After trying other business models, it seems my pal Charlie Cleveland (of Natural Selection fame) is now funding his game company via the bootstrapping model. This is where you do a very small game and try to pull a modest profit out of it. Then you do another one. In fact, you’re typically doing projects that just barely keep your company afloat for the first year or so the company exists, until you build up a big enough portfolio that you can pitch something medium-sized, gradually working your way up to a AAA title of your own. It worked for Demiurge, is currently working for Dragonfly Game Design, and it seems from these cases that you’re typically looking at two to four years to hit your stride, in terms of stepping up to big contracts. Hopefully it’ll work for Charlie’s company, Unknown Worlds.
Charlie’s written a detailed post about his move to the new business model. More importantly, you should check out Zen of Sudoku if you want to support an awesome guy do great things. Tell your casual gaming friends and coworkers!
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Swimming in the Blue Ocean is sweet.
Its funny, I read this on the tail of deciding that an indie, casual PC approach is more likely and benificial than selling out to a big company.
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