作者：Robin Humphreyies

作为本文的前言，我要先声明一下相当多人曾经向我咨询创立一家公司，开发一款游戏，以及作为独立开发者的建议。我其实并非合适的咨询人选，我的经验非常有限，我只是一名总经理，并不直接参与制作游戏环节，并且仍然在自学成为独立开发者以及企业家的整个流程。如果我的失败经验能够让人们汲取教训，那么也算值了——我将在此讲述自己陷入的一些陷阱，以便各位引以为鉴。但本文并不适用于所有人，它只能代表我的个人观点，所以无法保证它一定能够帮到你！

现在假设你正准备成炎一家独立开发工作室，已经准备好了电脑，你也掌握了相应的技术，也有足够的创业激情。你有一批好友有意入伙，你们都将在家里开始全职工作，其中有些人负责编码，有些人负责美工。你们要不就是在某人家里办工，要不就是计划使用Facebook和Skype共享文件。你已经想好了一个自认为很棒的游戏名称，并确信其他人也会认同这一名称。它可能是一款手机游戏，你可能想将其发布于Android和iOS，你可能认为它销量会达到上百万份。如果这大概就是你的创业想法或者打算，请举手表示同意。你举手了吧？其实我也是，那么我的建议可能对你有所帮助。如果你不同意，那也不妨看看，你可能会发现它的用处，至少我过去的失败经历可以博你一笑。以下就是我创业之前应该考虑到的10件事。

Start-Your-Own-Business(from taxcontroller)

1.必须有人管理公司。

我们Static Games团队创业之初没有意识到的一点是，运营一家公司和一个开发团队并不是某位开发者的小小的兼职工作。它的工作量很庞大。事实上，我现在还是总经理，并且这就是我的全职工作。我偶尔也会参与编码和开发工作，但开发游戏并不是，可能永远也不会是我的日常工作任务之一。我是团队中不甚幸运的一员，因为我断送了自己未来的游戏开发工作，但却对经营公司充满激情。所幸的是，我喜欢商务，所以这个结果对我来说也不坏，但如果你并不喜欢商务，那么最好让位请他人代劳。不仅如此，还要确保他们能够同团队成员正常交流并进行业务陈述，或者告诉他们去学习这种技能！例如，我负责人脉和业务联系，整理财务和税收分类，安排业务联系并代表公司谈判。我还要寻找竞争、贷款和政府奖助等机会，处理项目管理，跟踪项目进度，制定预算，确保我们能够在一定的财务参数内制作出好游戏；为成员发薪，解决争端，制定多数商业决策，控制领导权和公司方向，执行相当多的非开发相关任务……我一有时候还要处理营销事务。这就引出了第2个要点。

2.要像制作游戏一样尽量向营销活动投入更多精力。

如果你从来不向别人介绍自己的游戏，那就没有制作游戏的意义了。我们Static Games团队长期以来所忽略的一点就是营销自己的产品，对外宣传自己。但如果用户从来没听过你的产品，或者他们从来没看过游戏，你又该如何说服他买下游戏呢？营销不能决定你的销量，但销量却是决定你的收入和成功的因素。营销并不需要多少成本，在互联网时候我们很容易发出自己的声音，没有理由不立即开始自己的营销活动，但你们多数人却不会这么做！有许多人专注于制作产品，但却忽略了创建一个粉丝群或让人们知道游戏存在性这件事，如果你没有任何宣传就发布了产品，并且没有人知道你的产品，你的销量就可想而知了。为产品打造声势需要时间，但你在Facebook、Twitter、YouTube或其他社交媒体，以及Blogspot和WordPress等免费网站上进行宣传却并不需要什么成本，并且可以让你创建一种互惠互利的关系。营销需要大量时间，但你必须投入许多才可能有相应的收获。如果你花了数月时间制作游戏，那就有必要尽一切所能确保游戏能够卖出去。

