I quit my job today to work on my game

I'd worked on a game for 6 months and released the trailer and the beta test for my solo developed game last month. I gained 4512 Steam wishlists in 30 days and $2500 from pre-orders on my site. I know you can't eat wishlists and $2500 is way less than I'd make from a full time job, but its enough to make me go for it.

I was making a decent wage as a web developer and now I've gone all in. Even though I've carefully considered my finances and have the support of my friends and family and I even know I can quite easily get another web dev job after or maybe a job in games.. Its still so scary! This game will take two years to finish and that's a terrifying amount of time.

Anyone else been in this situation where you have a dream knocking on your door and you packed your bags and yolo'd?

 

That was not a wise move. Good luck.

 

The way I see it is even if I make literally no money from the game it will simply mean I'll pay off the mortgage on my house 2 years later than otherwise, but at least I won't be wondering "what if I'd put more effort into the game" down the line. Everyone has different priorities but to me that's more important.

 

Sounds like a good start, all the best!

Personally, 2 years without profit is not something I'd be interested in when I'm working full time. Too many things can go wrong or change in that time. But the good news is there are plenty of ways to at least make some income on the side while you work mostly on your game.

I do think the idea of making a game after you come home from work is a bit of a fantasy. It's been done for very small, minimal games, but it would draw out any decently sized project way too long for my taste. I'm not the kind of guy to potter away at something for years on end. IMO if you can't spend 6-8 energetic hours working on your game per day you might as well spend your spare time learning how to make more money faster without having to work a 9-5. Time is precious.

 

I can only suggest that you don't abandon your loved ones in this time.

 

My Youtube channel has been gaining traction, but I'm not monetising it yet as its purely for promoting the game and my Patreon is up to $600 which also isn't exactly a livable wage but definitely offsets my costs of hiring artists. The main reason I felt compelled to quit was to keep the ball rolling with my discord/ beta test community and have more time for Youtube and promotion.

I'd been working on the game from 4 hours every evening including weekends solid for the last 6 months, but a couple months ago I took 4 weeks of holiday just to test whether I could actually work on it 9 hours a day, 6 days a week, so 54 hour weeks is fairly tough especially considering with normal jobs your day is broken up by writing emails, attending meetings, and chatting with work friends, but now I was working alone and writing code for 9 hours straight most days. But I managed it fine, the Pomodoro technique, gym and forcing myself to socialise instead of slumping into bed was a lifesaver. If I'd had trouble staying focused I definitely wouldn't have yolo'd quite so hard.

>I can only suggest that you don't abandon your loved ones in this time.
Haha, I like to keep them guessing what I'll do with my life.

 

I'm aware that there are times when you feel like you have to do this or that thing otherwise you'd regret, but from all the available routes you've chosen one that is unsafe, hence the response.

Normal approach would be to switch to part-time work, or have savings that will allow you to pay bills during the development period.

 

>Normal approach would be to switch to part-time work, or have savings that will allow you to pay bills during the development period.

I'm not really disagreeing with you, it's definitely not the "wisest" route to take, and I actually did ask my workplace if part time was an option which it wasn't. But I have enough savings to last more than 5 years unemployed so the biggest question for me isn't necessarily money but more about time invested and career progression paused. If I didn't have a career to go back to, or didn't have the savings to support myself the for the entire development time there's no way I would have done this. I've also been making games obsessively for the last 5 years, this is just the first one to gain serious traction.

 

Why are you telling us this? What is driving you to post your reasons in front of strangers on the internet? You want validation for your impulsive decision? you won't find it here.

If you read your own posts with an open heart and mind you're just waiting for people to tell you that it's a mistake so you can reply with your validations. Even your username is part of this.

That's not healthy for us or you.

 

RIP

What is the game name ?

Me, one game released (4+ years in development) second in production for 3+ years.
Of course I have bitten more than I can chew (but it is also because of unity - I did not know I would have to build so much stuff that should be already integrated in unity).

Right now I jumped on an production machine automation project since I'm so burnout, I just needed an escape.

 

I'm bored at work winding down my notice period. And its interesting hearing people's opinions about my life choices.

 

How did the first game go? Did you work on it part time and was it worth it? How's the second game going?

