Quick Thoughts On That Survey
This was a very not-scientific survey. I’m not sure where the respondents live or how old they are. Enough people filled out the questions that I still think it’s an interesting cross-section of folks that are full-time self-employed game devs though.
I haven’t managed enough spreadsheet-fu to get the breakouts that i want, but i’m very very curious what the funding sources graph looks like across different levels of ‘experience’ or ‘survival time’. Do devs who have been doing this longer rely more on rev share? Or more on work for hire? Or is the split the same?
I’m also very curious about the gaps between the ‘historical’ data and last year’s data. Folks are dipping into savings less it looks like, so i’m not really sure how much data there is here to support an “indiepocalypse” hypothesis without further analysis. Also there were so many new indies responding that without breaking those out it’s hard to see what the actual historical trend is. Again, my spreadsheet skills are hot garbage.
I was surprised to see how close to major metro areas most devs lived. Living someplace more remote is usually a great way to save money and cut expenses. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances in choosing where to live, but given how little work-related travel most respondents seem to do it still surprised me.
Some other observations:
- Almost half of the respondents never attend shows or conventions.
- Almost half of the respondents have a spouse, parent, or significant other that they live with. These are family members, not roommates.
- Over half of the respondents do full-time game development but don’t have to support anyone but themselves.
- Almost half the respondents have been indie for 2 years or less.
- Half the respondents are basically solo operations.
- Over half the respondents have shipped one or fewer games.
- Over half the respondents think they can keep doing this for at least two more years.