{"id":11,"date":"2022-03-13T18:07:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T18:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2022-03-28T13:02:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T20:02:29","slug":"create-your-website-with-blocks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/","title":{"rendered":"One person&#8217;s journey running an independent games company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Welcome to my blog where I share my experience running a small company developing indie games.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The typical picture of a game studio has changed, with solo developers and tiny teams making an impact in the market.  Bit By Bit Studios is an example \u2014 we&#8217;re run by one person, developing games with frequent collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By sharing data along with stories of struggles and opportunities, I aim to help others find their own path to success in the commercial games market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why should I listen to you?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps my experience will inform yours.  I&#8217;ll tell you about myself and you can decide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I helped ship major titles on Wii, PS3, PSP, Facebook gaming, iOS, and Android during five years at a mid-sized studio.<\/li><li>I&#8217;ve been indie since 2012 and have about $300,000 revenue in 10 years of business (whether that&#8217;s a lot or a little depends on your perspective).<\/li><li>As for my personal life, I&#8217;m in my mid-thirties, live in the USA, and have a bachelor&#8217;s degree in Computer Science.  I balance being a work-from-home game developer with having a family life (wife and two kids).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the different tasks I manage for my business and games:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" id=\"block-2dcb359c-b297-44ee-af3c-14a313605723\"><li><strong>Business Admin<\/strong>: Legal, Payroll, Accounting, Taxes.<\/li><li><strong>Project Management<\/strong>: Scope, Task Tracking, Version Control.<\/li><li><strong>Marketing<\/strong>: Social Media, PR, Advertising, Community Management, Kickstarter.<\/li><li><strong>Personnel<\/strong>: Art Direction, Music Direction, Pay\/Bonus Structure Negotiation.<\/li><li><strong>Programming<\/strong>: Gameplay, Tools, Optimization, CI\/CD.<\/li><li><strong>Design<\/strong>: Systems, Economy, Gameplay.<\/li><li><strong>Art<\/strong>: UI, Technical Art.<\/li><li><strong>Writing<\/strong>: Lore, Dialogue, World-Building.<\/li><li><strong>Sound<\/strong>: Sound Design, Implementation.<\/li><li><strong>Video<\/strong>: Video Editing, Trailer Production, Livestreaming.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"background-color:#3e395f;flex-basis:4px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:12px;padding-right:12px;padding-bottom:12px;padding-left:12px;flex-basis:33.33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284021664fdb23480f60b8bee53bcd4037977941f478f31490f361fe0adf4c4c?s=48&#038;d=retro&#038;r=pg' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284021664fdb23480f60b8bee53bcd4037977941f478f31490f361fe0adf4c4c?s=96&#038;d=retro&#038;r=pg 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">Author<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">Sean Sanders<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Sean is sharing his experience trying to earn a living making indie games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2012, he has run Bit By Bit Studios from his home and has published 1 game, ran 2 Kickstarters, and made ~$300K revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">His <a href=\"https:\/\/thirstyheroes.com\">next game<\/a> is currently in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts is-layout-flow wp-block-latest-posts-is-layout-flow\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/asides\/the-single-life\/\">The single life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/games-business\/kickstarter-lesson-funding-breakdown-for-29k-raised\/\">Kickstarter Lesson: Funding Breakdown for $29K raised<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/games-business\/kickstarter-lesson-our-results-with-paid-advertising-agency-and-otherwise\/\">Kickstarter Lesson: Our Results With Paid Advertising (Agency and Otherwise)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to my blog where I share my experience running a small company developing indie games. The typical picture of a game studio has changed, with solo developers and tiny teams making an impact in the market. Bit By Bit Studios is an example \u2014 we&#8217;re run by one person, developing games with frequent collaborators. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitbybitstudios.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}