A little over a year ago I quit my software development job of 26 years to go full time as an indie game dev. Like you, I wouldn't recommend this to others unless you have some compelling mitigating factors. In my case, I have most of my bills paid off, plenty of savings, and my wife is still working. I actually thought being a skilled software developer would give me a bit more of a leg up, but game dev is much harder than 'Desktop' application development. I don't regret it though. I have a plan and I do have experience developing and deploying software, just not specifically games. For me the stress level is actually way lower. Good luck with your game! I hope it works out. Success is just failing over and over again and still working through it until you succeed.
I lost my job recently and I took it as sign to start my own indie studio, be a game dev and more importantly be my own boss. In the coming year, I hope to have an amazing demo and hopefully publish. All the best on your release!
Hi! 9 years ago I quit my job in hotel management job to work as game developer with a friend that was a graphic designer at the time. At the beginning all was learning about almost everything but in 2 years time we published 2 mobile games. After that and meanwhile developing our third game, well life happened. Health problems in the family and having twins forced me to abandon the ship. Almost 3 years ago I started again on my own and I released a game on mobile and pc and it has been just bad financially speaking. I keep on trying but I can do it just because I have some savings and my wife is my hero and keeps working to pay the bills. So I totally agree that you have to persue your dreams and I also agree that making assets or trying to diversify the income is always a good advice. BUT! As Marnix has very well said, don't quit your job unless you are completely sure to have enough resources to survive and you have a plan and a product on the way. To Marnix and BiteMe Games, the very best of lucks with Forge Industry and all future products!😁
It's really hard to plan for a game to be a success or not, so it can be a struggle at times, luckily you do have a good support team as well. I think that there's a bit of a trend lately with the "chasing your dream" TikToks and whatnot, so I really wanted to emphasize that what you shouldn't do is just take a rash decision and sent that email to your boss that you quit. The whole process took nearly half a year of planning and what-if's for me. Now let's hope I planned well... -M
Better to die doing what you love, than doing what you hate. I think it was Jim Carry that said, "You can be rejected doing something you hate. So you might as well do what you love."
I think you made the right decision! You should use the 20s for experimenting around and trying things out, and I guess you got quite some savings from your previous job. Also your TH-cam channel is great and I'm happy to see it getting some well deserved attention. PS: I can somehow understand, why the previous company pushed you into the salesman-direction. You got really nice talking skills and it's always nice to listen to you in your videos.
I indeed have the savings, before I quit I spent some time calculating my runway and burn rate (to use the cool startup termsn) so whilst I'm not making anything just yet, I should have enough time to look into ways to earn again without having to resort to onlyfans. Also, whenever I edit my videos I still die a bit inside when I have to listen to myself, but I am glad that you like the way I talk, thank you! -M
Hey , i feel the same way as you! as a game developer student in my country (tunisia) that has only 5-10 companies to work in game industry, its really hard to get money and funding here. and yet i almost did 1 year of experience in game dev. but i did not give damn, they adviced me to go computer science degree , but i choose Bs in Game Development. i want to be full time and money will pay off after the hard work. anyway i really like your videos since i can relate to what you did say! keep going and even at hard times, see how much you sacrificed yourself to this. and your adventure is just the beginning you will get there♥
Go crazy, you are just 22! You have plenty of time, and your situation seems comfortable enough for you to have fuel for at least a couple of years :) And you are right: it's NOT for everyone, so - truly - enjoy, and do your best!
A while ago a rock climber said to me that "changing jobs or ventures is like moving up in the wall you are climbing. You only let go your right hand grip once you secured your left one. If there is no other way and you have to risk it (like when you got fired), make sure you have a safe line ready (for example savings for a long time)."
Thanks for this video! It would be great if you talk about what is the best move if I recently started learning C# programming and Unity but the learning curve will take a while and I am good with game design, gamification and creativity, should I stick to solo game Dev? Or should I be looking for joining an existing venture/project? Or joining someone skilled in what I lack experience for and start from scratch? And a second question, what is a game Jam? Is it a good idea to participate if you are starting as a game Dev? When is the best time to participate? Thanks!
