To make an indie game, make great contacts That’s even true (and perhaps especially true) if you don’t usually play games at all. With the medium still very much in its infancy thanks to the constant march of technology, you have immense creative freedom to experiment and make a game you’d want to play. One of the wonderful things about the medium is the variety of ways you can enjoy a game: there are hugely popular titles entirely without dialogue, and hugely popular titles that are almost entirely dialogue. Writers and artists wondering how to start a game development company have a leg up. If in doubt, take your real world craft and add a few zombies or dragons (or both!). The joy of the format is that even the most seemingly banal tasks can become imbued with meaning and peril. If your passion is cooking, make the next Cooking Mama or Overcooked. If you run a shoe shop, make a shop simulator like the Tycoon series or indie darling Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale. This doesn’t have to hold you back: the game Hotline Miami was made with RPG Maker, and has become an iconic (and graphic) staple of the indie scene.Įven if you don’t have a specific story fleshed out, you could easily translate your passion to the video game format. RPG Maker and GameMaker Studio meanwhile let you create indie games in more typical fashion, using readymade assets. Tools like Twine allow you to create interactive stories similar to ‘text adventures’ of the 1980s, and are home to some wonderful and unique creators. If coding is beyond you, there are many platforms for making games with a lower barrier to entry. There’s no better way to demonstrate that care and craft than overseeing everything yourself. 2016 was the year when the ‘if you can see it, you can visit it’ mantra of giant landscapes gave way to tightly honed games, where the set design trumped the bigger picture. Some of the most mundane ideas on paper turn into great games. A basic familiarity with the gaming landscape is helpful, however, just to avoid repeating a popular idea.īut don’t think that your concept has to be incredibly fantastical and out there. The ability to make indie games in small teams, or even alone, allows for the same authorial control as writing a book or script. Game development is often seen as creation by committee, but the process of making an indie game is very much personality driven. Come up with a concept (and follow it through) Quebec provides a relief of up to 37.5% on employee salaries, while Ontario offers 40%. Home to Ubisoft, EA and Rockstar studios including Edmonton’s BioWare, each territory offers its own incentives. Another French speaking territory, Canada, is one of the world’s other leading homes for developers. Home to Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft, France now offers tax breaks to 18 rated games, cutting up to 20% of total costs on projects of over €100,000. The third spot in Europe by popular opinion goes to France, which recently expanded its incentives for game developers. The fund relies entirely on subsequent tax revenue, and more than made its money back from the initial $3m investment in Supercell as a tiny startup. This owes a lot to the government fund Tekes, which provides $130m to tech companies each year. Hot on the heels of Angry Birds maker Rovio, Finnish company Supercell posted $2.3bn in revenue and almost $1bn in profit last year. British productions meeting loose cultural criteria can be entitled to up to 80% of core expenditure, as long as it was spent within the European Economic Area (EEA).įinland has become a surprise candidate for the best indie video game startup hub, following a massive few years for mobile development. This owes much to Dundee’s rich gaming heritage, but also to the fact that the UK offers generous tax incentives. The most expensive and profitable game of all time, Grand Theft Auto V, was developed predominantly in Scotland. Since 2012 video game sales have outstripped movies and music combined, with the very biggest titles making close to a billion dollars. You may not realise it, but starting an indie game company positions you in one of the world’s most valuable industries. Utilising tax breaks to start a video game company Here are some of the most important things to consider before you take a leap into the digital realm. But the unique requirements of this competitive industry require some in-depth research. Incorporating a video game company is much the same as any other business.
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