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Failing to Fail: The Spiderweb Software Way
About this video
Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software gives a GDC 2018 retrospective on surviving as an indie game maker since 1994, from shareware days through Steam. It covers business realities, costs and sustaining a comfortable living without chasing riches.
Why it appears in the archive
HN keeps recommending it as an inspirational, funny talk on running a long-lived indie studio and what Steam provides for its 30% cut.
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From the Hacker News discussion
Jeff Vogel from Spiderweb Software have an awesome retrospective on his games and company at GDC 2018: "Failing to Fill: The Spiderweb Software Way" [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗Jeff Vogel from Spiderweb Software gave an awesome retrospective on 24 years of creating old-school-style fantasy RPGs at GDC 2018: "Failing to Fill: The Spiderweb Software Way" [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗Jeff is an enjoyable speaker, his latest GDC talk is fantastic (and a better version of this blog post). [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗Speaking about GDC, if you're into game development or just curious, this talk is legendary and inspirational to aspiring game devs (and very intertaining to boot): [VIDEO] "In this GDC 2018 talk, Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel presents a retrospective on his company's history and how they've managed to stay in the game-making business since 1994."
Read original comment ↗There are probably economies of scale, sure, which is part of why Epic can get away with a lower fee for now. But it's also just business. They know how much it costs without economies of scale, and that sets a floor. [VIDEO] Here's a talk from a very old indie company, there's one section talking about how they existed pre-Steam (and other stores they use since Steam's not exclusive) and appreciate what it's enabled.
Read original comment ↗Great talk from the author: [VIDEO] > In this GDC 2018 talk, Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel presents a retrospective on his company's history and how they've managed to stay in the game-making business since 1994.
Read original comment ↗I recall that post (I've been a fan of JV's work, and his blog, for a long time!) but that's ten years old now and the market has gotten more competitive. I think that post is actually pre-Steam, though might push it the other way--I recall that he did really well for himself early on after going to Steam. He has a really good GDC talk that goes into more detail and might shed light on why he operates the way he does: [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗The author of the article, Jeff Vogel, is a few steps (25 years) ahead of you. [VIDEO] (like the article, a humour-laced talk, enjoyable)
Read original comment ↗