I don't really recommend solo development, it takes a lot of extra willpower and skills as you have to do everything yourself. Ideally see if there are some people you know personally that are interested in making games as well. As for gamejams, this is where multiple game developers come together, and all try to make a game in a limited time (usually 24 - 72h) with a certain theme. We actually made a video where we go and visit a Belgian gamejam. You can find a lot of (online) gamejams here itch.io/jams and often you can even team up with other developers. And who knows, maybe you can stick together with some of the developers you meet this way. -M
Would be interesting to see a retrospective video at the back of the release now. Like what would you recommend yourself back when you were making a decision to quit, maybe what would you do differently before and after you quit your job? Thanks!
So instead of the financial aspect of our game's launch, more like the personal experience to how things have changed? I think this could be a good thing to do in a few months (maybe the 1y anniversary?). -M
Good luck with it all. It's a big step to take and I wish you well! Personally I've thought about it and I am very tempted to see if my workplace would allow me to do a 4 day work week. Although I want to work out how best to optimise that extra day before asking.
There used to be a time where I was considering this as well, Belgium actually has adopted a legal framework to compress your 38/40h workweek into just 4 days, which would have been my preference. However mentioning it to my employer already got me on a watchlist I feel, so I think you should keep in mind the vibe of your workplace as well. If you can get it, I think a full day which you can just dedicate on making games would be an amazing middle ground. Best of luck! -M
100K is absolutely insane but a job that you enjoy is priceless, it's a very hard and risky decision, I personally wouldn't have the strength to drop a 100K salary though. I hope it works out for you, success is about taking risks. My dream job is to run a indie studio but a more realistic one is to be a 3D VFX Video Game Artist. For now though, I need money, I'm still young, I'm just gonna chill with a retail below average salary and work on my game dev skills in my spare time until I build up a solid portfolio for someone who is self taught... After all, if the game made in your spare time is doomed to fail, working on it full time probably won't change that outcome.
Indeed, if you haven't got any plan, it's better to keep working in the shadows until you are at a point where you can actually show off. The one advantage we have is that we're young, so we don't have as much pressure to be successful. -M
Hey, you gotta do what you feel you gotta do. Life's too short to purposely make yourself suffer if you're not liking your job. I mean, yeah, you have to be able to survive, but if you are already set there then I think it's fine. For myself, I quit my job teaching English mainly to take care of my daughter and do game dev on the side (currently as a solo dev but I also do some unpaid work for a small indie team in New Zealand). My family and I are fortunate enough because my wife has a job that supports us. No, we're not making bank or anything, but it's a lifestyle we're okay with. Funny enough, she's hoping to land a job in Kyoto soon so we're hoping to be in Japan this summer. Anyway, congrats on your success and kudos for following your heart and pursuing your dreams. I think that's a very admirable thing and it's something that we, as individuals, shouldn't let get away from us. Hoping for success with your upcoming game release as well!
7 months ago I left my own company to pursue becoming a game programmer. I used all my savings and tax return to pay for all the time I have been out of work. I spent roughly ten years in an industry I never planned on just to try and pay bills and I have just been getting by. So it was a really hard decision to make and I haven't even found work yet so I can't say it has paid off but I don't regret it.
That's the one thing I've had to come to terms with, if I wanted guaranteed good money, going into gamedev ranks pretty low on the list of good ideas. So it's also a part of realizing I am still young, and I have some leeway in doing "dumb" stuff and seeing how it turns out. -M
Great vid! I also quit my corporate job 3 years ago to become a full time indie dev and I love my life now (even though I'm much poorer than I used to be). Forge Industry looks great! I'm sure the launch will go well. Out of curiosity, how are your wishlists looking at this stage? Are you running an advertising campaign? I'm sure we'd all be very interested to hear about that side of it. -Chaz
I'm here for the fitting meme's and to share the shocked face of parents when their kids quit their job and following their dreams. =O Then again, with such skills as shown in these vlogs, it must assure the worried (and it does). Ganbarinasa.
