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by mortallywounded 906 days ago
The problem I have with this is $500/month is a lot more than $500 per-month. Hear me out.

If Steam is taking 30% and uncle Sam is taking 35%, $500 is really $175. You need to earn roughly $1450 per-month to make around $500 per-month. Of course, that doesn't count any marketing/domain/asset/license/etc fees.
1 comments
Kirby64 906 days ago
Everyone pays taxes so I’m not sure why uncle Sam’s cut matters; it’s going to be nearly the same as working in a regular job.

As per your math, you added them together… percentages like that are multiplicative since you wouldn’t get taxed on the fees paid to steam, so it’s really more like $227.50 in your example. Still less than half, but all your additional fees or whatever get deducted out of the big 35% bucket.

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mortallywounded 906 days ago
True-- but a regular job you may work 40-50 hours a week and have many other benefits (like health insurance, and so on). Most people making games (especially on their own) put in far more hours, zero benefits and a lot less money.

I have nothing but respect for people that do. I've dreamed of it. I could never pull the trigger though. I can't justify putting four to seven years in a game to make pocket change out of it.

Sure... the creative aspect is great. Having players enjoy it is great. But eating and keeping my house is pretty good too.

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Kirby64 905 days ago
Sure, but maintaining a video game - depending on the type of game - could be anywhere from a full time job to a few hours a week. Is a few hours a week worth an extra $500/mo? Yea, probably. And with network effect of games, it's possible that $500 grows to $5000 over time and you really can think about replacing your actual job.

It sounds like this was a passion project, not something intended to replace a full time job, though.

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