Comments on: Creating a New Game-Development Studio http://t-machine.org/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/ Internet Gaming, Computer Games, Technology, MMO, and Web 2.0 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:30:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Darius K. http://t-machine.org/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/comment-page-1/#comment-64 Darius K. Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:49:31 +0000 http://tmachine1.dh.bytemark.co.uk/blog/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/#comment-64 I'm not sure I would *take* a blank check book. Seriously. Constraints are good in all things, including business. To me the blank check is a one-way ticket to catastrophic failure! I’m not sure I would *take* a blank check book. Seriously. Constraints are good in all things, including business. To me the blank check is a one-way ticket to catastrophic failure!

]]> By: adam http://t-machine.org/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/comment-page-1/#comment-62 adam Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:04:50 +0000 http://tmachine1.dh.bytemark.co.uk/blog/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/#comment-62 Indeed, if you have no money, no publisher support, and are OK to have one studio be(come) your life, bootstrapping is the only way to go :). But the current major trend (which will probably last for a couple more years before it switches back to more "lots of small indies") seems to be for internal studios or VC-funded studios, both of which value "speed of getting established and getting to delivery of first major product" over "efficiency of spending". I find the bootstrapping pretty obvious what you need to do, and in what order: you get any product at all out the door as fast as possible, and you keep your costs vanishingly small, and try to get to long-term stable cashflow as soon as you can. You build upon small successes, baby steps. What I personally have never done is be given a tabula rasa and a blank cheque book - I'm interested in what you would do in that situation, where your choices *aren't* really constrained? Indeed, if you have no money, no publisher support, and are OK to have one studio be(come) your life, bootstrapping is the only way to go :).

But the current major trend (which will probably last for a couple more years before it switches back to more “lots of small indies”) seems to be for internal studios or VC-funded studios, both of which value “speed of getting established and getting to delivery of first major product” over “efficiency of spending”.

I find the bootstrapping pretty obvious what you need to do, and in what order: you get any product at all out the door as fast as possible, and you keep your costs vanishingly small, and try to get to long-term stable cashflow as soon as you can. You build upon small successes, baby steps. What I personally have never done is be given a tabula rasa and a blank cheque book – I’m interested in what you would do in that situation, where your choices *aren’t* really constrained?

]]> By: Darius K. http://t-machine.org/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/comment-page-1/#comment-61 Darius K. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:56:22 +0000 http://tmachine1.dh.bytemark.co.uk/blog/index.php/2007/10/30/creating-a-new-game-development-studio/#comment-61 Nice article, although you're only covering the "start relatively big" model. There's also bootstrapping, which to me is the only sane way to do things: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15727 Nice article, although you’re only covering the “start relatively big” model. There’s also bootstrapping, which to me is the only sane way to do things:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15727

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