Today, in a post on imgur, one of the founders of the developer Stellar Jockeys, which released indie isometric mech game Brigador on Steam earlier this month, detailed his grueling and thankless journey in game development, uncovering the difficulties that indie developers face in gaining coverage for even the most well-made and unique of games.
Although their game has received very positive reviews on Steam praising its tactical combat and fully destructible environments, and has been compared to groundbreaking and popular games such as Desert Strike and Syndicate, Stellar Jockeys have received very little coverage for its release, leading to few sales and little chance for the company to make a profit on what has largely been a self-funded endeavor.
In his post, Hugh says:
And the studio’s problems don’t stop at poor sales. The game’s developers poured their lifeblood into this project, in many cases wrecking their health through stress and sleep deprivation in order to get their game on the market.
HughSJ’s post emphasizes the importance of visibility and coverage for indie games, and stresses how few games get enough to turn a profit. At the end of his post, he recommends that anyone trying to get into indie development turn back before it’s too late.
So, what do you think readers? Are you surprised by this disheartening account of indie game development? Any advice on how indie developers can make it big? Let us know in the comments!
