[...] are many more articles available on this topic, but none of them provide the answers you seek. That is until [...]

[...] are many more articles available on this topic, but none of them provide the answers you seek. That is until [...]

[...] Raph’s Website » How well can indie games do? One takeaway here — it’s hard work, and for most, you can’t quit your day job. But there’s plenty of opportunity if you are determined and skillful. (tags: http://www.raphkoster.com 2009 mes0 dia19 games indie mercado estatísticas) [...]

Independent is a term that says very little about the size of company and it’s easy to jump to the wrong conclusions. I think any link between independence and hobbyism will exclude most successful independent game companies. Here’s a few examples:

Before being purchased by VUG, Radical Entertainment called themselves the worlds largest independent game developer (200 employees at the time). For the most part they did licensed titles for large publishers and retained very little IP outside of their in-house game engine tech. Is that independent? (My opinion: Independant: No)

Jagex, Three Rings, Habbo do browser based MMOs. They’ve retained their IP and all have over 100 employees. They have made deals with large portals (Miniclip, Addicting Games, etc.) for distribution, while doing a good percentage of distribution through their own sites as well. All three have also taken VC investment. Is that independent? (My opinion: Independant: Yes, Hobby: No)

MaidMarian.com (my company) is a cottage industry MMO developer. No outside funding, just me and my wife, no large portal deals although many loose arrangements with smaller game sites. It’s not a big company, but it’s not a hobby either – it’s full time employment for two people. My income is substantially better than when I was working as a technical art director in the console industry. We probably have the most in common with the group Raph is talking about, although our revenues haven’t been anywhere near as low as these examples since 2005. Are we independent? (My opinion: Independant: Yes, Hobby: No)

All of the above are commercially viable. It’s clear from some of the IGDA independent roundtables I’ve attended at GDC, that there are those who consider any effort that is not based purely on artistic expression and that includes some form of commercial viability to be something other than independent. Perhaps it is this group you are refering to as hobbists, although they seem more the starving artist type to me. My opinion is that it’s very difficult to sustain any sizable project for an extended period without commercial viability. Independance and IP retention are linked, but independance says very little about the size of the company, it’s revenues, distrubution or investors.

http://www.untoldentertainment.com/blog/feature-articles/pimp-my-game/

Lesson learned: unless your game is #1, ad rev share is completely useless.

But we just posted an interview with an iPhone developer who was successful enough to quit his dayjob:

http://www.untoldentertainment.com/blog/2009/01/15/free-iphone-app-store-redemption-code-for-textropolis/

Heck, I only make around $40k a year.

I would love to know the stats for Spiderweb Software.