Making Bank: How Indie Developers Go Pro

pro⋅fes⋅sion⋅al

[pruh-fesh-uh-nl]
–adjective
1. Following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.

We all know what the word “pro” means. It’s someone who’s good — nay, goddamned great — at what they do. So great, in fact, they can use those aforementioned skills to pay their bills.

For many independent game developers, it’s not about the money. But if they’re able to turn what they love into what they do, then that’s just one more hallmark of legitimacy.

For the next few weeks, GotGame will be looking at different ways for indie developers to earn some scratch for the countless hours spent in the slavish pursuit of a better game.

From studios who’ve built their business models from the ground up to those who’ve gotten a helpful nudge from the big boys of the industry, stick around to hear real developers’ accounts of trying to make it big (or at least break even) in the world of video games.

Making Bank will begin on Friday, with a new installment added each week. We’ll kick the series off with a look at online Flash games, and the challenges of standing out in a crowd where casual gameplay gets the most clicks.