Successful TA indie developers

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Inner Hero, Aug 1, 2016.

  1. Inner Hero

    Inner Hero Well-Known Member
    Patreon Gold

    Aug 24, 2015
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    Hey devs,

    I was curious how many indie developers lurking around toucharcade have become a financial success.
    If any, how many projects did it take to become financially secure?

    Thanks!
     
  2. finndc

    finndc Well-Known Member

    Fingers crossed that this thread gets a few replies, seeing as I'd like to eventually be someone who can positively answer your question...
     
  3. Inner Hero

    Inner Hero Well-Known Member
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    Aug 24, 2015
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    finndc - it seems to be all about persistence. After all, Angry Birds is known to be Rovio's 52nd attempt at success. I seem to be getting closer with each project, but I don't know if I can hold out 52 times! :D
     
  4. SpiritBomb Studios

    SpiritBomb Studios Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2013
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    Saigon, Vietnam
    There are many

    There are many successful devs here on TA, not just small indie, but even bigger publishers.
    For example, RobTop, PikPok and FDG are very active members of TA
     
  5. Inner Hero

    Inner Hero Well-Known Member
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    Aug 24, 2015
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    Thanks SpiritBomb Studios.

    My main question really was about how many projects it took to get to the magical mark of sustainability. I have heard stories of people getting lucky on their first try, but to me it seems to be more of a process. I don't believe most developers become successful on their first try and I was just curious how many projects it took people to get to where they wanted to be.
     
  6. SpiritBomb Studios

    SpiritBomb Studios Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2013
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    Saigon, Vietnam
    To most indie devs, just finish making a game is already a success. But if you're talking about commercial success, I would say that it's very rare for indie devs. I heard that Angry Bird was the 32th game of Rovio. Even the maker of Flappy Bird also has 10 years game dev experience making games that people have never heard about, before making the hit.
     
  7. Inner Hero

    Inner Hero Well-Known Member
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    Aug 24, 2015
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    SpiritBomb Studios - that's definitely a good perspective. Completing a project is always a successful accomplishment in its own. I have been building apps both professionally and as a hobby for 4 years now, and I recently made the jump to work for myself. It is definitely a struggle, but I notice that each successive title gains more traction. They say only 1 in 10 businesses succeed, and it takes 3-5 years to usually become profitable, and I see this carrying over to game development as well. It is those one-hit wonder apps you hear about that make it seem so easy! But as you stated, a lot of those 'one-hit' wonders had a lot of buildup that lasted multiple years too. I guess my take-away from this conversation so far is to never give up as long as you see progress... I think most indies give up too soon in my opinion. I hear a lot of people give up after their first project.
     
  8. Tinytouchtales

    Tinytouchtales Well-Known Member

    Jul 24, 2012
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    Berlin, Germany
    Hi,

    well i'm by no means successful as in "tons of money raining from the sky" but my last game Card Crawl was a moderate success with more than $100.000 in revenue over a year from a premium game. I've spoken openly about my revenue multiple times. I've been releasing mobile games since 2012 (since 2014 i'm working independently, before that i had a day job in mobile games) and Card Crawl was my 9th released title. All other games of mine have been more or less financial failures. So it took me several years to have a game that somewhat made money, but if my next two games fail i'm out of business again. So always take seemingly big numbers with a grain of salt.
     
  9. nick@Paintteh.com

    May 20, 2013
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    noob at painttehcastle.com
  10. Inner Hero

    Inner Hero Well-Known Member
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    Aug 24, 2015
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    Tinytouchtales - Thanks for the detailed information. I currently have my 7th app that I personally published, and am getting very close to financial stability, but I have accrued some debt to make it happen, so it is a bit more complicated. I have some other apps I worked on, but those were salaried positions, so I don't have any royalty or anything from those. I am really giving myself 10 tries before I abandon ship :D

    [email protected] - for sure. I know that name as a success for a fact!
     
