Something that i have been thinking seriously about lately is forming an indie games development company. Rather than just blindly developing a game and then thinking about how to sell it later i want to approach from the angle of having a real business strategy in place first and then start games projects that can meet the business requirements ive set out. The "Rough" strategies i can think up of the top of my head would be. 1. Develop games and sell as shareware. 2. Develop a demo to try and secure funding to produce a full product. 3. Self fund a game and sell through online retailers. 4. Self fund a core game (could be distributed free) then sell additional levels or content (kind of shareware?) The idea that interests me the most is the fourth one as it has good potential to scale the business as interest in the product grows. Anyone have any thoughts on this? [Edited by - Idakyne on August 6, 2005 4:32:48 AM]

If you have proven game industry experience then they are all viable. If you do not have proven experience making games then option 2 won't happen (unless you have a rich uncle who will fund you). Focus on 1, 3 or 4. Number 4 certain does seem like a good idea. I think several indies have followed this path.

Check the forum FAQ. There are links to lots of indie dev resources.

Do you happen to know of any specific companies that operate in this way, im curious as to the kind of pricing they use.