3.你成立公司不需要钱，但没钱就无法生存！

Static Games在我们刚创业的时候并不需要什么资金。我们都有学生贷款，台式电脑，一些开源开发软件，以及很好的激情和机遇感。但是，生活却需要钱，你确实需要在辞职或者成为全职独立开发者之前考虑到这些成本。记住，贷款或存款必须足以支撑相当长的时间。如果你的游戏需要9个月的开发时间，你银行帐户中的钱就要足够偿还房租、水电费、伙食、出行、娱乐、不可预见的成本。如果你没有足够的钱支付这些，那么可能就要三思了。至少要像我们团队的一些人一样，做一份兼职。这并没有什么丢人的——个人生存要优先于企业生存。

4.如果无力承担就不要一开始就制作自己的IP。

Static Games在我们已经在开发的自有IP这一基础上创立，我们也从中赚到了一些钱。但是，值得注意的是你在能够销售之前要先制作自己的IP，这意味着漫长的零收入时期，甚至你的销售额可能还不足以支持你的生活。鉴于这一情况，你创立自己的公司时最好是先作为外包工作室接单，Static Games就拥有这方面的大量经验，在创业之初这可能比制作你自己的IP更具盈利性。当然，这种收入更有保障，并且 说实话，你在他人产品的基础上磨炼自己的技能，更有助于开发自己的项目。例如，Remode Studios这家成功的工作室曾经有6年时间是承接外包项目，后来才开始制作自己的IP。我们在Amuzo Games（在1998年以4T2 Multimedia之名成立）的好友也是直到2014年才开始制作自己的原创IP。

5.从小型团队入手。

严肃地说，只能让你真正需要的人入伙。我热爱我们的团队，但这正是我们刚成立时的一大疏忽。你创业时的成本越小就越好，如果你可以用更少的人手制作产品，那我强烈推荐你采用这一方法。两个人的团队比7人团队更易于实现生存所需的销量和收益。想想看，如果你的首个产品收益是4万英磅，你的开发团队只有2个人。你可能就能够拿回大笔钱。但如果该游戏是由7人制作，就像我们一样——那么大家分到的钱就没有多少了！除非有人对你的公司特别重要，或者他们能够以较小的时间加快产品开发，否则就要谨慎考虑你是否真的需要他们加入，并在你的计划中将其忽略。

6.不要为首个项目制定过大的目标。

你得计算一下完成首个产品所需要的时间。然后将其乘以2。这才是你的产品实际所需要的开发时间。有许多人一开始就没有领会游戏真正所需的制作时间，所以一开始就要先从有趣和简单的部分入手。产品的制作时间有很大可能超过你的预期，记住，你此时还需要支付生活成本！除此之外，你还很可能无法从首款游戏中赚到什么钱，所以要尽量发布能够让你赚到一些钱，磨炼你技艺的游戏。如果你试图花太多时间制作一款重量级的游戏，那么最后你很可能是花光了所有钱，并不得不因为没有发布任何作品而倒闭。

7.要公开而不是隐藏你的游戏理念。

我所认识的许多独立开发者会避谈自己正在开发的游戏内容，总担心别人会窃走自己的想法，我发现了很奇怪的一点。成功的开发者总是很健谈，并且总能成为社区的中心，也更乐于谈及自己正在开发的项目。事实上，让越多人知道你的项目越好。这样就会有更多人传播你的游戏，更多人给你反馈和建议，更多人可以向你提供潜在的机会。当于某些人交谈时，我发现他们很害怕他人窃走自己的想法，但实际上在诸多独立开发者和产品中，多数理念都不是原创的。但如果有人真的发布了一款类似你想法的游戏，而你的网站上拥有备份更新目录和截图，多数人就会来看看该游戏并发出“这款游戏很像某人开发的另一款游戏”这种感叹。你并不会因为自己公布了正在开发项目而失去什么，但你确实可以从所有相关营销中获利。一定要记住这一点。

8.保持自我激励。

如果你是在家里工作，迟早会因为冷漠漏洞而受到打击。自我激励对独立开发者来说极为关键，说服自己在早晨早起有时候会变得非常困难。如果你一直在不同地方工作就很容易丧失斗志，你也无法看到其他人的游戏开发进度 ，没有人在背后督促你时的积极性总会下降。没有了严格的朝九晚五的日程安排，只有自我施加的截止日期，你可能就会在某些时候落后了，并且很可能在某些天会日上三杆时才起床，这样你每天才工作5小时。但重要的是不要让这种情况成为常态。我从Eric Thomas那里摘录了一些激励格言贴在自己的电脑背景上。当我心生惰性时，我就会看看这些格言。这很奏效。总之要找一些能够激励你的东西，让自己保持工作，无论这些东西是什么。记住你的团队成员指望你，并且如果你不投入时间和精力就不会成功！尽快找一些激励自己的东西，努力工作才是完成产品的唯一途径，产品越早完成，你就越早创收。

