next »

[Krysle Quinsen]

Hey everyone.

I'm wondering about team/studio thing for solo developer, right now I'm solo, and if I'm trying made a website or selling my game should I find a team name or not? Even with single person in the team?

I mean, should I release a game as Krysle Quinsen, or as xxyyzz studio?

Thank you in advanced!

[joe_eyemobi]

I guess it depends on what your end goal is.  If you're happy to make smallish scope games then being solo is both economical and more agile.  If you want to make bigger games and don't have the skills for it then a team would make sense.  Of course the bigger the team gets, the more problems arise typically.

[TonyManfredonia]

I agree with the above; it all depends on your overarching aim.

Making large-scale games is technically possible on your own, but there will come a time when it proves to be incredibly difficult and time consuming.  However, it can't hurt to make a website even if you are solo!

[oahda]

I don't think that was the question. I think the question was "should I release games as Krysle Quinsen or as Hoopedydoopedy Studios?". I might be wrong tho, but that's how I understood it.

I think a "studio name" can be good. Personal fame branding one's name in the event of success seems like an awful hassle in the face of internet hate groups and whatnot, for one. But it also just looks better IMO.

As for names, don't actually include "studio(s)", "games" or "soft(ware)" into it. It looks personalityless IMO. c;

[joe_eyemobi]

I don't think that was the question. I think the question was "should I release games as Krysle Quinsen or as Hoopedydoopedy Studios?". I might be wrong tho, but that's how I understood it.

I think a "studio name" can be good. Personal fame branding one's name in the event of success seems like an awful hassle in the face of internet hate groups and whatnot, for one. But it also just looks better IMO.

As for names, don't actually include "studio(s)", "games" or "soft(ware)" into it. It looks personalityless IMO. c;

Woops, you're right looks like I misread the question entirely

[Krysle Quinsen]

I don't think that was the question. I think the question was "should I release games as Krysle Quinsen or as Hoopedydoopedy Studios?". I might be wrong tho, but that's how I understood it.

Yes, that's what I mean. Thank you for correction.

[pjgame025]

I would personally go with a studio name (but you don't have to have "studio" or "games" or something like that trailing at the end). The reasons are manifold: it looks slightly more professional, allows for a brand identity to develop apart from your personal identity (this way for Twitter pages you can attract different channels and branch off), it serves as a somewhat unifying center, etc. Depending on how you market it, you could make it some sort of artisanal studio, where quality is almost guaranteed (think of valve).

Hope this kind of helps.

[Muz]

I'd say personal name if it's 100% your work. I've changed names a lot. Very often in the games industry people drop out of the team. Or you drop out of your team.

You can always do Sid Meier's style later. Like "Sid Meier's Pirates, by Firaxis". And people tend to follow the names like John Carmack, Will Wright, Tarn Adams, Jeff Vogel, cliffski.

Note that I said Jeff Vogel instead of Spiderweb Software, because most of Spiderweb's personality is Vogel himself. I don't even recall the name of cliffski's studio.

[G-Factor]

Personally, I'm planning on using a company name for everything other than twitter. So on Google Play or App Store, it will say the game was made by "Company Name". My facebook page and website will also be company name.

However, I plan to use something more personal for twitter. I just started using it and basically have no followers but I think it will be a bit weird if "Company Name" shared an article, or "Company Name" asks a question. Currently my twitter is still my company but I plan to change it.

[Grhyll]

Personally, I'm planning on using a company name for everything other than twitter. So on Google Play or App Store, it will say the game was made by "Company Name". My facebook page and website will also be company name.

Did you already register as an Apple Dev? I've painfully learned yesterday that on the App store, as a solo developper, you don't have a choice but to use your real name as seller name :/ Not totally sure about this yet, but there is definitely something bad going on about this topic...
On a lighter note, my plan was exactly the same as yours: "company" name for stores, personal nickname for Twitter.

[G-Factor]

I haven't registered yet.

Surely even if you have to register with your real name, you can display a company name on the App's info page?

[Grhyll]

It looks like you can't :/ I haven't reached the end of the process yet, so I can't say for sure (the doc can always be misinterpreted), but I'd say you can't if you register as a single dev...

[Sik]

Wait, is that regardless if you actually registered a company legally? I mean I know that some countries don't allow registering a company if you're solo, but some do and it'd be stupid to not acknowledge that. If that's indeed the case then the only explanation I could think of is if they're trying to deter developers selling shit under different names to escape their bad reputation.

[Grhyll]

Once again, I'm not entirely sure. I think that, if you have a legally registered company, you can use your company name, just be sure to enrol in Apple dev program as a company and not as an individual, because there's no going back after (well, unless you want to pay $99 again).
In my case, I don't have a legal structure for my project, so it wasn't an option :/ It just hurts a lot when you just paid $25 for life on Google Play, choosing whatever name you want, and then you try to do the same with Apple, for $99 a year, without being able to choose the name you like...

[OkijinGames]

Once again, I'm not entirely sure. I think that, if you have a legally registered company, you can use your company name, just be sure to enrol in Apple dev program as a company and not as an individual, because there's no going back after (well, unless you want to pay $99 again).

Indeed, this is exactly what happened to me so I ended up publishing games with my real name on iTunes while every where else (Android, Windows Phone...) I use my company name - can probably transfer the titles to a new account later on but will have to pay again the subscription.