作者：Kate Reichert

现在，“独立”已经成为一个热词。只要看看那些无处不在的潮人就晓得。独立音乐家和演员通常被认为比其“主流”同行更有艺术气质，好像成功与正真完全是相互排斥似的。独立游戏正在崛起，《Minecraft》和《Slender》等游戏的成功也表明这股趋势并未消退。

当我开始在本地一家独立游戏开发商中实习时，我认为作为独立开发者是一件很拉风的事情。但实际上，我在这个问题中进一步了解了独立游戏市场现状，以及开发独立游戏的回报情况。同时也认识到独立开发者将面临的问题，例如：

1.曝光度

也许对独立游戏开发者来说，最大的困难在于收获和维持一个为游戏付费的用户群体。当然，为了赚钱开发游戏，你可以只考虑商业利益而不顾游戏玩法，但如果没有人愿意玩这种游戏，那还有意义吗？如何获得大众认知度一直是游戏开发者密切关注的问题。

当然，开发者可以选择Steam Greenlight（游戏邦注：它允许用户投票决定哪款游戏可通过Steam系统发布）以及Indie Games Uprising（推广XBox Live独立游戏）等服务。但有些这类网站需要一些报酬费，并且也不能保证你付了钱就能获得成功。有些人通过允许玩家自主选择支付额度而推广游戏，因为他们相信自己的游戏足够优秀，有可能鼓励玩家付费和口头传播。

独立开发者常会通过Twitter、Tumblr等社交网络以及各种博客平台发出自己的声音。但如果你的营销计划要依赖一个因娱乐圈明星而得名的网站，那可能就走错方向了。

独立开发游戏常会面临大量风险，但这个过程本身也可以是一种回报。我一直在想，如果我的孩子自己可以从未来穿越，看到今天的我，她是否会因为我在努力赚钱，或者我在制作了《Metacell》的团队中实习而感动？

2.市场竞争激烈

有许多人离开稳定的大公司，希望以自己的行事风格开发自己所爱的游戏理念。创意自由和耀武扬威远比严格的规章制度、极少的话语权更有吸引力。这也迫使开发者尽量打破常规，不拘一格地创作并成功推广游戏。

这里的唯一问题在于，新兴开发者并不只是与大型工作室相抗衡，他们还要面临独立游戏领域元老级竞争对手的挑战。想想看，如果初出茅庐的新人与行业老手同时在大众融资网站Kickstarter中展开筹资活动，你会支持谁？

这个市场已经充斥太多游戏。当人人都可以通过参加一些培训课程，下载各种程序而生产简单的游戏时，这一领域自然就会有许多新人纷涌而至。虽然许多游戏需要更高深的知识才能呈现高水平的质量，但不可否认的是，独立游戏的数量确实在快速增长。

可以看看Kickstarter平台的游戏项目融资情况：

Kickstarter-game projects(from gamasutra)

在极短的时间内就有成百上千万美元流向许多不同的游戏。可以想象，如果每个游戏融资项目都能够成功筹资，这个领域将出现哪种竞争局面。

3.盗版/山寨

如果你访问过Facebook，可能就会看到不少人对自己的帐号被黑后的情况。通常情况下，这不过是他们的帐号被更新了一些莫名其妙的信息，但这些用户就是很较真，并且十分不快。我想你可能会笑这些用户小题大作。

现在以同样的角度想想自己的项目，你在它身上倾注了无数心血，结果却被他人盗用，并推广宣称是他们自己的作品。而你对此却是无可奈何。

这正是《Desktop Dungeons》开发者Rodain Joubert所遭遇的情况。他发现有一款名为《League of Epic Heroes》的克隆游戏并试图拯救自己的材料。然而正如有篇文章所述“版权可以保护游戏中的美术资产，游戏背后的特定代码，但游戏机制本身并不受到版权保护。”虽然Joubert很幸运，能够以将诉诸法律手段相胁，吓退其他开发者，但如果他无力支付律师费用，情况又会怎样呢？许多独立开发者确实对此无能为力，只能眼睁睁看着自己的作品被黑，或者试图勒索克隆作品的收益。而这其中的风险就是让独立游戏陷入一种永无止尽的恶性循环中。

