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Comment by interpol_p | Hacker News Reader

It really depends on your definition of "winning." My partner and I decided to make a small game together back in 2020, release it, and maintain it. "Winning" for me meant that it should earn $500 per year and have regular players who got the same joy from it that we got from making it. It was a really modest goal

We kept working on it over the last three years. It has just been slowly, but consistently getting better, with more players. Now it's earning $500/month

There's always the fantasy and the lure of building something that goes viral and becomes a sensation overnight, but there's something to be said for slow-and-steady, consistency, and doing something joyful!

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Sure, if your aim is to build something for fun or learning or your portfolio, those are valid goals.

The OP however considered their effort a failure, because they aimed at making something that would be a successful business venture (they are not clear about this, but one can read between the lines).

Fair point. Though in my case it is also a business venture, but with very modest goals and building it consistently because I want it to exist

I guess my point is I just hope the author wasn't too quick to write off their attempt as a failure. Things can succeed after their first year, or even after their fifth

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.

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.

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.

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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