  11. finndc

    finndc Well-Known Member

    Glad to get back here and see some familiar faces from games I've enjoyed :)

    Yeah, those attempt-numbers can be quite intimidating, right :-/

    That's a big part of what made me give making a game a go in the end. I think I'll be proud enough to have made something I think is decent that the effort will be worth it. Hope so.
     
  12. LordFoul

    LordFoul Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Jul 15, 2009
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    New Jersey
    @Tinytouchtales - thanks also for the detailed reply. Some useful data in there regarding monetization strategies and what's worked for you. I've got my first (premium) game out there, with no real sign of making a profit yet, but I haven't given up. I do wonder at some point when to stop improving the existing app and start a new one. My original plan to add expansions via IAP doesn't make as much sense if there isn't a large enough user base and if the conversion rate is that low.
     
  13. finndc

    finndc Well-Known Member

    This is a good question - does anyone with experience have a sense of what are the telltale signs that it's time to give up trying to break(through) a game? I can see myself wanting to persist with the one I've got planned for a long time before giving up on marketing it...
     
  14. Tinytouchtales

    Tinytouchtales Well-Known Member

    Jul 24, 2012
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    Berlin, Germany
    @LordFoul well it's always difficult to decide when a game does not justify updating it anymore. In my case with Card Crawl i worked on it for an additional year since the revenue was good enough. Each update also brought in new users and features in press and the App Store. You could try to do some sales and see how it goes. A lot of people use sales aggregators like Appshopper.com. If you like to we can move this conversation to email as well.
     
  15. lagmacstudio

    lagmacstudio Well-Known Member

    Sep 10, 2011
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    Freelance iOS Developer
    Italy
    I read on your blog the post about the first week of Card Crawl on App Store.
    If I understand correctly, the download boost was due to Apple that has featured the game. Or you used other strategies to advertise the game?
    30,000 downloads is a great goal from my point of view, and I would be happy to do the half. But how?
     
  16. Tinytouchtales

    Tinytouchtales Well-Known Member

    Jul 24, 2012
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    Berlin, Germany
    @lagmacstudio yep, biggest boost was the Apple featuring. Nothing beats that. Unfortunately there is not much else you can really do. Sure great reviews and press coverage helps, but in the end most of the downloads will come from people either seeing your game via a feature or getting a recommendation from a friend.
     
  17. lagmacstudio

    lagmacstudio Well-Known Member

    Sep 10, 2011
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    Freelance iOS Developer
    Italy
    @Tinytouchtales : Thanks for the reply, for sharing your experience with Card Crawl and congrats for your success
     
  18. Stencilsmith_Dev

    Stencilsmith_Dev Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Apr 6, 2016
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    Unfortunately I can't report that I'm a financial success but I did want to just throw out a quick thank you to everyone who has replied to this thread. Despite the grind that game development is, it's nice to actually see devs with varying degrees of financial success having a conversation in the name of community. I've only released my first title, which I've decided to continue to iterate on before working on the next but it's been very helpful to hear about other's paths. Thanks again.
     
  19. TheBryanMitchell

    TheBryanMitchell New Member

    Aug 25, 2016
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    #19 TheBryanMitchell, Aug 25, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2016
    #1 ranked app - Geared. 20 million+ downloads.

    #1 ranked app - Puzzling Penguins*

    #1 ranked game - Geared 2.

    #1 ranked game - Tightwire*

    #1 ranked RPG - Monsters Invade: Oz. Winner GDC Best in Play.

    #1 ranked puzzle game - Puzzling Penguins 2

    *small role.

    About to change an industry with my next game.

    -Bryan
    Night Terrors Dev
     
  20. finndc

    finndc Well-Known Member

    Very well put. And likewise, cheers for sharing where you've got to. I'll check out your game when I get a sec, I look forward to that...

    Impressive! Congratulations :)

    Anyone else reading this and thinking of sharing their experiences, please do. It's invaluable and much appreciated.
     

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