We have been debating this feature for a very long time, as it would definitely make the game even better. However, it won't be included in the initial release. There are some major technical issues with it. We also covered this topic a bit in our recent video about scope creep (at around 06:54). -M
Hey :-), congrats to this move. I does this also this month. Until august I need to stay at work an then my income drops to zero :-) I come from an 60k job in Germany, and carry 2 kids and my wife. I'm looking forward to the how it goes. As a different to you, I didn't have a community and need to grow it from zero. I will be hard, but from nothing, comes nothing I think. I will focus first on small quick games until I have enough "foundation" to start bigger ones. But there's so much to learn besides gamedev. Cutting videos, social media, organizational stuff and more and more 😀 I'm looking forward to meet you sometime at an gamedev meetup where we stand as happy full-time gamedevs 🙂 best wishes Devlex
Good luck, as you're in Germany, I assume you may be going to Gamescom? We'll be there as well, so we can meet up if you like. I'll probably make a more solid announcement the month leading up to it. -M
@@bitemegames this year I am not at gamescom. the august is my first month as full-time gamedev. and I don't have savings and something like that, so I need to get some kind of speed on track 😀It could be changed if I get some fundings, but this is not clear currently 🙂
I don't quite yet have an indie game project in progress, I've just barely started making a prototype to learn Unity at the moment. When I do have a vertical slice running though, the question will pose itself and while work is pretty interesting at the moment and the decision might be difficult, I expect I'll quit my job. I do already have years of AAA experience making game and the ressources to sustain myself and hire an artist for a couple years without revenue, as well as paying for music and some assets. Though, without a bit more savings and if I didn't manage to convince a publisher, marketing would be complicated. Every time I see someone younger than me taking risks to follow their dreams, it hurts me a bit and I feel like I'm wasting my life. Even if I ended up making something that didn't sell at all, I can't envision a future where I'd regret losing all my savings more than I'd regret not giving a try at achieving my dreams.
I think one of the bad things of the internet is with how many people it allows you to compare yourself. If I see all the 18yo millionaire entrepreneurs I also question where my life has gone wrong. You shouldn't feel influenced by what this kid (me) is doing with his life. Taking risks is always a big, scary step, especially if right now everything is going pretty decently in your life. One day you will feel like it's a time to quit, but there shouldn't be external pressure for that time to be now already. Best of luck once you start working on your first commercial game! -M
Been 6 months since I quit my job here in Japan due to panic attacks and an upcoming depression. Became a stay at home dad and been trying to start my own indie studio since than. I watched your video of a a day in the life of an indie dev in Japan and should have probably watched this one first as now I know why you were in Japan XD Are you planning on staying here again in the future? :o
At the end of the day, worst case scenario you stay with your parents for a few weeks while you get a "regular" job again. If you have the opportunity to gamble on yourself, take it!
Indeed, I still have my old skills and experience, and all I would have to endure is the "shame" of my dream having failed. But at least I won't regret later on in life that I didn't take the plunge when i could. -M
Apart from just the limited daily time and energy to work, certain things are hard to do on the side. This year we are planning 15-20 conference days at least, these days require you to take days off work, which also isn't manageable at that quantity. Also the job requires going out for dinners and drinks in the evenings, which also costs a lot of time. I did combine both gamedev and a job for over a year, but at this point the job wasn't worth it anymore. - M
A little over a year ago I quit my software development job of 26 years to go full time as an indie game dev. Like you, I wouldn't recommend this to others unless you have some compelling mitigating factors. In my case, I have most of my bills paid off, plenty of savings, and my wife is still working. I actually thought being a skilled software developer would give me a bit more of a leg up, but game dev is much harder than 'Desktop' application development. I don't regret it though. I have a plan and I do have experience developing and deploying software, just not specifically games. For me the stress level is actually way lower. Good luck with your game! I hope it works out. Success is just failing over and over again and still working through it until you succeed.
I lost my job recently and I took it as sign to start my own indie studio, be a game dev and more importantly be my own boss. In the coming year, I hope to have an amazing demo and hopefully publish. All the best on your release!
