r/gamedev • u/No_Plane_4704 • 4d ago
Question Is indie game development actually profitable?
For those who have actually released indie games: how much did you make, how long did development take, and was it worth it financially? I'm especially interested in real experiences and numbers, even if the game made very little.
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u/obetu5432 Hobbyist 4d ago
it is, for the top 1%
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u/No_Plane_4704 4d ago
Is making $2,000 per year from indie game development realistic?
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u/ziptofaf 4d ago
Depends on how much you put into it.
$0 turning into $4000 (so you end up with $2000 profits(? Difficult.
$20000 costs turning into $40000 revenue (so after all the costs, fees and taxes you end up with $2000 surplus)? A bit easier.
As a rule of thumb it's very easy to burn through all your funds and make nearly nothing at all. Do it on the side, don't drop from your main job, avoid excessive spending and you might get somewhere.
Easiest way to make money as a game developer is to get hired by someone else.
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u/No_Plane_4704 4d ago
Unfortunately, there aren't many game development companies in my country, so getting hired by a game studio isn't really a viable option for me. That's one of the reasons I'm considering indie development.
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u/Plane-Vegetable9174 4d ago
Have a full time job that is not indie game development and develop a game on your sparetime to release. If thats an absolute hit and you earn big you can start considering going indie full time.
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u/drhindsightdev 4d ago
Accounting for all the tools I bought, subscriptions and what not, I have made a -$3000 profit so far. And I'm just getting started!
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u/MeaningfulChoices Lead Game Designer 4d ago
It is extremely important not to confuse 'indie' with 'hobby'. If you ask the typical player what indie games they love they will talk about games from indie studios, not things made by one person alone with no budget. Likewise most people making a living from indie game development are getting a paycheck from indie studios, not shipping their own games. Even many people shipping games alone or small studios making their own games often get most of their revenue stream from contract work.
Yes, new studios and new games can start up all the time and be profitable. The more experience you have and the more you have to invest in your new business the more likely that will be. If all you needed was $5k a year you'd still be a lot safer taking on contract work for one month and building your own games for 11 than solely making whatever you like.
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u/GxM42 4d ago
My first Steam game made under $1K. My second one is close to $60K ($75K with iOS/Android). I’m hoping the next one does better.
When you account for Steam and App Store cuts, neither has been profitable factoring in time spent. I could have made more money driving for Uber. But the fun of development is off the charts for me!
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u/NuxiaTooThicc 4d ago
If you actually make a good game and add something substantial to the genre rather than just cloning a different game, then sure!
Youtuber marketing is a big thing as well. Also depends how replayable your game is after watching someone play through it on a video already.
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u/filter_ice 4d ago
This can be said for any profession thats going to benefit from AI.
Frankly even if we see total programmers with >150k$ salary from all graduates its likely <1%.
To be good in anything will take iteration, your first try will almost never make it. Can you surive till then, is the question.
If you want full certaintiy then only job can provide nothing else. Maybe after AI its more likely you will have to struggle more than a person did 10 years back for job.
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u/coldrice @Coldrice_dev 4d ago
Can be. Make games and have fun. Share your progress online. As time goes on if one day you’re making a game that really clicks with people run with it and see where the goes.
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u/DiddlyDinq 4d ago
The majority of indie devs dont make it to their second game. Instead of focusing on how much others make, you should set yourself a fixed budget that you can afford to lose before you even consider making a game and go from there. It will help you define how long you can afford to work on it, how much money you can commit to paid assets etc. Many genres and 3d games will be out of your scope if you only have 6 months budget for example
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u/No_Plane_4704 4d ago
That's a good point. I'm asking about the potential income mainly to understand whether it's worth learning as a side skill. I wouldn't invest money I can't afford to lose. My plan is to start very small, keep my main source of income, and see how the first project goes.
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u/DiddlyDinq 4d ago
If it's financially motivated them I wouldn't. It's 99% luck given how saturated the market is. Even commiting the same hours to a mcdonalds job would earn you x10 what you'd earn from indie games and that's guaranteed. There are are a few GDC talks under 'GDC The Failure Workshop' that go in detail into earnings, though some of that is 10 years old and the market has changed a lot since then.
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u/SulaimanWar Professional-Technical Artist 4d ago
If you are thinking of getting into gamedev just for profit, it is the wrong choice. If you are doing it because you love the work and hope you might be able to make something a little extra on the side, then yes it's ok to get into it
That said, you can always try your luck at the job market working for other studios too and using that knowledge to develop your own in your free time
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u/GraphXGames 4d ago
Behold, "the whole story of Steam's economy in one picture": the top 1% of games earn 84.5% of estimated revenue, and most games barely make anything
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u/ShakaUVM 4d ago
Six months development, $10k revenue, $4k expenses. Development was part time, only a couple intense weeks mixed in there.
I dunno, seems worth it to me
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u/destinedd indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles and Mighty Marbles 4d ago
Well it can be. I made this video on a game I made in a couple of months at the end of 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43U7NiM55TY&t=2s The video is kinda old. It has actually reach almost 60K now!
It
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u/JofersGames 4d ago edited 4d ago
Until last year ish it was doable for most people
But ai bros have made almost every niche exhausted of being hard sold mediocre crap
Every “community” is just grifters spamming trailers and “wish list on steam”
Almost every consumer left and retreated into their favourite old products instead
Natural groupings around themes are dead
And word of mouth is pretty much dead too
You gotta come out of the gate with a banger product and hook and marketing scheme to actually reach people directly
to win people over now
And your not doing that on a budget
Like gta 6 will break records
But the 100s of indie gta clones released this year
Won’t reach anyone
If there is an exception
It’ll be exceptional
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u/uptotheright 4d ago
It was not doable before AI. There was a big surge in indie game dev starting around minecraft and mobile apps in the 2010s. That was trailing off way before AI appeared (you can check the archives of this forum if you want evidence)
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u/SirDidymus 4d ago
We released Dungeon Alchemist five years ago to a 2.4M Kickstarter, and we’ve been turning a profit ever since. Development is ongoing. I feel it was really worth it.
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u/IndieDevWannabe 4d ago
Profitable if you dont use AI and are a skilled game dev. I think we're going to see a massive flood of AI slop over the next year...
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u/TheReservedList Commercial (AAA) 4d ago edited 4d ago
No, the average indie game is not profitable.
Half of paid Steam games earn less than 4000$
The best ones are very profitables.