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<blockquote data-quote="der_kluge" data-source="post: 7826652" data-attributes="member: 945">This article is interesting, but I think there are a myriad of problems with making money in the game industry. Politics and economic discussions aside, for whatever reason, gamers have always notoriously been very cheap people. You need only look at the number of poor people sleeping on the floor at Gen Con to see this. I think there's historical precedence for the hobby being very cheap, and the barriers to entry into that have always been extremely low. It's not like software where you have to hire specialized talent - literally anyone who is literate can write a gaming PDF and sell it. So you have complete market saturation, and a ton of noise. That's probably the biggest problem. On top of that problem, you've got individuals trying to actually earn a living doing this (and some do), but those are in the minority. But the fact that some do, and then others try (and fail), continues to exacerbate the problem. Others found solutions to the healthcare issue by moving out of the country (see: Joseph and Suzi of Expeditious Retreat Press) - they also don't do gaming products, and have ventured into novels as well. Others are probably successful because it's not their sole income, and they might rely on the income of a spouse to get by. Years ago, when I ventured into freelance work, I got paid a nice amount for it - but even that amount wouldn't equal a teacher's salary, assuming I could do it full time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="der_kluge, post: 7826652, member: 945"] This article is interesting, but I think there are a myriad of problems with making money in the game industry. Politics and economic discussions aside, for whatever reason, gamers have always notoriously been very cheap people. You need only look at the number of poor people sleeping on the floor at Gen Con to see this. I think there's historical precedence for the hobby being very cheap, and the barriers to entry into that have always been extremely low. It's not like software where you have to hire specialized talent - literally anyone who is literate can write a gaming PDF and sell it. So you have complete market saturation, and a ton of noise. That's probably the biggest problem. On top of that problem, you've got individuals trying to actually earn a living doing this (and some do), but those are in the minority. But the fact that some do, and then others try (and fail), continues to exacerbate the problem. Others found solutions to the healthcare issue by moving out of the country (see: Joseph and Suzi of Expeditious Retreat Press) - they also don't do gaming products, and have ventured into novels as well. Others are probably successful because it's not their sole income, and they might rely on the income of a spouse to get by. Years ago, when I ventured into freelance work, I got paid a nice amount for it - but even that amount wouldn't equal a teacher's salary, assuming I could do it full time. [/QUOTE]

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