 

Your only chance at success here is to immediately take this very seriously and draw up some really firm boundaries when you work, when you play, and so on. It's really harder than you can imagine, and will often lead to broken relationships or even stresses in families.

That's the reality of longer term indie development, no matter your age. Please don't make light of such a big decision to throw away all guarantees and think so little of the process it's just for boredom that you post.

 

I can share some data with you but I would like to know name of your project so I can see it.

 

Hippo has a very good point. I can tell you, as someone who has not worked a 9-5 for many years, you need to take things very seriously if you want to have consistent output.

Anyone can do something for a few weeks, but what will test you is when your 'old life' is so far behind you can hardly remember it, your money is dwindling, and for one reason or another you start to doubt what you are doing. When it's very hard to go either backward or forward, that's when you really know who you are.

Staying at home in pyjamas, sipping coffee and working away day and night sounds good when everything is fresh, but the truth is that any circumstances, whether they seem good or bad now, can feel like a nightmare when your head is not in the right place. And in two years many things can change.

If there's one thing I would advise anyone to do if they quit their job is this: PLAN YOUR DESTINATION. The idea 'I'll just stop my career for a few years and just have some fun, if it pans out or not whatever' does not cut it. You must have a clear vision of a point that you expect to reach that you could potentially stay at indefinitely and feel successful there - in terms of income, work/life balance, personal satisfaction and so on. In short you have to plan a lifestyle from top to bottom, and then live that lifestyle as closely as possible from the get-go.

Otherwise, you will end up with the fatalistic short-sightedness and the slow and steady degeneration of personal metrics and standards that people get when they take a bet that they cannot pull through with, and the only thing that brings them back to reality is when everything falls apart at some point, and then they make a reddit post from the underworld warning everyone not to do what they just did.

 

Not really... This weekend I have a recording session with a guy who used to have a studio in Nashville but has since moved back to his hometown (where I am). We've had a couple already and he's made positive comments about my music (anyone who hears it does). I have big plans - I have ~3 albums written out, with specific plans for another and general ideas for two more.

But I'm not about to simply drop everything and follow this. I could - I have a lot of cash. But it's banking too much on something unreliable. I'll keep working my day job and release a single this summer, with plans for the first album next year. Hopefully get my first game in a state to put up a Steam page near the end of this year with a target date to work towards, and that should give me some experience and momentum to apply to my next game where the story I want to tell really begins.

Something something "fund your passion with your day job"...this seems familiar.

 

If I recall it correctly there's some sort of motivational technique or pattern people use.

You publicly announce that you're doing X, then you'll have hard time weaseling out of doing X, because others are now expecting results.

So, the OP is likely trying to pump himself up into work mode.

 

I think that's great, congrats and good luck with your game.

I would say don't worry too much about the doom and gloomers, dev jobs are plenty these days and if you stay sharp you can always get another "job" when you need it.

 

Never seen it work in the end.

Much more likely to succeed if the effort is driven by logic rather than emotion or pumping oneself up since one can be deflated by life and changing circumstances, and usually will be.

I don't want to be negative. I didn't think any of my posts were, just ... I've seen it all.

 

I only do this as a hobby and to be honest I already have way too many hobbies to begin with... But I admire those of you who can do it for a living. Good luck!

 

It's always good to be realistic but also there is way too much negativity in this thread.

Pesonally I wish I could make myself accept a lower standard of living so I could cut off on day job.

 

There's quite a lot of doom and gloom in this thread, and rightfully so. I don't necessarily want to sound like I'm defending OP, but it certainly sounds like OP at least has a good head on his/her shoulders to adapt and strategize month-to-month, to not fall into a doom-and-gloom trap. OP has savings enough to be comfortable for at least 2 years, which is more than enough time to evaluate whether it's a sustainable life direction. He/she has some initial metrics to work with to gauge how the product will perform. With a web development background, I doubt he/she would have difficulty getting back into work, and during that year or two away from an employment gig can be extremely fruitful for a person's growth as an entrepreneur; learning lessons, failing, and succeeding (no matter how small). These lessons can further be used as positive soft skills for any future employment, as long as you are sure to bust your ass during the "indie" time, as I'm sure it sounds like OP would do.