9.你不只是个开发者，你还是个企业家。

我认为这一点与我提出的第1点基本相似，但记住你并不只是一名开发者。你是一个公司经营者，你的职责并不会随着游戏开发的结束而终止。没错你得制作游戏，但你还得营销推广，发布，支持，以及处理制作环节上的所有其他事务。你可能会自主发布游戏，那么你就要担起发行商的责任了，这一点要切记。除此之外，你还要记住自己必须处理商务，其中包括购买保险、填与报税单，设置银行帐号等。要获得成功你就不能局限于开发者的角色！

10.你并不需要无所不知，也不需要完全听从他人意见！

当我在2013年4月创立Static Games的时候，我对游戏开发或生意上的事情一无所知。我只是抱着积极的心态和乐观的意愿去学习。没有什么可以阻挡你创立自己的公司，并在前进的过程中学习，说实话我认为这是最好的学习方法了。不要害怕向他们寻求帮助，也永远不要羞于承认你对有些事情不甚了解。你承认自己并不完美这种坦诚的态度通常可以让人们相信你值得帮助，并且你也有获得成功的进取心。此外还要记住，失败不可怕，你在创业之初遇到的任何失败都是在汲取经验，总比你花费无数走到最后才知道是死路一条要好。要将失败视为学习新事物的途径，记住如果没有首次失败你就无法进步——只是不要重复相同的错误！最重要的是，如果你向他人询问建议，要自己判断是否该相信他们。其他人可能经验比你丰富，他们不太可能故意让你误入歧途，但有时候我经营Static Games时得到的最糟糕的建议正是来自行业中那些最成功和最高级的成员！记住，这是你的公司，你应该自己判断什么东西适合自己。（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）

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting Up

- Robin Humphreyies

This was lifted directly from my Static Games Ltd company website. I’m a student and still learning as I go, so forgive me if this seems obvious or unprofessional to some, and please feel free to leave any advice in the comments!

To preface this post, I would just like to cover myself by saying that quite a lot of people have previously come to me for advice on starting up a company, developing a game, and generally being an indie dev. So let me start by saying I’m probably not the guy to ask. My experience is limited, I’m the managing director so I’m not directly involved in making the games anymore and I’m still learning the whole process of being an indie and an entrepreneur myself, so it’s basically a case of the blind leading the blind here. That said, if my failings help someone else succeed, then so be it – I’ll explain some of the lesser known pitfalls I’ve pulled myself out of so that hopefully you won’t fall into them as well! Just don’t take this post to be comprehensive or gospel, and don’t assume that it applies to everyone – it was written from my very specific point of view, so no guarantees it can help you!

So with that said, I’m going to paint a picture of how I think 90% of the business plans are going to sound for readers of this blog post. You’re looking to start up an indie dev studio.

You’ve got your computer, you’ve got the skills and you’ve got the enthusiasm. A bunch of your friends are interested, and you’re all going to work full time from home, some of you coding and some of you doing art. Either you’re sharing a home, or you plan to use Facebook and Skype, and you’ll share your files using those two methods. You’ve got a game title planned which you think is awesome, and you’re certain that other people are going to enjoy it once you release it. It’s probably a mobile game, you probably want to release it on Android and iOS, and you probably think that it can sell millions. If this broadly describes your thought process or your intentions for the company, hold your hand up now. Is your hand raised? Good, mine is too, so I can probably help you. Is your hand down? Just read on anyway. You might find it useful, or at the very least you can laugh at my previous incompetence. So here goes with ten things which I wish I had known before I started out.

1. Someone has to run the business.

What we at Static Games failed to grasp when starting up was that running a business and a development team is not a small part time job for one of the developers. It’s a lot of work.

