Is developing video-games a Fastlane?

[makileth]

In his book The Millionaire Fastlane , MJ mentioned people who made millions by making video games a few times. I'm curious as to what you think about this topic, as I haven't seen anyone discuss it on this forum.

Thanks for your valuable feedback in advance!

 

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[theag]

Yes. Gaming is a massive market. It has a high barrier to entry, because its very technical.

People tend to discount it, because gaming is generally seen as a waste of time. But the mainstream people love to waste time. So it has great opportunities. Will only grow more in the future with VR.

Stardew Valley is a good example. Single developer, 20+ million copies sold. Stardew Valley - Wikipedia

There is not just game development itself, there are even people building great businesses by building tools for gamers. I don't remember the name of it, but I saw something about a site providing statistics about servers for a specific game doing great. Also stuff like esports statistics.

 

[srodrigo]

Stardew Valley is a good example.

I don't think it is. That's an outlier, pretty much like a planetary alignment. What are the chances of some random folk sitting on a chair for 5 years and develop the skills to make a whole game by himself, and one that is actually great? I can surely code, and potentially compose music better than him, but I'd never get to his pixel art skills, and to some other things (game design) you need to nail that game.

OP: it is fastlane if you can succeed. I'm not sure there is a formula though. I keep seeing games that I've never heard about with thousands of reviews on Steam. Then I see actual nice and interesting games that never take off. And I'm not sure marketing is the difference.

 

[Jeix]

Coding itself isn't fastlane, being able to sell that code to millions of people is.

The most recent one-man success is Only Up. Others include Minecraft, Among Us, Untitled Goose Game, Slay the Spire and Inscryption (some of these are indie devs, others one-man projects).

It does require some degree of luck to achieve this success but my golden rule is this: if you want something and can't find it, make it yourself. Out there you'll find people like you who have been looking for the same thing and will buy it from you.

This rule has helped me out a great deal, so long as you are honest with yourself about what you want and what is out there. Best of luck.

 

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[amp0193]

Will only grow more in the future with VR.

The video game / VR industry will peak when we have nanobots in our brain stimulating neurons to alter our perception of reality so that games are indistinguishable from existing in the real world when you are playing them.

Until whenever that happens, the pie is only going to grow. Lots of opportunity.

 

[AidanL]

It sure can be a Fastlane. There's plenty of interest in indie video games too, get thousands of people to download your game and you've made it.

I guess a lot of it comes down to exposing and marketing. You could try build in public

 

[makileth]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts!

The only thing that concerns me about pursuing this path is my reliance on having a plan B. I admit that I'm the kind of person who can't act effectively without one. What I mean is, as I continue my journey learning app development and planning to start a SaaS business, I see failure as an opportunity to widen my skillset and portfolio. This would result in better chances of finding a job or freelance clients, serving as a backup plan (plan B).

However, if a game I create fails, there's no such backup available. Finding a job in the gaming industry is practically impossible unless you have a strong network or relevant job experience.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer in this kind of situation. Thank you in advance!

 

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[Jeix]

My advice is to do the opposite. Game development IS your plan B to escape your normal job, which is plan A. The more you work in the coding industry the more experience you gain and the more likely you'll be to then succeed at your own SaaS or videogame or whatever.

p.s. "the last tree" is another example of a one-man project that took the guy 3 years of coding 2 hours a day at night after his day job while raising a kid. The results are something he would have never achieved through his job.

 

[makileth]

My advice is to do the opposite. Game development IS your plan B to escape your normal job, which is plan A. The more you work in the coding industry the more experience you gain and the more likely you'll be to then succeed at your own SaaS or videogame or whatever.

p.s. "the last tree" is another example of a one-man project that took the guy 3 years of coding 2 hours a day at night after his day job while raising a kid. The results are something he would have never achieved through his job.

That's a great example, thank you

 

[theazizmoh_]

In his book The Millionaire Fastlane , MJ mentioned people who made millions by making video games a few times. I'm curious as to what you think about this topic, as I haven't seen anyone discuss it on this forum.

Thanks for your valuable feedback in advance!

Yes it is!

 

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