I certainly can relate to this. While I didn't straight up quit, I was laid off, got the support of my loved ones and some small savings to give indie game entrepreneurship a try. At the end of one year, I wasn't able to bootstrap any sort of self-sustaining income, but I learned a lot, I don't regret it, and I feel like I'm in a better place for it, as it was probably one of the most eye-opening years of my life. I do believe another year would have ended up solidifying some sort of work lifestyle as a solo developer, for better or for worse.

It's true that while you can feel free to work on your own stuff, you end up realizing that you are not so free, in that you have to wear all these hats to abide by rules, and you can get suffocated by it. Some people strive with this level of stress. Some people can't. With regular employment, the stress comes from upper management. With self-employment, the stress can come from everywhere, basically getting yourself psyched out that you can't gauge whether or not you're doing well, without the monetary results to show for it.

Again, having the proper safety net in place before trying such a thing is extremely important, because most likely, you'll need it and need to go back to regular employment somewhere.

 

Usually, this is "Accountability". Maybe you're looking for something more specific?

 

Not having a job isn't the end of the world if you have some degree of passive income. Which most people don't, but maybe OP does and that's their business, who cares.

Hopefully OP isn't investing much money into this project though. And hopefully they will figure out how much money a TWO YEAR project has to earn to be worth the development time.

To be honest, that just seems too long to be feasible for a solo basement developer to churn out projects. With a saturated and uncertain market its better to go for quick hits rather than hail marys.

Seems like a dumb decision and OP seems to understand this on some level. Hoepfully they have an escape plan.

 

I just write from personal experience. I sunk a decade into the company and as we were seeing light at the end, one of my family got terminally ill and all those years I spent working on something that could afford private healthcare, well all that's gone now and I'm left in pieces.

I feel like I failed completely as you can't predict life.

Indie development should come with a warning because it's still so new, and all-consuming in time cost, I don't think people really realise the cost of what they do.

Before I bow out of the thread I will leave this little sanity check list:

• Life will change your budget, as quickly as month to month
• Your plan will need to keep changing, but don't grow the plan
• Choose people over deadlines
• Don't do it alone
• Only use what Unity provides out of the box feature wise

Good luck to you and all future developers reading this. Sometimes the cost is too high, so at least try to make the game smaller, especially if it's your first. Please, for your sake.

 

all the best for you. In my case i did it and im going well

 

This !

Still the problem is that you usually don't know the whole engine, you have to assume what unity got by rational deduction.
And than unity shoots you in the foot.

 

Seconded. Everyone is pointing out how much of a mistake this is but everything I'm reading in his posts makes it clear he didn't just decide this course of action on a whim. He's very clearly past the point of being a beginner, he has more than sufficient savings to try the business, he's already tried a four week trial period to see if he could handle it, etc.

If that were all he had going for him I would still be hesistant to say he has a good chance but he has a game and he has been promoting it to the point that has people already lined up wanting to buy it with many of them already having bought it.

There are still many things that could go wrong but the OP has very clearly tried to cover the bases he and any smart developer would be capable of covering aside from approaching a publisher.

@NewFullTimeGameDev: Speaking of which I highly recommend you try contacting publishers. My contractor started approaching people at roughly the point you're at now so I don't see any reason for you to not do the same. It's an additional way you can potentially get funding.

Furthermore I recommend applying for Epic MegaGrants. If they reject you wait a year or however long it takes you to make significant progress on your game and apply again. You won't likely get much but it's still something and they list all of the projects getting funded on their blog.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/megagrants

 

Anyone who thinks this thread has too much doom and gloom isn't ready.

When I want to do something well, the first thing I look for are the catastrophes. If the idea of failure is too hard to deal with you're not going to know what to do when it threatens you, and you'll miss an opportunity to overcome it.

 

Well also people just have different levels of risk tolerance. Like how freeclimbing or skiing inverted aerials are just another day in the park for some, while for others riding a bike could be a life changing consideration.

Would like to add to the last part though, "you're not going to know what to do when it threatens you, and you'll miss an opportunity to overcome it" - it's a good experience to be able to handle unknowns as they come at you and some people thrive on that. That being said, any roadblocks you can take out before hand with proper planning will always make for an easier journey.

