I'm starting a small Game Studio and I've been doing as much research as possible. I thought also if I ask, maybe some people have insights, experiences, or suggestions they would like to share. I'll begin by briefly going over the details and please feel free to comment or share your thoughts regarding any of the below: (Budget is tight as I'll be starting it with my money)

The project we'll work on is a PC multiplayer First Person Shooter with some unique features.
Seems like Unreal Engine is best for this project.
Physical company office/workspace will be included.
Will hire Programmers, and mainly outsource Art and Sound. (initially)
Finally, Publish the game on Steam

Thanks for your time,
And please share your valuable knowledge on the subject

Saif_youssef said:
please share your valuable knowledge on the subject

1. Is the FPS your idea? Did you choose that genre because it's the best genre for your studio's core business?
2. Why do you have to choose an engine yourself? Are you the lead engineer on the team? Choice of engine should be considered between team leads, based on their experience with the genre.
3. What role will you be playing in the game's development? What experience have you had that will instill employees' willingness to join you and come to trust in your leadership?
4. You didn't mention marketing, monetization. What is your marketing plan, and how will the game pay for its development (what monetization method are you planning to use)?
5. Publishing the game is not the final step. It's an early step in your studio's career (one game is not a business). What is the goal and plan for after you publish your first game?

This question has been moved to the Business and Law forum, where other startup discussions have occurred. You are encouraged to read some of them.

Thanks @Tom Sloper for your input, I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Apologies for my English, it's not my first language.

1- Yes, it's my idea and I chose it as the first project because the structure of the game is very unique and appealing.
2- I have experience in Game Development and I've played around with smaller projects on both Unity and Unreal, however Unity has proven to me that it's not the right choice when it comes to Multiplayer FPS.
3- Game Designer, I have basic knowledge in programming, 3D Modeling, Animation, and Sound Engineering. As for employees' willingness and drive, Money of coarse is the main factor, with understanding+faith of the game idea being the second factor.
4- I've completely avoided Marketing till this point, and will probably keep avoiding it until we have something to show for as a company (Prototype). As for Monetization, game will be free to play with purchasable cosmetics, skins, etc.
5- Keep optimizing and adding to the game. (not planning on releasing many games as a Studio, will mainly focus and build on the existing project)

Finally, thanks for you advice regarding reading other discussions on startups. I'll do that now ?

@saif_youssef , good luck with the venture. I think money is going to be a big problem. For one thing, you're going to need to spend as much money on marketing as you do on development. I wonder if you have an idea about how long it will take to develop your prototype, and how long in advance of launch you will begin marketing. I think it's extremely risky to pin a business on one game, and I think investors (you will need more money once you've developed your prototype) will also find that a risky idea.

@Saif_youssef

Saif_youssef said:
1- Yes, it's my idea and I chose it as the first project because the structure of the game is very unique and appealing.

Any game idea should be heavily supported with a monetization plan. How is this game going to make money? There is a major difference between making games on a commercial level as a business… and making games on the side with the “hopes” people will play it.

Considering you want to hire staff, and have an office have you estimated out the costs?

1. Yearly office lease
2. Software license costs per seat
3. Workstations per employee
4. Misc office costs, and operating fees
5. Annual salaries per employee
6. Period of time for QA
7. Server costs to run the game
8. Customer Support staff
9. Marketing (This is usually around the same if not more than your development costs)
10. Fees incurred for publish the game (Steam can take 30% of revenue, ect…)

and more…

It's not a small venture doing this, and you need a lot of cash to build up a team, especially for a commercial and competitive online FPS game.

Best wishes.

Saif_youssef said:
1- Yes, it's my idea and I chose it as the first project because the structure of the game is very unique and appealing.

That's a pretty bad thing to start a company on. Nobody will help fund that alone.

What market research have you done? Do you know what you can afford to make? Given some budget numbers that you work out, what are your estimated sales? Who will you sell it to? How will you get it to them?

A commercial, competitive online first person shooter these days typically has an 8-digit budget, $50-75 million, give or take. Less than that and they're not planning on success, instead they're playing a lottery. It takes a large budget to assure you're getting a successful product, and a huge part of that budget during pre-production goes to market research, and later, marketing, to ensure you get the sales you need to turn a profit. Development costs only account for about a third of costs when working at this scale. Marketing is also a third. Operations, pre-production and post-production support are the other third.

When market research says a game can't be profitable on its current path the game gets changed — sometimes dramatically — or it gets cancelled. Market research drives so much. A good idea is nice and helps, but is usually detrimental for going big, where tried and true, well understood, and popular are all more important than unique and innovative.

Saif_youssef said:
2- I have experience in Game Development and I've played around with smaller projects on both Unity and Unreal, however Unity has proven to me that it's not the right choice when it comes to Multiplayer FPS.

That is a decision for the engineering and art folks, not a designer, business developer, producer, or other business role.

If you are the engineering lead or the art lead it's something you can collaborate on and discuss. As you said your role is to be co-founder and game designer, your role is to listen to the people doing the actual work.

Saif_youssef said:
4- I've completely avoided Marketing till this point, and will probably keep avoiding it until we have something to show for as a company (Prototype). As for Monetization, game will be free to play with purchasable cosmetics, skins, etc.

Those are critical to get in early. If you're starting a business and asking for money, among the first questions you'll be asked are details of not just how you intend to make a profit, but how you will market the products you create.

that`s a familiar footprint saif_youssef I think I know who you are. You`re Google himself. (I try to stay out when law and game development are used in the same context, so me being here is the exception)

@Calin error 404

Saif_youssef said:

@Calin error 404

I`m retracting my words

Saif_youssef said:

@Calin error 404

That is pretty much the natural response once reading one of Calin's posts!