4.资源有限

独立游戏开发者可用的资源与那些大型工作室截然不同。例如，Quantic Dream所推出的游戏《Beyond:Two Souls》。这是一款即将出自《暴雨》开发商之手的游戏，它包含动作捕捉技术，并需要160名演员，其中还包括奥斯卡奖提名者Ellen Page。

再与一家独立且未融资的工作室相比较，这种工作室要聘请Ellen Page这种大牌人物简直是做梦，也几乎不可能实现真正意义上的动作捕捉技术。这两者根本就不在同一个段数。

但要注意，游戏并不需要昂贵的投入才能成为好游戏。

5.资金

你可能会说“这些都是独立开发者，他们当然不需要融资”。

想想这其中的含义吧。没有融资对其他人来说就没有什么动力了，这就会限制你、好友以及没有薪水（或者经验不足）的实习生的劳动积极性。可你还是需要一个办工地点，更不要说其中的电脑和各种设计程序了。

对这些东西你有多少预算？若要支付这些必需品的成本，你就得有其他工作。

你可能又会说“不是这样的，难说答错不可以举办一些资金筹集活动吗？”

当然，像Kickstarter这种平台提供了新的集资渠道，但并不是简单地推出一个页面就能筹钱。首先，你得说服人们为支持你的项目而掏钱。

如果你运气好能够实现目标的话，那就得做好准备迎接新一轮挑战。有时候，项目实际需求可能远超过开发者力所能及的范围。

让我们假设你有一帮极为热情的支持者，也有足够的人手准时完成项目，项目也还是有可能出现问题——例如有些项目超标筹资，但却低估了他们承诺礼品的成本。多数使用Kickstarter并没有多少财务管理经验，因此难以有效管理首个筹资活动。

但这并不是说筹资活动就无法成功，但不可否认，这种方法的实际操作并不容易。（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）

Top 5 Problems Faced By Indie Game Developers

by Kate Reichert

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.

Want to write your own blog post on Gamasutra? It’s easy! Click here to get started. Your post could be featured on Gamasutra’s home page, right alongside our award-winning articles and news stories.

Nowadays, ‘indie’ is a complete buzzword. Just look at the rise of the hipsters- those ironic douchecanoes are pretty much everywhere. Indie musicians and actors are considered far more artistic than their ‘mainstream’ counterparts, as if success and integrity are mutually exclusive. Indie games are on the rise and the success of games such as Minecraft and Slender indicates that this trend is not going away.

When I began my internship with a local independent game developer, I thought boys in tight pants and hipster-Ariel glasses would flock to me, drawn in by my new indie cred. Instead, I’ve been learning about the indie gaming market, and the rewards of working on independent games. I’ve also seen some of the problems developers face.

Problems such as:

#1. Publicity

Perhaps the greatest difficulty for independent game developers lies in gaining and maintaining a paying audience for their games. Sure, you can sell your first-born for the money to develop your game, but what does that matter if nobody will play it? The question of how to create awareness is always on the minds of game developers.

There are, of course, options such as Steam Greenlight (which allows users to vote for games to be released on the Steam system) and Indie Games Uprising (which promotes independent XBox Live games). But some of these types of sites require a consideration fee, and there is no promise of success even after that payment. Some people market their games by allowing potential players to choose how much they want to pay, trusting that their games will be good enough to inspire payment and word-of-mouth.

Independent developers often turn to social media, taking to Twitter, Tumblr, and various blogging platforms in order to be heard. But when your marketing plan depends on a site that gained popularity through Ashton Kutcher, there is so much that can go wrong.

Developing games independently involves a great deal of risk, but it can also be a reward in itself. As I always think, when/if my child self manages to jump into the future to meet my present self, is she going to be more impressed if I’m making steady money, or if I’m interning with the team that created Metacell?

