作者：Iron Realms

游戏开发总会涉及到成本问题，无论你是设计小型游戏的独立开发者，还是从事主流项目的大型团队中的一员，为了成功推出作品，你都应正当考虑财政方面事宜。

以下是四种主要游戏开发模式：

*独行侠

项目中仅有开发者一人，他担负着编码、故事编写等所有事项。如果需要，他可以通过免费软件下载图画与声音。同时，他也自己发行最终成品。

*单人工作室

基本上与独行侠无异，但前者在推出作品前，发行商会支付一定费用，并在初始阶段获得投资与更多开发资源。

*外部工作室

发行商会聘请一个开发团队，并与其签订合同。这极其类似单人工作室，但后者具有更大人员规模，而且是如今最盛行的开发模式。

*内部工作室

发行商聘请内部员工制作游戏。这种现象在主机游戏领域相当普遍。大型游戏的制作方式通常便是如此。

并不是所有人都会面临财政紧缺的状况，业余开发者可能会采用第一种模式，完成自己的小梦想，他也许会利用业余时间设计、编码，同时以此谋生。他需承担所有风险。如同效力于外部工作室，与发行商签订合同能够确保开发者在完成作品后，得到财政保障。内部工作室会支付员工薪水，但这并不适合为梦想而战的开发者。

如果你已经制作出一款精美游戏，情况会怎样？你已经倾入所有精力，编写性能，构造出理想世界，并准备上线。如果你还未获得发行商的青睐，你得考虑如何向潜在用户推广自己的游戏，并在他们体验游戏时，如何支持它稳定运行。你将不得不购买服务器，托管网站，投入时间解决玩家的技术与客服问题。所有事情都需要时间与经费，而且一旦游戏取得一定成功，独立开发者将难以解决所有事项。因此，你应首要考虑如何从作品中获利。

financial-options(from dreamstime)

盈利模式

通常，免费游戏为玩家提供的是免费下载链接或浏览器版本，它需要购买系统的支撑。最先采用这种模式的是1997年推出的《Achaea》（游戏邦注：现在为Iron Realms Entertainment工作室所有），在该游戏中，玩家无需付费便可体验游戏、重击关卡、完成任务、与玩家对抗、同好友交流。玩家可以直接通过网站购买额外功能或降低挑战模式的渠道，借此以不同方式提升付费用户在游戏中的能力。在《Achaea》中，开发者可以通过多种渠道从游戏内部支付系统中获利，因此，不愿花钱的玩家不会遭到游戏冷落。

而付费游戏通常包括预付、一次性付费与订阅模式。这类游戏中也常植入特权购买系统，用于收获额外利益。付费游戏能够保证制作人在成功推出一款作品后获得收益，如同主机游戏行业中，玩家付费购买游戏光盘。

开发者常会无私地与他人免费分享自己的创意，而不是让他们享受其中。然而，人人都得生存，且游戏开发不单单是一份全职工作。总之，我希望上述内容有助于让你认识到，如何在管理游戏的同时保证自己财政稳定。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Financial Options for Devs on a Budget

by Iron Realms

The following blog was, unless otherwise noted, independently written by a member of Gamasutra’s game development community. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Gamasutra or its parent company.

Developing a game always involves costs, whether you are a solo developer designing something small, or part of a larger team working on a major release. Financial considerations need to be addressed either way in order to publish successfully.

Firstly, the four main game models under which a game is developed:

The Lone Gunman.

The developer is the only man on the project. Coding, writing and all support are done by the developer. Graphics and sound, if used, often come from freeware. The developer also publishes the finished product.

The One-man Studio.

Basically the same as the Lone Gunman profile above, except the sole developer is paid by a publisher before the game is released. Often comes with initial funding and more resources.

The External Studio.

Under contract from a publisher, a team of people is hired to create a game. This is fairly similar to the one man studio, except upon a larger scale, and is one of the most popular models used today.

The Internal Studio.

A publisher employs staff in-house to create a game. This is much more widely seen in the console gaming world. The biggest titles are usually developed in this manner.

Not everyone is held by economic constraints, and a hobbyist developer might create his small dream using the first model, possibly working part time to design, code, while making a living as well. The risk is all held by one man. Working under contract for a publisher, as in The External Studio, can be a great way to ensure financial security for yourself as long the work gets done. The Internal studio offers those who work for them a wage or salary, but it is not really an option for a developer with a personal dream.

What if you’ve created a beautiful game? You’ve written your lore, coded your features, built a world with you wanted and it’s ready to be played. If you do not have a publisher to take over, you have to consider how you are going to both market the game to prospective customers, and how you are going to support it once you have people playing. Servers will have to be paid for, websites hosted, time has to be spent working with the players on technical and customer service issues. Everything takes time and money, and it can be difficult for a solo developer to handle everything if the game becomes even moderately successful. The main consideration when facing these issues is deciding how you want to profit off your work.

Free to Play or Pay to Play?

Free to Play usually offers everyone a free download or browser-based game, is often supported by a pay-for-perks system, and is popular among games suitable for low spec computers. First used popularly in 1997 by Achaea, a MUD game now owned by Iron Realms Entertainment, this model allows anyone to play, bash, quest, PvP, and chat with friends, all with no investment required. Extras or easy ways to advance can be purchased directly from the website, providing a boost up in different ways for those willing to shell out the money. In the case of Achaea, there are many ways to earn the often paid for currency in-game, so those without money to spend are not left out in the cold.

Pay to Play encompasses both upfront, one time fee to play games, and subscription based models. These kinds of titles often include pay for perks systems as well, in order to generate extra revenue. Pay to Play ensures the producers get paid for having a successful game similar to the console gaming industry, where a gamer pays for a game disc .

Developers often want to be altruistic and share their creations with others for no other payment than for others to enjoy them. Everyone has to eat, however, and developing a game can easily be more than a full time job. Hopefully the above gives you an idea what to be looking into to ensure you have the lights still on while managing a game.(source:gamasutra)