I agree with the "be your own boss" vibe, definitely not going to miss the company policies and procedures... Best of luck! -M
Hi! 9 years ago I quit my job in hotel management job to work as game developer with a friend that was a graphic designer at the time. At the beginning all was learning about almost everything but in 2 years time we published 2 mobile games. After that and meanwhile developing our third game, well life happened. Health problems in the family and having twins forced me to abandon the ship.
Almost 3 years ago I started again on my own and I released a game on mobile and pc and it has been just bad financially speaking. I keep on trying but I can do it just because I have some savings and my wife is my hero and keeps working to pay the bills. So I totally agree that you have to persue your dreams and I also agree that making assets or trying to diversify the income is always a good advice. BUT! As Marnix has very well said, don't quit your job unless you are completely sure to have enough resources to survive and you have a plan and a product on the way. To Marnix and BiteMe Games, the very best of lucks with Forge Industry and all future products!😁
It's really hard to plan for a game to be a success or not, so it can be a struggle at times, luckily you do have a good support team as well.
I think that there's a bit of a trend lately with the "chasing your dream" TikToks and whatnot, so I really wanted to emphasize that what you shouldn't do is just take a rash decision and sent that email to your boss that you quit. The whole process took nearly half a year of planning and what-if's for me. Now let's hope I planned well... -M
Better to die doing what you love, than doing what you hate. I think it was Jim Carry that said, "You can be rejected doing something you hate. So you might as well do what you love."
Gotta go for your dreams, stick with yourself and other people will stick with you, I’m here to support you
I think you made the right decision! You should use the 20s for experimenting around and trying things out, and I guess you got quite some savings from your previous job. Also your TH-cam channel is great and I'm happy to see it getting some well deserved attention.
PS: I can somehow understand, why the previous company pushed you into the salesman-direction. You got really nice talking skills and it's always nice to listen to you in your videos.
I indeed have the savings, before I quit I spent some time calculating my runway and burn rate (to use the cool startup termsn) so whilst I'm not making anything just yet, I should have enough time to look into ways to earn again without having to resort to onlyfans.
Also, whenever I edit my videos I still die a bit inside when I have to listen to myself, but I am glad that you like the way I talk, thank you! -M
Hey , i feel the same way as you! as a game developer student in my country (tunisia) that has only 5-10 companies to work in game industry, its really hard to get money and funding here. and yet i almost did 1 year of experience in game dev. but i did not give damn, they adviced me to go computer science degree , but i choose Bs in Game Development. i want to be full time and money will pay off after the hard work. anyway i really like your videos since i can relate to what you did say! keep going and even at hard times, see how much you sacrificed yourself to this. and your adventure is just the beginning you will get there♥
Go crazy, you are just 22! You have plenty of time, and your situation seems comfortable enough for you to have fuel for at least a couple of years :)
And you are right: it's NOT for everyone, so - truly - enjoy, and do your best!
Thanks for your support! -M
A while ago a rock climber said to me that "changing jobs or ventures is like moving up in the wall you are climbing. You only let go your right hand grip once you secured your left one. If there is no other way and you have to risk it (like when you got fired), make sure you have a safe line ready (for example savings for a long time)."
I hope you grow so much in the coming year's, new sub❤
Thanks for this video! It would be great if you talk about what is the best move if I recently started learning C# programming and Unity but the learning curve will take a while and I am good with game design, gamification and creativity, should I stick to solo game Dev? Or should I be looking for joining an existing venture/project? Or joining someone skilled in what I lack experience for and start from scratch?
And a second question, what is a game Jam? Is it a good idea to participate if you are starting as a game Dev? When is the best time to participate?
Thanks!
I don't really recommend solo development, it takes a lot of extra willpower and skills as you have to do everything yourself. Ideally see if there are some people you know personally that are interested in making games as well.
As for gamejams, this is where multiple game developers come together, and all try to make a game in a limited time (usually 24 - 72h) with a certain theme. We actually made a video where we go and visit a Belgian gamejam. You can find a lot of (online) gamejams here itch.io/jams and often you can even team up with other developers.
