You don't have to make games full time
Some thoughts on which path is right for you
This past week on YouTube I went over some changes for me and my studio, Moon Mantis Games. You guessed it, I’m not making games full time anymore. In fact, I won’t be working on my current game, Arcane Realms, much at all in the coming months.
So what will I be doing?
I am shifting my focus to a yet-to-be determined new business. It’s experimentation time!
Longer term, my goals involve more than just making games, so this is still self-consistent. I do still like game dev and will keep that around in some form, for the short term through my YouTube channel and this newsletter. I’m not going away.
Enough about me though. Let’s look at that headline a bit more, shall we?
Full Time Game Dev does not always make sense
Especially if you’re a solo developer, making game dev your full time focus doesn’t always make sense. I’ll go out on a limb even further. For most people it doesn’t make sense, most of the time. See my past article below for some additional thoughts on that if you’re so inclined.
Ok, welcome back if you went on that little side quest.
As you’re no doubt aware, in 2025 games still take an exceedingly long time to make with respect to other products. You’re looking at around a month or so minimum to test a game concept. If you’re clever you may be able to cut that down to multiple weeks. If you depend on this full time to bring in revenue, that can mean months before you even start making what you will sell.
If you’re a solo dev or small indie team, the scale at which you have to sell in order to have positive return is large. More or less, single-purchase game prices are capped between $0 to $70 with very little exception. As a small indie developer, you are most likely capped at about $30 on the high end. You have to sell an enormous number of units to have a return and you don’t know how people will receive that game until months into the process. There are exceptions
Let’s look outside of gaming for a comparison. What about starting a service business?
You can test your distribution in a week to decide if you have customer access. If you have enough sales calls in that week you will already find 5 different ways you could adapt for what people want. You can even pre-sell before you’ve made whatever it is you’re thinking. This is a normal and accepted way of doing business. Your sale price is typically quite a bit higher than even AAA game prices, meaning you only have to sell a small number of deals per month (win). It’s not easy mode either of course, but you get the point.
You should still make games
Please do not let this discourage you. That’s not the intent here. Your goal may not even be to make money in the first place and that is totally cool.
Especially if you are new to game dev, doing it part time at first can be a great way to test it out. Commit to shipping a game. Budget your time and scope so you ship it. You’ll learn a ton through this process, grow in ways you didn’t expect, and have a nice shiny game under your belt when you’re done.
Since I’ve done both, I see a lot of parallels between game dev and starting a YouTube channel. It takes a long time for you to start making money with either one. Going 100% YouTube on day one (unless you have the capital, say from a past career) is also very hard. If you happen to be interested in how that looks for YouTubers, check out Ali Abdaal’s Part-Time YouTuber Academy.
Just like YouTube, if you build up your catalog of games and learn how to make games people want to buy then you can jump all in.
You do not have to be full-time to be a game dev.
PS: No I didn’t do PTYA. It’s just an example that I think is interesting given today’s topic.
Find of the Week
There is no find of the week.
At least from where I’m seeing, I don’t think this section provides that much value in addition to what I already talk about. Instead, I’ll just mention relevant finds in context as I go.
Affiliate Links
Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase. For now I’ll leave these down at the bottom with all of my newsletters.
Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace - Hire freelance help for your parts of your game… or Steam capsule art!
Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF - Get awesome sound packs to bring your games to life
Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf - Easily make landing pages for your games!