 

You miss my point - if one can't handle the idea of failure or difficulty before things are underway they'll hardly be in a position to deal with the reality of it later on.

 

I swear you're one of the only people who actually read what I wrote. A lot of repliers seemed to have just read the title and started frothing from the mouth without actually referring to anything I've said. Its very strange.

Like Hippocoder you do realise I'm not you right? You're projecting unbelievably hard.

 

@Ryiah I appreciate the advice however I'm not looking for a publisher or funding. I've had a couple approach me but luckily the game is quite cheap to make and I've been successful with my own marketting so far.

 

That sounds like a right decision. Even if you don't make much profit of your game, you pursue your dream, and not just exchanging your time for money in this life. Not everybody has courage to do so. Good luck!

 

Thanks, I've done something like this in the past and it was the most rewarding year of my life.

 

Link your steam page! I'm curious what your game is, might Wishlist it.

I'd say what you're doing is stupid, foolhardy and all that too.

I'm doing the same thing.

 

You are following your heart. You have taken the finest path in life. You will be rewarded with fulfillment.

Please do keep us informed of your journey.

 

Good luck with your journey! Sorry I'm not linking my game, I made a throwaway for a reason .

 

Good luck!

 

One additional benefit to a publisher is that they will often have already established relationships with the console manufacturers making it trivial to gain access to the developer kits. By comparison an individual has a much harder time convincing them and you will have to foot the bill for the hardware which can be thousands per device.

That said I fully understand wanting to publish it yourself as it allows you to have full creative freedom as well as a better chance thanks to a larger cut. My current contract is with a group that has a publisher and said publisher has a business leader that is way too opinionated for his own good including topics he knows nothing about.

 

That makes a lot of sense, but I'm just focussed on a pc release first. An opinionated publisher seems a bit of a nightmare though haha, good luck with them!

 

Life is too short to be other peoples hands. Enjoy the ride. Take care of the family.

 

Those stats are actually quite impressive, well done.
I can see where people are coming from on the negative side.
The only advise I would dare offer is "TRY" as hard as you can to keep some work life balance. Game dev is all consuming and indie dev even more so.
And I hope you saved 3 years of income before quitting cos thats the minimum a 2 year project will last

Add a link to your steam page in your signature. I'm sure devs here will support you.

Good luck!

 

If it were me I think I would want to wait and see how my first game actually did over time. $2500 in the first month is pretty decent but if that's the biggest month you ever have and it goes downhill from there, not so much.

 

Congratulations on going for it. Good luck!

 

The "doom and gloom" is perfectly valid and reasonable. Most people who do this have no idea what they're getting into.

That doesn't mean it should deter you.

And if you've done your prep it really shouldn't be a surprise.

I do agree about spending time with your loved ones, regardless of whether it's game dev or something else you get absorbed in. People are important.

Good luck with it! Ask the hard questions, watch out for red flags, and be honest with yourself. Sounds like it's off to a promising start, though!

 

Well, that's a leap of faith! I really hope you won't regret your choice. Keep us updated.

 

Good luck! I did the same about 10 months ago, but made sure to also have an array of available contract work to do on the side to ensure there are some steady funds coming in and its not just all pure risk. I suggest thinking about doing the same, as likely you will have to form a corporate entity for taxation reasons if you have not already - so may as well use it for some contracting which can often pay great rates. I make 4x in a day what I used to when I worked as a senior VR developer here in UK meaning there is lots of time for development on our game without sacrificing funds

 

I retired from being a contractor after 28 years and helping countless people release there games... so I know what you mean, I retired to make my own games for once and been doing this as well... I have money put away, and my wife and I own a business... so, I think you need to follow your dreams as long as you can afford to, and pay your bills, eat, etc...

Follow your dreams, if you work hard enough it will pay off.... just don't listen to people saying BAD move.. its your LIFE...you need to be happy... just be smart about how you handle $... so you don't bankrupt your self is all...

PS: Some folks will say do contract work on the side, well if you can sure, but its become a distraction, I was already a contractor, and I was not able to get anything done due to the contract work...... If you can take on contract work related to what your doing, that would be wise..... for $

 

Congratz and good luck! You sound level headed and have a great start. When I went full time dev I was terrified too but the excitement overcame the fear most days. You saved up and deserve it!