Seriously. A lot. In fact, I’m now the managing director and that’s what I do full time. I have contributed to the coding and development on occasion, but developing games isn’t actually a part of my regular day job and probably isn’t ever going to be. I was the unlucky member of the team who had to trade off my future developing games and become passionate about running a company instead. Luckily, I enjoy business so this was okay with me, but if you don’t enjoy business, then go out now and find someone who does. Not only that, but make sure they’re comfortable talking to people and giving presentations, or tell them to learn! As an example, I perform networking and gaining contacts, I sort out finances and taxes, I arrange contracts and perform negotiations on the company’s behalf, I look for opportunities such as competitions, loans and grants, I handle project management and keep projects on track, I handle budgeting and ensure that we make good games but within financial parameters, I present whenever the company gives a presentation, I handle paying staff, I sort out any disputes, I make most business decisions, control leadership and direction of the board and the company, and generally perform pretty much any non development related task you can think of… And when I find the time I handle the marketing too. Which leads nicely on to point two…

2. Put as much effort into marketing a game as you do into making it.

There is absolutely no point in making a game if you never tell anyone about it. One thing which we really neglected at Static Games for a very long time was marketing our product and putting our names out there. But if a customer has never heard of your product, or if they never see the game, how do you propose to get this person to buy it? Marketing goes a long way to dictating your sales, and sales are what will determine your money and your success. Marketing doesn’t have to cost anything, and with the internet making it so easy to get your name out there there’s no reason not to start marketing immediately, though most of you won’t! So many people get so caught up in building the product that they neglect building a fan base or letting people know the game exists, and if you release a product with no hype and which no-one knows about, your sales will reflect this. It takes time to build hype and excitement around a product, but it costs nothing to set yourself up on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other social media, websites can be made for free on places like Blogspot and WordPress and emailing press and outlets like YouTubers costs you nothing and can build a mutually beneficial relationship. Marketing will take a lot of time, but you need to put a lot in to get a lot out of it.

If you’re going to spend months making a game, it make sense to do everything you can to make sure you can sell it.

3. You don’t need money to start up the company, but you do need it to live!

Static Games did not need any money when we started up. We all had a student loan, a laptop to work on, some open source development software and a great sense of enthusiasm and opportunity. However, living costs money, and you really need to factor these costs in before you quit your day job or become an indie dev full time. Remember that a loan or your savings has to last you a very long time here. If your game takes nine months to develop, you need to have money in the bank to pay for rent, bills, food and drink, travel, entertainment, unforeseen costs and much more. If you don’t have more than enough in the bank to pay for all of this, then maybe think again about going indie. Or at the very least, do what some of our team did and get yourself a part time job on the side. There’s absolutely no shame in it – personal survival has to come before business survival.

4. Don’t just think you’ll start making your own IP if you can’t afford it.

Static Games started off with our own IP already in development, and we have made some money off of it. However, it’s worth remembering that you have to make your IP before you can sell it, which can mean long periods with no income, and even then your sales may amount to far less than you can live on. With this in mind, it can sometimes be better to start your company as a work for hire studio. Work for hire is something which Static Games have done a lot of, and it can be much more lucrative than making your own IP when starting up. Certainly, the money is more assured, and to be honest, there are benefits to honing your skills on other people’s products before you start working on your own. As an example here, Remode Studios are successful and after six years are still transitioning into making their own IP. Similarly, our friends at Bournemouth based Amuzo Games, were founded as 4T2 Multimedia in 1998, and have just begun making their first original IP in 2014. Just saying…

5. Start off with a small team.

Seriously, only take on the people you really need. I love our team, but this was a major oversight when we started up. The smaller your costs are at start up, the better; and if you can make your product with fewer people, I would seriously consider doing it. It is a lot easier to make the sales and revenue required for two people to live than it is for seven people. Think of it like this. If you make £40,000 off of your first product, and your development team was two people. You’re both taking home a decent chunk of change. But if this game was made by a team of seven, like us – that money isn’t going to go very far! Unless someone is invaluable to your company or they can speed up product development by a really significant amount of time, it might be worth considering whether you really need them and potentially omitting them from your plans.