#2. Flooded Market

Developing your own game can’t be as horrible as it seems, though- otherwise, why would anyone do it?

There are actually many people leaving more established companies, hoping to work on their favorite game ideas in their own way. Creative freedom and bragging rights are far more fun than rigid rules and little control over the finished product. It also forces developers to think outside of the box in order to get the work done and promote their games successfully, and we all know how popular it is to go against everything mainstream.

The only problem with this is that new developers are not just going up against the big studios- they are facing seasoned competitors in the independent sphere. Just to illustrate how difficult this is, think back to the Kickstarter campaigns I mentioned earlier. Now think: who are you more likely to give money to, the unproven newbie or the seasoned professional?

The market is also absolutely flooded with games. When anyone can take a few classes, download various programs, and produce simple games, it opens the door to so many new options. Although many games require more in-depth knowledge to produce their more complicated qualities, the fact remains that the number of independent games is increasing.

Check out the funding for games on Kickstarter:

That’s literally millions of dollars over an incredibly short period of time, funding many different games. Imagine what the gaming world will look like if every game campaign manages to produce fully-funded games.

#3. Protecting Your Work

If you’ve ever been on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the reactions of people who have had their accounts hacked. Usually it’s nothing more than a stupid status update, but sometimes people take it seriously and completely freak out. You probably laugh at those people- I know I do.

Now think about what you would do if your personal project, which you have worked on and loved and sacrificed your Netflix account for, was stolen by someone else and marketed by them. And you couldn’t do anything about it.

That’s what happened to Rodain Joubert, the developer of Desktop Dungeons. He discovered a clone called League of Epic Heroes and attempted to rescue his material. However, as stated in this article, “Copyright can protect artwork in a game, or the specific code behind a game, but game mechanics themselves cannot be protected.” Although the Joubert got lucky, managing to scare the other developer with threats of legal action, what if he hadn’t been able to afford a lawyer? Many independent developers definitely wouldn’t, and would have to helplessly watch and/or attempt to blackmail the clones. The risk turns any independent game release into Russian roulette.

#4. Resources

The resources available to independent game developers are entirely different from those available to big-name studios. For example, take a look at Beyond: Two Souls from Quantic Dream. Beyond is an upcoming game from the developers of Heavy Rains. It involves motion-capture technology and required 160 actors, including Academy Award-nominee Ellen Page.

Let’s compare that to an independent and underfunded studio, where we only see Ellen Page in our dreams, and motion capture is when we film ourselves falling down the stairs. It simply isn’t on the same level.

But hey, games don’t have to be fancy to be good. They don’t even need pretty girls.

#5. No Funding

“Duh,” you might be saying, “These developers are independent, of course they don’t have any funding.”

But think about what that means. No funding means very few incentives for other people, which limits your labor pool to yourself, your friends, and perhaps some unpaid (and inexperienced) interns. You still need a place to work, not to mention computers and different design programs. How exactly are you planning to pay for all of that? All of you will have to be working at other jobs in order to pay for the necessities.

“But that isn’t true!” you say, “Can’t you just do fundraisers?”

Sure, sites like Kickstarter offer a whole new way to raise money, but it isn’t actually as simple as putting up a page and watching the money roll in. First, there’s the part where you have to persuade people to part with their money in order to fund your potential. That’s harder than pulling a celebutante away from a camera.

If you are lucky enough to reach your goal, it presents an entirely new set of challenges. Sometimes, the demand can completely outstrip what the creators can do. Kickstarter is full of small-scale operations, and success can end up utterly crushing them.

But let’s say you do have a great group of supporters who can’t wait to fund your project, and you have enough people behind the scenes to make it happen as soon as you get the money. It can still go wrong- just look at the information on this campaign, where they raised more than enough money for their project, but underestimated the costs of their pledge gifts. Most people who are using Kickstarter do not have the experience with financial management that will make the campaign the first stop on their success tour.

This isn’t to say that fundraising can never be successful, as you can see from many of the projects from the Kickstarter site. But it definitely isn’t easy.（source：gamasutra）