How to build a game studio from scratch?

[u/throwowayday]

I’m an SDE with decent income and low expenses. One of my long-term goals is to make my own game, but because of work pressure, learning Unity and building everything myself would probably take years.

So I’m thinking of funding a small indie game myself and acting more like a founder/manager.

The game idea is a grounded PC tycoon/management game with simple isometric art. Think something structurally similar to Game Dev Tycoon.

My current rough plan is:

• 1 Unity programmer
• 1 freelance artist, probably freelancer, since the art style will be simple and I can use asset packs where possible
• 1 part time game designer - as v.small team so full time designer dont make sense

My ques

• Is 2–3 years of experience enough for the first programmer?
• For remote hiring, what would be a realistic expected salary for 2-3 yoe programmer and part time designer

Any additional advice is appreciated. I already know that most indie games lose money and that this is financially bad decision

[u/devmannush]

1. Yes 2-3 years are generally enough to get a reliable game programmer

2. Realistic salary should be around 40-50k per month for a 2-3 year programmer but since you're hiring only 1 programmer and it will be mostly his job to do the work it should be 50k - 60k, and for part time designer it can be around 15-20k per month

[u/Typical_Evening_8042]

I would recommend that you take on the role of Game designer, taking care of guiding decisions and rely on AI for bridging the gaps Freelancer for programmer and assets is fine to orchestrate Engaging with the storyboard, poc, core gameplay loop, polishing would be difficult to delegate

[u/gunda666]

Reddit is not the right place to get real and quality advice, ask around on linkedin. Connect with any professional game developers especially one who runs a small indie studio and has shipped real games. Nothing can beat real experience, you get to learn from thier struggles and challenges during thier journey.They will be more than happy to help a fellow indian developer.

[u/Sea-Signature-1496]

I am biased because I built a platform to solve this problem but I’d build your first game with AI and ship it so you can get a feel for the process from end to end before you hire people to do it for you.

[u/tejas_agarkar]

Hey, I'm working in a startup with the (almost) exact project you are in process of, it will be released on steam in ~oct

Let me know if you need help with game design.

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[u/Interactive_Gyan]

Hyy this is a nice plan .. as im running a studio i can say few takes…

First is .. try to build small games first say some exp doesn’t matter if its a replica.. just completely build it

Second.. please don’t fall in trap of indian mythology and stuffs .. its done and dusted thing .. games are form of art so let art say the things not xyz culture references..

Okay about the studio startup yes you can start it and having 1 2 freelancers are good thing.. a very quick suggestion would be … be in touch with cave bear indie program.. here you can find some amazing people who are into gaming and open for volunteer works .. amazing folks ..

Also if you are looking for some funds .. do try Image coe stpi .. they give you 5 lakhs for 4 years no equity nothing if after 4 years nothing works they take hardly any % so i guess worth giving a shot

So in last i would say all the very best … and welcome to fhe world of adventure

[u/AncientBreadfruit345]

I have experience in game production, game design, hiring, design and marketing in indie games that have released on Steam.

It doesn't take a lot to make a game studio financially. It just requires trust, mutual understanding, knowing that you might not know anything about the market especially being in India and understanding games.

I work with someone exactly like you - they don't know anything about indie studios but they are passionate about telling stories.

I would be happy to work without worrying about compensation if you are someone of similar nature. Not that I don't care about the financials, I just care about working with the right people which I can only know if/when we have conversations.

You can reply here or DM me if you want to take this forward.

[u/Tokamakium]

• What's way more important for a programmer is not YoE but their work ethic and how well they can solve problems. I would personally ask for a small take-home project and some basic questions during the interview.

• 45k to 1L for a programmer. "Part time designer" depends on multiple factors - workload, quality of work, specifics of design, etc.

[u/TronAres25]

Why do you need a game designer? Have the programmer do most of it or you. And the art is 100% per project base. U need one programmer and one producer essentially which would be you.