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Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by HeyLaughingBoy on Sunday August 02, 2020 @02:46PM (#24030615)
Maybe I live in a totally different universe, but it's really hard for me to consider a software product that grossed $100k to be a "mediocre success."
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by qes on Sunday August 02, 2020 @05:23PM (#24031887)
In my universe, I make that (net even, not gross) in half a year with essentially zero responsibility for marketing, taxes, customer support, etc. - nobody can realistically steal my work and cut into my wages with it - far less stress - and I keep making that over and over again every 6 months without having to do anything really that new or different.

In comparison, a game that grossed $100k, which I have to pay self-employment taxes on, and perhaps app store fees out of that too, sounds awfully mediocre, at best.

Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by dpcan on Sunday August 02, 2020 @07:45PM (#24032766)
Do you have a game or other kind of app?
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by marktangotango on Sunday August 02, 2020 @08:58PM (#24033132)
I think GP is referring to a w2 job or consulting gig.
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by dpcan on Sunday August 02, 2020 @10:38PM (#24033695)
LOL, yep, it's tongue in cheek, did not catch that.

He has a point. But as an entrepreneur, I'll probably go through all of this again and again and again. Can't help myself.

Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by qes on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:21PM (#24045123)
Correct.
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by dstick on Sunday August 02, 2020 @03:57PM (#24031203)
Hehe same here but, the poster mentioned 2010 and total revenue. If it’s $100.000 in 1 year, then sure! That would probably have potential for growth as well. This didn’t read like that :)

A revenue of 100.000 spread over 2 years wouldn’t be enough to support me and my family. Living in a Western Europe country. I’d prefer freelancing (or a job) for income in that scenario, over making ends meet with a software product and battling off copycats and whatnot. It should grow month over month and if it stalls for a year+ at low revenue, that’s most likely bad and I’d kill it, considering it a mediocre success! Hope that makes sense :)

Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by dpcan on Sunday August 02, 2020 @07:47PM (#24032772)
I think the first $70-80k were in the first year, then I made about 60 from games over the following 2 years.... if my memory is correct, and I think it is.
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by xVedun on Sunday August 02, 2020 @02:50PM (#24030650)
If the work and stress is spread out over two or three years. It's likely that the time spent could easily be outweighed by many other jobs/projects,
Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by ido on Monday August 03, 2020 @03:11AM (#24034929)
$100k in revenue is a lot less than $100k in gross salary (let alone net) - probably more like $65k/year which is less than you can earn as a developer as an employee or freelancer (depending on where you are of course, but even here in Berlin you'd earn more than that and in US tech hubs you could earn 3x what you'd earn for the same job in Berlin).

If they are really senior & in a US tech hubs total comp from a FAANG could be almost 10x that.

Re:What I Learned About Failing from My 5 Year Indie Game De... by shakow on Sunday August 02, 2020 @03:51PM (#24031145)
It depends on how it comes out once you divide by the time & resources you invested in the making of the game.