Joe Indie has a bullet point list of what to do in order to succeed and survive as an indie game developer.
The points that jumped out at me, were the first two:
- Run your business like an indie, not a retail publisher
- Choose your projects like an indie, not a retail publisher.
It surprises me how many indie game developers rely exclusively on the game portals to sell their products. Aren’t the game portals the internet’s equivalent of the retail distributor? Isn’t that what indie’s are trying to move away from?
When I decided to try my hand at this, I instantly imagined myself selling games from my own website, handling all the e-commerce stuff, the marketing, etc.
It’s tempting to farm this out, but how can you expect someone else to market and sell your game(s) with the kind of passion and dedication that you’re capable of? I think every avenue for selling your product should be explored and used, but relying on someone else exclusively sounds like risky business to me.