Speaking of which - how do these individuals manage to get $ millions in start up funds ?!

By giving up their independence. You can get mony by approaching venture capitalists, publishers, investors, banks, etc... But you'll no longer be 'an indie', you'll be working for these people so they get their ROI.

Smaller indie projects are typically funded by their founders themselves -- their personal savings accounts, re-mortgaging their homes, getting personal loans, etc.
Personally, I put away a decent chunk of my paycheques for a few years, added on a decent redundancy pay-out, and then worked as a contractor at the same time as 'being indie'.

1. How much are you making with your games?

All of my money comes from games. Not really looking to divulge my salary on a public forum though.

2. Are you an Indie or do you write games for a company?

I work for a big name developer.

3. If you are a successful Indie, what's your advise for all us noobs?

I'm not an indie and have never released a personal project for money, so take that into consideration, but: Focus on making new experiences with your games. Be more experimental. Don't take on big companies head-on. When was the last time you saw an indie game go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty? The indies that have found success have all offered something new that AAA devs didn't. Minecraft, Journey, Braid, etc. In being experimental, you need to fail fast and often. Take advantage of your low overhead, be able to change directions at the drop of a hat. Once you've found something that resonates, only THEN you put your soul into it until it's done.

That, and get a job (even part time) to pay some bills while your games aren't yet profitable.

I should have made question 1 like this:

Please scan your w-2 form, upload it to some picture hosting service, and post the url to it. And your bank information and credit card #.

Or

Just answer the poll as you decide the level of your involvement in the topic.

1. How much are you making with your games?

2. Are you an Indie or do you write games for a company?

3. If you are a successful Indie, what's your advise for all us noobs?

Firstly, none of them are accurate for me—programming is a full-time job for me indeed, but I have another job and possibly a third depending on how loosely you contextualize the word “job”.
So, “All of my money comes from coding games- Its my job!” would be my vote, but not all of my money actually does come from coding games.

#1: It pays the bills.
#2: For a company.
#3: I’m not an indie at all but I would still say that it would be wise to get a real job to fund your own projects and give you some stability in life. I certainly would not want to just bet it all on an indie game/company. Don’t put all your eggs into one nutcase basketcase basket.


L. Spiro

possibly a third depending on how loosely you contextualize the word “job”.

Depends on how I'm feeling that day. I haven't had a job since 2005, but I've done hundreds of jobs. You can call any of these a job: gig, a contract, or a job.

I have a contract with Addison-Wesley Professional for a book, so I guess “author” would be a 3rd job.

Not really important; I would just change the wording to, “Most or all of my income is from games,” etc.

L. Spiro

Bonus! What's the book about?

Game architecture with OpenGL ES 2.0 on iOS, with a heavy focus on optimizations.

L. Spiro

Excellent, the world could use some more light reading! In a way, I would consider that game writing as well. Just higher up in the hierarchy as the influence of your concepts will find their way into many games.

How does one acquire a contract like that?

If there is only one thing you take to heart as the most important thing you can do for yourself towards the advancement of your career, it is this: Make contacts.

I know someone who has published a few books and she put me into touch with Addison-Wesley Professional.

L. Spiro