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Current state of HTML5 game development in 2016


end3r
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6 hours ago, True Valhalla said:

It's certainly an ambitious way to try make a living (there are easier guaranteed paths to basic financial stability) but as far as careers go this is one of the few where you actually can get rich.

I can actually provide some insights on this point since prior to starting my indie game venture I was working as Technical Lead for an American brokerage firm in London (7 years) and prior to this, I worked for 3 years as C++ dev for a bank in Paris. As a dev in the financial sector you can expect to earn a lot more than in any other sector coupled with high bonuses and generous packages. Financial stability is definitely easier to achieve with these kind of careers.

There are however some constraints that money cannot offset. Money cannot buy time lost (I started my life in an orphanage in Korea and there was things that I really ought to do regarding this personal matter). After 10 years of career abroad I realised that time was just flying by... being able to untie myself from constraints while making money was my main motivation to start with and this is something that I managed to do.

When I told the company that I was leaving to create an indie game business they were understandably surprised. They offered me a higher package, I explained my personal circumstances, they suggested part time freelancing or that I take a short sabbatical leave to focus on my personal situation but I wanted to start anew and have no further constraints. On top of having a much better quality of life now, my indie game business allowed me to focus on these and this is my greatest pride so far.

Now I am not saying you should leave your day to day job today. I had savings when starting Okijin Games and a career (with 10 years experience) to go back to "in case of failure" so the risk was mitigated. I also got lucky as my first game (Zombies Can't Jump) was a success on Windows Phone and on the licensing market so it started generating revenue immediately and I actually did not have to tap into my savings despite a one game only catalogue.

But what I am saying is that it is perfectly viable to make it as an indie dev in the HTML5 game industry provided you pay attention to the right opportunities and partnerships. Some markets in the game industry are saturated by extremely high expectations, this is definitely not the case with HTML5 games where there is so much room for development. If you read the latest news you will even find that 2017 is likely to be full of development.

To debunk even further, last month my work consisted on successfully negotiating 7 non-exclusives for my latest game Sailor Pop ($1100 average per license), adding to this a discounted sale across my older game catalogue ($1300) and passive revenue from rev. share and stores ($2350). I also went to sign a deal for distribution on several Asian Markets. Most of my revenue comes from these type of deals as I do almost no client / freelancing work (in 3 years I took only 2 contracts for clients and refused many more). Client work may feel safer but you are not building your assets, no scaling prospect nor repeat sales which is one of the most important component of a business along with its structure - I believe that if you ever want to grow your income and value over time then this is a dead end.

I also don't necessarily make games on a treadmill, I took one month off development work to offset the burnout from my latest game and I am now 1 month into my next project (my first multiplayer HTML5 game) although I ought to finish all my projects within 3 months max.

There are obviously other viable ways to make it as an indie (like discussed above), we can also look at the exceptionally successful stories, but in the shades there are many ways to make it decently while having fun with less constraints (that's what "independent" stands for after all).

To conclude I also agree that in all this, there is also the prospect of one day making it big with one hit! But in between it does not mean that making a living is impossible.

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My main point - going back to selling a game versus sponsoring - is that there is no one true business model that all HTML5 developers need to follow and I worry that "sponsorship" is the only business model being discussed (and sold) on this board.

The success model exists for direct-selling games as well, if you want to check out Lost Decade Games' or Greenheart Games story. In fact, I wish those guys were active on this board just to offer a counter the sponsorship message.

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  • 4 months later...
1 hour ago, ArcticArcade said:

Necro!!!

Just wondering how licensing's looking to you guys at the mo? We're starting to shop around our latest puzzler and trying to figure out whether it's worth continuing with the licensing market.nIs it possible to get OK money with something like this in today's market? http://arcticarcade.net/tmp/jigsawPalace/

Hey, spotted a little bug - if you split your single cell piece it bugs out at JP.Game.makeShape (game.js:1202)

Nice enough game, very simple though so (imo) will likely not make much dough.  Add more wow, more spectacle, rewards, hooks.  Or consider doing something innovative with the concept like multiplayer territorial or head-to-head time attack?

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