And who knows, maybe you can stick together with some of the developers you meet this way. -M
@@bitemegames amazing! Thanks for the feedback! I'll look into it.
Would be interesting to see a retrospective video at the back of the release now. Like what would you recommend yourself back when you were making a decision to quit, maybe what would you do differently before and after you quit your job? Thanks!
So instead of the financial aspect of our game's launch, more like the personal experience to how things have changed? I think this could be a good thing to do in a few months (maybe the 1y anniversary?). -M
I can't wait to see what achievements you'll unlock by overcoming this challenge 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽
Good luck with it all. It's a big step to take and I wish you well!
Personally I've thought about it and I am very tempted to see if my workplace would allow me to do a 4 day work week. Although I want to work out how best to optimise that extra day before asking.
There used to be a time where I was considering this as well, Belgium actually has adopted a legal framework to compress your 38/40h workweek into just 4 days, which would have been my preference. However mentioning it to my employer already got me on a watchlist I feel, so I think you should keep in mind the vibe of your workplace as well.
If you can get it, I think a full day which you can just dedicate on making games would be an amazing middle ground. Best of luck! -M
100K is absolutely insane but a job that you enjoy is priceless, it's a very hard and risky decision, I personally wouldn't have the strength to drop a 100K salary though. I hope it works out for you, success is about taking risks. My dream job is to run a indie studio but a more realistic one is to be a 3D VFX Video Game Artist. For now though, I need money, I'm still young, I'm just gonna chill with a retail below average salary and work on my game dev skills in my spare time until I build up a solid portfolio for someone who is self taught... After all, if the game made in your spare time is doomed to fail, working on it full time probably won't change that outcome.
Indeed, if you haven't got any plan, it's better to keep working in the shadows until you are at a point where you can actually show off. The one advantage we have is that we're young, so we don't have as much pressure to be successful. -M
Hey, you gotta do what you feel you gotta do. Life's too short to purposely make yourself suffer if you're not liking your job. I mean, yeah, you have to be able to survive, but if you are already set there then I think it's fine. For myself, I quit my job teaching English mainly to take care of my daughter and do game dev on the side (currently as a solo dev but I also do some unpaid work for a small indie team in New Zealand). My family and I are fortunate enough because my wife has a job that supports us. No, we're not making bank or anything, but it's a lifestyle we're okay with. Funny enough, she's hoping to land a job in Kyoto soon so we're hoping to be in Japan this summer.
Anyway, congrats on your success and kudos for following your heart and pursuing your dreams. I think that's a very admirable thing and it's something that we, as individuals, shouldn't let get away from us. Hoping for success with your upcoming game release as well!
Good lucks sir!
7 months ago I left my own company to pursue becoming a game programmer. I used all my savings and tax return to pay for all the time I have been out of work. I spent roughly ten years in an industry I never planned on just to try and pay bills and I have just been getting by. So it was a really hard decision to make and I haven't even found work yet so I can't say it has paid off but I don't regret it.
That's the one thing I've had to come to terms with, if I wanted guaranteed good money, going into gamedev ranks pretty low on the list of good ideas. So it's also a part of realizing I am still young, and I have some leeway in doing "dumb" stuff and seeing how it turns out. -M
Great vid! I also quit my corporate job 3 years ago to become a full time indie dev and I love my life now (even though I'm much poorer than I used to be). Forge Industry looks great! I'm sure the launch will go well. Out of curiosity, how are your wishlists looking at this stage? Are you running an advertising campaign? I'm sure we'd all be very interested to hear about that side of it.
-Chaz
I'll probably make a video about the behind the scenes of our marketing in a few weeks, as we still have a few big pushes planned 👀 -M
I'm here for the fitting meme's and to share the shocked face of parents when their kids quit their job and following their dreams. =O
Then again, with such skills as shown in these vlogs, it must assure the worried (and it does).
Ganbarinasa.
Would love to see a co-op mode in the game :)
We have been debating this feature for a very long time, as it would definitely make the game even better. However, it won't be included in the initial release. There are some major technical issues with it.
