Congratulations, Your First Indie Game is a Flop

[Article]

[An indie developer reflects on how he spent too much time and effort trying to make a failure into a success, sharing his experiences about going from iOS to PC and Mac, and why being first out of the gate doesn't substitute for having a truly compelling game.]

Seven. I log into IndieCity again and check the total sales number to see if, by some miracle, the figure went into double digits. It didn't. Total units of Monkey Labour for Windows sold: seven. And that's not thousands.

While selling seven games in two months is horrific in any case, this is not, however, another whiny post from a disillusioned indie game developer. It's just the result of an experiment at the end of a longer story that needs some explaining. I am not complaining. In fact, I am already happily working on our next game. I still get to work on what I love. In my book that's all that matters.

gamasutra.com/view/feature/173068/congratulations_your_first_indie_.php

Can't tell if spam, or very badly written post..

Why it's a spam?

Ah! It lives!

Nothing, it's just the way you format things and write seemed peculiar.

But I realized it's because you just copy and pasted the text from over there - here.

Sounds like they spent a ton of time re-inventing the wheel. A game like that could have been made much easier using C2 for example. He spent months porting XNA to IOS. For what?!?!?!

I think that no matter whether you are indie or a publisher-funded studio, quality is always important.

I truly believe in the concept "Finish your game. Its audience will be waiting for it". Therefore, quality is pivotal.

On the other hand, being close to your audience, participating in forums, helping and collaborating in the indie scene pays dividends later on.

In the end, you cannot develop games expecting them to become "hits". The impression I got from the article was that the studio anticipated a hit. Just make a game that reflects who you are and how you collaborate. The money will eventually come.   

Anyway, great article.

Thanks for sharing.

It's an entertainment media, so from my background and experience in the broadcast industry my philosophy on game making and producing commercials and bits are the same:

Do the best you can today. Put as much polish and finish as you can on it. Then move on to the next project.

Quality is number one for sure, but you have to finish a project and then let it be. If it's a hit, great. If it's not, you apply what worked and avoid what didn't in your next project.