[ido]

I find being able to pay (even below market) salaries is really required for longer term project. People on profit share will usually not treat your project as more than a hobby, and at some point life happens- spouse gets sick, a parent dies, money problems, stress at the day job, etc.

At that point the first thing that gets cut is the hobby.

[petercooper]

There have also been studies that show people often put in more effort when not being paid than when being paid what they consider an under-market amount.

[zem]

That's not necessarily inconsistent with the previous comment - they might put in a lot of dedicated effort when they are working on it, but might still not make it a priority when more important stuff interferes. contrariwise, if they were getting paid below market, they might not be as enthused or dedicated, but they might be more committed in the sense of making it something they will try harder to make the time for in the face of other life stuff.

[ido]

Then good luck to you using that strategy to make commercial games :)

I can only talk from my own experience.