Conclusion

The continued trend of online gaming has the potential to transform the economics of the industry. Whether it's due to streamlined digital distribution, licensing opportunities, or a shift from banner advertising to subscriptions, online business models will continue to evolve accordingly . Undoubtedly, informed independent developers will play an important role in this future.

References

[Costikyan and Mulligan02] Costikyan, Greg and Mulligan, Jessica, The Themis Report on Online and Wireless Gaming , The Themis Group , 2002 .

[Hunt02] Hunt, Ben, "War on piracy is being lost in 100 countries ," Financial Times ( August 7, 2002 ): IT Review, p. 4.

[IGDA02] IGDA Online Games Committee, "IGDA Online Games White Paper," available online at www.igda.org/Endeavors/Research/Online/online.htm , March 2002 .

[Kary02] Kary, Tiffany, "Study: Sixfold Growth for Online Games," available online at http://news.com.com/2100-1040-933295.html , June 6, 2002 .

[Weill and Vitale01] Weill, Peter and Vitale, Michael R., Place to Space: Migrating to e-Business Models , Harvard Business School Press , 2001 .

Chapter 2.8: Creating a Successful Freelance Game Development Business

Overview

Franois Dominic Larame

< francoislaramee@videotron.ca >

Long hours, interminable projects, bad bosses, and layoffs are but a handful of the reasons why some game developers forego the relative security of regular paychecks and create their own freelance businesses. The rewards of self-employment are such that most of them never go back to regular jobs, except under extreme financial duress. However, going into business is a risky proposition, and one not suited to everyone.

This article summarizes the techniques developed by the author, over a period of five years , to minimize the risks associated with a freelance business. Valuable insight gathered from the Freelancer's Roundtable at the GDC in 2001 [Larame01] and 2002 [Larame02] is also presented.

Should You Make the Switch?

Before you invest in a home office, ask yourself whether freelancing would be good for you:

Will you develop an ulcer if you go three months without receiving a check?
Will insecurity cause friction between you and your spouse?
Do you love chatting with co-workers over lunch or coffee every day?
Do you have nightmares before important meetings and presentations?
Do you enjoy being able to delegate responsibility?
Do you have trouble handling rejection ?
Are you afraid you'll procrastinate and spend all day watching soap operas?
Are you too timid to call a client, repeatedly, until he pays what he owes you?

If you have answered "yes" to most of these questions, freelancing might not be your best choice. Perhaps you should consider going into business with partners , or merely changing jobs.

What Kind of Business Do You Want?

Some choose freelancing as their main career path , while others do it part-time while holding a regular job, or on an intermittent basis to fulfill specific goals, like saving for a vacation or a down payment on a house. Whatever your situation, you must know the skills you can sell, and the companies likely to buy them.

Generalists

Generalist freelancers take on a variety of roles, often at a moment's notice, and routinely handle multiple projects of wildly different durations in parallel.

For example, in the past year, this author has received assignments in game design, translation, artificial intelligence, business consulting, book and magazine writing, Web design, press relations, teaching, and comedy writing. Some lasted 30 minutes and had to be completed within 24 hours; the longest took about 200 hours over a period of three months.

Generalists fare well in most environments. They can often rely on a small stable of regular clients to provide most of their income, particularly in geographical areas where few experienced developers live.

Content Specialists

3D artists , audio specialists, some programmers, scriptwriters, and other professionals who provide well-defined , isolated game components fall into this category. They can literally set up shop anywhere ; well-designed character models, for example, can be plugged into an engine with a minimum of back and forth between freelancer and client, so it doesn't matter if the two are next door neighbors or if they live on different continents.

The amount of repeat business that a content specialist will receive varies a lot; an artist can work on a project for years , while a piece of code might be paid for once and used in several products. If your perspectives are weak in this regard, do not hesitate to take advantage of geographic freedom and market yourself far and wide.

Process Specialists

Producers, lead designers, and project salvage specialists are intricately involved in the corporate process. That makes it difficult for them to become freelancers; the ones I know are very senior people whose tremendous credentials overwhelm clients' natural reluctance to risk so much of their projects on external resources. Even then, process specialists must spend significant amounts of time in their clients' offices, interacting with the rest of the team. Thus, they tend to live in high-density game development areas, like California or Texas, or travel extensively.