We also covered this topic a bit in our recent video about scope creep (at around 06:54). -M
Hey :-),
congrats to this move. I does this also this month. Until august I need to stay at work an then my income drops to zero :-) I come from an 60k job in Germany, and carry 2 kids and my wife. I'm looking forward to the how it goes. As a different to you, I didn't have a community and need to grow it from zero. I will be hard, but from nothing, comes nothing I think.
I will focus first on small quick games until I have enough "foundation" to start bigger ones. But there's so much to learn besides gamedev. Cutting videos, social media, organizational stuff and more and more 😀
I'm looking forward to meet you sometime at an gamedev meetup where we stand as happy full-time gamedevs 🙂
best wishes
Devlex
Good luck, as you're in Germany, I assume you may be going to Gamescom? We'll be there as well, so we can meet up if you like. I'll probably make a more solid announcement the month leading up to it. -M
@@bitemegames this year I am not at gamescom. the august is my first month as full-time gamedev. and I don't have savings and something like that, so I need to get some kind of speed on track 😀It could be changed if I get some fundings, but this is not clear currently 🙂
good luck big man
I don't quite yet have an indie game project in progress, I've just barely started making a prototype to learn Unity at the moment.
When I do have a vertical slice running though, the question will pose itself and while work is pretty interesting at the moment and the decision might be difficult, I expect I'll quit my job.
I do already have years of AAA experience making game and the ressources to sustain myself and hire an artist for a couple years without revenue, as well as paying for music and some assets. Though, without a bit more savings and if I didn't manage to convince a publisher, marketing would be complicated.
Every time I see someone younger than me taking risks to follow their dreams, it hurts me a bit and I feel like I'm wasting my life. Even if I ended up making something that didn't sell at all, I can't envision a future where I'd regret losing all my savings more than I'd regret not giving a try at achieving my dreams.
I think one of the bad things of the internet is with how many people it allows you to compare yourself. If I see all the 18yo millionaire entrepreneurs I also question where my life has gone wrong. You shouldn't feel influenced by what this kid (me) is doing with his life.
Taking risks is always a big, scary step, especially if right now everything is going pretty decently in your life. One day you will feel like it's a time to quit, but there shouldn't be external pressure for that time to be now already.
Best of luck once you start working on your first commercial game! -M
Been 6 months since I quit my job here in Japan due to panic attacks and an upcoming depression. Became a stay at home dad and been trying to start my own indie studio since than.
I watched your video of a a day in the life of an indie dev in Japan and should have probably watched this one first as now I know why you were in Japan XD Are you planning on staying here again in the future? :o
I'll be back next year, I left my heart in Osaka! -M
oops..quit my job 3.5 years ago to work on my Tower Defense game .. $0/year gamedev is real XD .. but in my case..it was a good move
Good Luck! :3
How come I cant download the demo??
Demo goes live this Monday as part of the Steam Next Fest!
-T
I like this guy he is crazy
I have a NetworkEngineering bachelor degree I have too many years experience as a developer, I am not good at route stuff,
Good luck to your new adventure, nice try,
Wife is supporting you. No big deal.
No wife in my life, unfortunately... -M
At the end of the day, worst case scenario you stay with your parents for a few weeks while you get a "regular" job again. If you have the opportunity to gamble on yourself, take it!
Indeed, I still have my old skills and experience, and all I would have to endure is the "shame" of my dream having failed. But at least I won't regret later on in life that I didn't take the plunge when i could. -M
Why quit and not have pay?? Do it on the side.. idk
Apart from just the limited daily time and energy to work, certain things are hard to do on the side. This year we are planning 15-20 conference days at least, these days require you to take days off work, which also isn't manageable at that quantity. Also the job requires going out for dinners and drinks in the evenings, which also costs a lot of time.
I did combine both gamedev and a job for over a year, but at this point the job wasn't worth it anymore. - M
0:05
HA!
man.. you are crazy. no offense. good luck.
If you want to develop games, you need a job.
I guess I'll just have to make making games a job. -M
Hey man I want to connect with you through linkeding can you share you profile link
You can look up my name, "Marnix Wyns". I am quite sure I am the only person on LinkedIn with that name. -M