[johnnyanmac]

>So by living outside of America and getting paid in USD you basically just multiply every dollar you make, by a very large amount. That $168k easily becomes a $million+ in the overwhelming majority of the world

That's a nice sentiment for those who live in the not-US. But sadly most game development is in fact located in the US and Japan. For the US, many of the developer scene is in fact in higher cost of living areas like California, for the same reasons those areas have top tech companies and universities.

So I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that your estimates do not compare to most minimum wage work, which has itself already ceased to be a "living wage". It could certainly shift, but those are the current breaks. Your favorite indie games are likely made by North Americans as of now, and their survival depends on their ability to survive in North America. The one exception I can think off the top of my head is Team Cherry in Australia, which is not in a much better CoL situation if they are in the cities.

American or not, I don't think the solution to finances for online development is to emigrate out of your home country, away from your community, life cultures, and overall lifestyle. Tech is a big enough part of the US economy that everyone doing it would weaken the dollar itself, and then everyone loses given the current way the world economy works.

[mathteddybear]

As someone who moves out of Bay Area back to home country and looks forward to spice up early retirement with small-time gamedev, I find the economics of indie development not that simple.

Generative AI notwithstanding, in order to make a game you will hire some artists, and the best artists are "getting paid in USD" already, to use the words from this discussion thread. They may be talent living locally, but they work on-line, too.

Thus, successful indie games usually have budgets "in USD" and sales "in USD". I mean, making one is still a first world problem.

[somenameforme]

Going back to the games I mentioned in the other conversation we were having, Mount and Blade is Turkish. Siralim is made by a guy living in Cortland, Ohio - population 8000. Japanese stuff is obviously in Japan, which has economically become much closer to a developing country following 3 decades of stagflation. Nominal GDP/capita is $33k. Average household income after taxes is $29k. [1] It's why I kind of snicker when people reference Japan as having 'achieved affordable housing.' They sure have, so long as you aren't working for Japanese wages!

I don't know how to get meaningful stats on game development locations (because you need to exclude shovelware), but I know that in my library of games - American companies are few and far between except for big AAA titles, though even there things are getting a lot more diverse. For instance Kerbal Space Program is Mexican, Starpoint Gemini is Croatian, Space Rangers is Russian, Conquest of Elysium/Dominions is Swedish, Endless Legend is French, Lost Castle is Chinese, Crusader Kings is Swedish, Battle Brothers is German, and so on endlessly.

And in my experience lifestyles only improve abroad. All the niceties you're used to still exist in pretty much every semi-major hub around the world, and then much more on top. As do large communities of other expats. If somebody just wanted to be in a mini America, or even Silicon Valley, each and every day - they absolutely could. Think about how in the US basically every major city has a little 'China town.' It's the exact same thing abroad with Westerners, often with a tech bias.

[1] - https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/japan/