6. Don’t make anything too ambitious for your first project.

Okay, so I want you to calculate how long you think it will take you to complete your first product. Now multiply it by two. That’s how long I think your product will take to make. As a minimum. So many people when starting out fail to comprehend quite how long games take to make, so always start off with something that’s fun, but also easy and simple to make. The odds are that it’s going to take longer than you anticipate, and remember, you’ve still got living costs to pay! In addition, it’s unlikely that you’re going to make a splash with your first game, so just try and release something you can make some money off of and hone your skills. If you try and spend too long making a world beater of a game, the likelihood is that you’ll run out of money and have to close down without ever having released anything. Don’t be that studio.

7. Being known is better than protecting your idea.

A lot of indies I’ve met have been very hesitant to talk about what they’re doing or what games they’re developing in case someone steals their idea, and I always find this strange. The successful ones, however, are always chatty and community driven and are more than pleased to talk about what they’re working on. The fact is that the more people know about your game, the better. That’s more people to spread the word and get excited about it, more people who can give you feedback and advice on it, and more people who can inform you of any opportunities that it could offer you. When talking to some people, I get a sense that they’re scared of people stealing their ideas, but the fact that remains is that with thousands of indie developers and thousands of products out there, most ideas just aren’t that original. But if someone did release a game like yours and you have a back catalogue of updates and screenshots on your website, most people will look at that game and go, “Hey, that looks like [insert game name here] by [insert developer name here]“. You don’t lose anything from announcing what you are doing, but you do stand to gain from all the related marketing you’ll get. Just keep that in mind.

8. You will suffer from apathy at some point.

If you’re working from home, you will get hit by the apathy bug sooner or later. Self motivation is a really key thing to indies, and convincing yourself to get up in the morning can be really difficult at times. Morale can drop if you all work in different places and you can’t see the overall progression of the game or the progress made by other people, and motivation is certainly lower when there’s no-one there to give you a kick up the backside. With no rigorous nine-to-five schedule, and only self imposed deadlines to hit, you’re probably going to fall behind at some point, and there will definitely be days when you won’t get up until noon and you only work a five hour day. But it’s really important not to let this be the norm. I have some quotes from a motivational speech made by a man called Eric Thomas, plastered on my desktop background. When I get lazy, I read them. And it works. Find something that motivates you, and keeps you working, no matter what it is. Remember that your team members are counting on you and that you can’t be successful if you don’t put the time and effort in! Find something that motivates you, and find it fast, and trust me when I say you’ll want an office as soon as you can get one! Hard work is the only thing that will finish your product, and the sooner it’s finished, the sooner you can start making money off of it.

9. You’re not just a developer, you’re an entrepreneur.

I suppose this is fundamentally similar to my first point, but remember that you aren’t just a developer. You’re a business owner and your job doesn’t stop when developing the game finishes. Yes you have to make the game, but you also have to market it, publish it, support it and handle all other parts of the production pipeline. You are probably self publishing, making you a publisher just as much as a developer, and it’s important not to forget it. In addition, remember that you need to handle the business, including purchasing insurance, filling out tax returns, setting up a bank account, etc. You have to be more than a developer to succeed!

10. You don’t have to know everything, and you don’t have to take the word of anyone!

When I started Static Games back in April 2013, I knew nothing of business or games development. I just had a positive mindset and a healthy willingness to learn. There’s nothing stopping you starting your business and learning as you go, and truth be told, I think it’s the best way to learn. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from anyone and never be ashamed to admit if you don’t know something. Your honesty and willingness to admit that you aren’t perfect is usually enough to convince people that you’re worth helping and that you have the drive to learn to be successful. Also remember that it’s OK to fail, and that any failing you do during start up is simply a learning experience for something which would have cost a lot of money if you had done it down the line when you’re rolling in it! Always look at failure as a way to learn something new and remember that you can’t improve without first failing – just don’t repeat the same mistake twice! And most importantly, if you have asked someone for advice, always use your own judgement on whether to trust them. Other people might well have more experience than you, and it’s unlikely that they’ll deliberately lead you astray, but some of the worst advice I’ve received whilst running Static Games has come from some of the most successful and higher up members of the industry. Remember, it’s your company and you should do what you think is right for you! （source：gamecareerguide）