24 hours and chortle over your stack of gold.)

[Oddball]

If you know nothing about game design slashandz then you should probably learn before putting any money down. Adam Coates did what you are proposing, he had the 'greatest' game idea ever, borrowed a ton of money and hired someone to make it. If you want a cautionary tale then Google his game Flytrap. Spoiler - It wasn't the greatest game idea ever.

Grab yourself Game Maker, or similar software, and start getting some practice and learning as much as you can. You might find that you have knack for it and don't need to hire or collab with anyone. But even if you don't have a knack for it you will have a better understanding of the process and whether your ideas are worth pursuing.

[michaelplzno]

I know nothing of game design.  I want to hire someone to make a game for me.

I'll also chime in that this is a bad situation. You will almost undoubtedly lose all your money and the game you get made will be a terrible game if you even manage to get it finished. It truly takes a great deal of experience to be able to pick a winning game concept and get it made successfully.

[michaelplzno]

Just as an addendum. If you are really a "finance guy" and you are good at raising money and running businesses and so on then I would recommend finding a designer who does have some experience with production and picking good concepts and teaming up with this person to help them rase capital and build their business. If you are good at this, there are likely many people here who would want to work with you in that way. 

(Unfortunately this question does seem to hint that you might not be an expert at that job either.)

[bateleur]

It should be possible to hire a game developer for much less than $50K per year for some kinds of project.

Post a project outline and you'll probably get better advice.

[Pineapple]

Post a project outline and you'll probably get better advice.

but if he does that I'm going to steal his idea

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

It should be possible to hire a game developer for much less than $50K per year for some kinds of project.

Post a project outline and you'll probably get better advice.

part time and/or work-from-home, yes. a lot of people would be willing to work for less a year just for the benefit of not having to travel to work each day

[TylerYork]

And along with the "it really depends", you could post a request on some crazy freelance board offering a few hundred or a few thousand and you'd probably get a taker.

But would they actually make anything that wasn't complete crap knocked up in a few hours with GM/RPGMaker?

This. You might want to learn about what you're buying before you try and pay someone for it. Otherwise you're likely going to end up with a total lemon

[SundownKid]

Hiring someone full time for this would be crazy, $50k is way overboard for someone who is an amateur garage developer. I suggest that you do the game design yourself and hire a programmer/artist part time for a flat rate, that would be the easiest and cheapest way to do what you are thinking.