Hi there, me and the rest of our team are thinking about starting an official game development company. We have some projects in development and we want to make it all seriously. I wanted to ask one simple question. Can such company make money for itself or does it need always sponsors or investors to keep alive and survive? Our projects are original (not copies of already published games). Thank you

Hi there, me and the rest of our team are thinking about starting an official game development company. ... Can such company make money for itself or does it need always sponsors or investors to keep alive and survive?

Yes, of course it's possible for a game development company to make money on its own, without investors having to eternally pump in money.
The trick is for you to work out a business plan for how YOUR company will get there.
Until you have such a plan, you should not start your company.
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm
http://www.obscure.co.uk/articles-2/
http://www.igda.org/games-game-october-2009
http://www.igda.org/games-game-november-2007

Thank you for useful advice and articles!

Once you have a product to pitch and a team to make that project a reality, if you're short on funds you have more options available than the "traditional" models (e.g., (friends and family, small business loans, etc.). Look into crowd-funding possibilities like kickstarter-- the JOBS Act has made this a more viable option, but make sure you've properly formed your business entity in accordance with state, SEC, and the crowdsourcing site's guidelines, and make sure your collection strategy similarly complies.

Best of luck!

Yeah, I echo the sentiment here that you don't need to rely on investors and funding to be a company. In fact, I would advise against taking investors money at all if possible. You can learn a lot moonlighting your game design company while working at your day jobs, and it'll keep money flowing in. Most developers don't make money off of their first few games until they get the hang of it. Then, if you build a game that shows some success, it's time to switch over to full-time studio mode and there's less risk.

If you really have the entrepreneur bug and a killer game concept, then you should also look into Kickstarter. If it's a cool game concept, you can find people to pay in advance for the product.

Either way, you don't need VC money to have a game company, and honestly the best time to get VC money is when you have a solid game with substantial traction. That way you can get your money's worth for selling a piece of your company

Good luck!