If you are considering investing in indie game studios you may be impressed by the skills a team has or blown away by the art and their pitch. If good pitches sold games the industry would be a lot easier.
To me a team with bad art, a good idea and an unstoppable team are far more likely to succeed than a team of AAA industry vets with no experience in wearing multiple hats and no producer skills. It’s tricky to evaluate a team and gauge if they have the right roles to produce successful games. To help you decide, here are the key roles needed to run a successful indie game studio.
Biz Dev: Someone who can effectively run a business is a key role needed for a successful indie game studio. They need to be able to analyse, choose and continually work with the right external partners for their game. This person may also be the one who understands the financial viability of their game based on an understanding of the platform the project it’s being released on and where it fits within the indie game landscape. The industry is full of studios wanting to make an MMORPG because they love and understand multiplayer games. Ask these teams if they want to be making this game for 10 -20 years as that’s the target timeframe for this genre. Multiplayer is hard mode for indie game dev. It adds a completely new layer of difficulty and complexity.
Producer: Someone needs to be in charge of managing the key milestones of the game, the project scope and re-scoping if the game lags or falls behind. All too often indie game studios feel that they need to be rigid in their production plan. Indie game studios thrive on flexibility and the ability to quickly shift focus. The most productive indie game devs do multiple jobs so being able to put one thing down and pick up the next thing quickly is key. Flexibility is often at odds with the AAA environment where going down the proverbial rabbit hole of your chosen profession and being a master at one thing is an advantage. An indie game producer needs to have an understanding of managing dev skills effectively within the proposed time frame of game production. They need to be able to plan when devs are ramping on and off different parts of production. Their production plan should be reviewed before a deal is made.
Art Director: This is a key role needed in any indie game studio especially with multiple artists or if 3rd party art houses are needed to complete a studio’s game. This person needs to ensure all art assets are produced with a unified look to make sure everything looks like it belongs in the world the studios are creating. A team of artists with no obvious leader can often create game assets which look disjointed when combined. An Art Director will ensure everything is created in context with each other. Sometimes studios will save costs by using only junior artists with little experience in generating ideas for art assets. This can sometimes result in derivative art that won’t grab the attention of content creators or the games press.
Lots of work, roles and tasks can be outsourced to other companies keeping the indie game studio lean and productive. Payroll services, sound, art assets, localisation, porting the game onto other consoles, marketing, PR and community management can all be dealt with effectively by 3rd parties. Don’t dismiss a studio if they lack any of these.
It's worth keeping in mind that progress only happens when people do things they weren’t qualified to do. One of the best things about indie game development is when devs help each other achieve this, there are scores of people in the industry willing to lend a hand to lift up their fellow dev. It’s a quality I’ve not found in any other industry and one that I feel makes investing in a great team less risky.
I'm developing an indie game consultancy business that provides a variety of services to a diverse range of clients. Businesses seeking to develop games around their valued IPs must ensure they partner with the right team. Venture capitalists interested in investing in indie game studios often lack the experience needed to identify successful teams and games. Additionally, publishers may require additional production skills within a team. I'm still refining this idea, so if you're interested, please sign up for the waiting list on my website: https://www.acrylicpixelgames.com/
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