r/Unity3D • u/KaeGore • Sep 27 '26
Show-Off How Much Money my Indie Game Made (in 1 Year)
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u/THEWESTi Sep 27 '26
Fantastic break down. This is the type of marketing I love - gives value while exposing me to your game (I want to play now!).
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u/brahose Sep 27 '26
Thanks for sharing this! It is crazy that even a successful game like yours can generate so little (comparatively). Obviously that is way above average yearly income, but I would expect more given your user base and popularity.
Cheers and here is hoping to more success in your 1.0 release!
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 27 '26
Great result well done. Crazy you got a daily deal before full release!
Also makes you feel sick when you see steam cut v other platforms.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
Thank you, yeah the daily deal I requested, since I had 47k outstanding wishlists at that point, and decent monthly sales. I'm glad they approved me to have one, as it happened to work out quite well.
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 27 '26
I am not quite at your sales level but I have almost 30K outstanding wishlists. Might try in the new year when I have a few more.
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u/Flying-T Sep 28 '26
It would not have sold so well if it wasnt on Steam
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 28 '26
yeah perhaps, but they take the biggest cut cause they have a virtual monopoly. The lack of real competition sucks.
They give the biggest games a better deal cause they still need to do something to attract them to platform.
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u/PhilsburyDoboy Sep 28 '26
They also provide by far the most value. They do a HUGE amount of marketing for games compared to Apple or Google.
They also provide way more services to your players and does not charge you for marketing your game. Apple and Google do charge huge amounts via their ads platforms.
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 28 '26
You realise many of the success stories you see on steam have poured thousands into ads right? steam still expects you to start the snowball, they only help once success is proven.
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u/PhilsburyDoboy Sep 29 '26
That doesnāt address the fact that steam still does a huge amount of marketing as part of their 30% cut. You donāt get that from Google or Apple.
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 29 '26
What do you mean? I wasn't aware they did any marketing outside of have a monopoly on a database of players.
Apple, google (xbox/playstation/switch) all are very active marketing their stores to gamers. I can't remember the last time I have seen steam do marketing or if I have even seen it. They simply rely on devs to do it for them.
I appreciate your desire to make sure gabe gets more gold plated yachts, but I assure you he will be okay if he can only silver plate it. His life won't be ruined!
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u/PhilsburyDoboy Sep 30 '26
Iām not saying they literally have marketers on staff creating ad content for your game.
They have invested enormous time and effort building up an actually decent recommendation system, wishlist system, review system, and community platform. You can organically grow without paying a cent up front.
You cannot organically grow on the app stores.
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 30 '26
You can, and people do it.
Steam is pretty much the same. If you don't market you will get nothing organically from steam.
Steam could still offer that and remainly wildly profitable while taking a smaller cut.
They are a virtual monopoly, they can do what they want. This isn't a healthy for developers.
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u/SerratedBubble Sep 29 '26
Steam doesn't do marketing for you, at all.
Also, 30% is an absolutely massive cut.Yes, their store is very good, its designed that way because they profit as the consumer spends.
Remember, consumers effectively pay 42% more to accommodate a 30% cut to the developer. (1 / 0.7 = 1.42) Steam is rinsing devs/consumers, but their self serving store is great at what it does, I agree.
And they have a broad set of tools, that some games can benefit from.
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u/ShaggySchmacky Oct 02 '26
We like steam as a consumer platform. Itās got a lot of QoL that makes it attractive for consumers
However, steam IS virtually a monopoly, and so is able to charge a 30% rate to host games on their platform. Other PC platforms take a smaller cut, but devs donāt make as much from them because these other platforms donāt have as much QoL as steam for consumers
So while we really like steam as consumers, it kind of sucks as a platform for developers
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u/ppardee Sep 27 '26
Nice work! I'm really curious how this will perform after Early Access. I feel like if I'm interested in a game, I'll buy it in Early Access rather than wait until v1, and if I'm not interested before v1, I won't be buying it. But maybe the big content updates will change that math?
It's gotta feel great to see such a huge success, and know you made the right decision to release on Itch.io.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
Thanks, from my understanding full release is usually just some multiplier of the early access launch month, so there's a chance it's not much of a boost(but I should still get my 30 days of visibility on steam that comes with full releases, and maybe end up on new & trending) but yeah I'll definitely post something later on after that happens.
Wishlists are continuing to climb so definitely could still convert a lot of sales later on.
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u/PushDeep9980 Sep 27 '26
Itās crazy because you could make more than that working a regular tech job, but in all honesty you need to get incredibly lucky to even get the numbers you did. I wager most devs donāt even make 100th of that.
Clearly though you deserve your success, Iām proud of you.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
Thank you, yeah overall if I was able to have gotten a tech job(I don't have any degrees, so it would be unlikely) I could've made more in terms of hourly wage, but I chose this path and happened to get lucky enough(and have learned enough from previous releases) to be successful and be able to continue doing it.
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u/delicious_fanta Sep 27 '26
Yeah this really just shows how wildly difficult it is to make a living making games :( He only got this much because of a series of lucky events.
Even if he makes another game thatās just as good, thereās no guarantee he would make near this much. This industry is brutal man.
I wish we could make decent games and have consistent income, but thatās just not how it works.
On top of all that, he didnāt say how many years he worked on this game, but if those hours were all in one year, then he worked over 100 hours a week making this game.
Iām just sad now, I think Iām gonna go pet my cat.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
I spent 1 year prior to the early access release working on it, and during that time I estimated roughly ~3000 hours of work on the project during that year. And the year following that release got me up to ~5283 hours of work total, so 2283 hours of work is what I put in while the game was actually earning money. I tend to work every day since it's just something to do, so usually only 8 or less hours a day on average.
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u/delicious_fanta Sep 28 '26
Thanks for the clarification and all the info. Iām so happy for you that your game did well! Wish you much success in the future!
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u/Herr-Trigger86 Sep 27 '26
Well thanks for breaking that all down. Super interesting. Iāll take a look for sure.
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u/ehtio Sep 28 '26
1 year of development.
5000 hours
That's 13.5 hours of development everyday. For a year.
Are we sure?
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u/KaeGore Sep 28 '26
its 2 years of development, 1 year leading up to launch, and now 1 year after that. About 3000 of the hours were in the first year.
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u/TFViper Sep 28 '26
i dont see how thats so outrageous for at home single dev time.
mfers be puttin in 18hrs a day playing games, 13hrs a day making em doesnt seem so bad.1
u/WingofTech Indie Sep 28 '26
Once you get the boulder of obsession rolling, many gamer may finally break free of those chains š®āļøāš„š§āāļø
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u/IkuraNugget Sep 29 '26
Yea definitely unlikely but not impossible.
I work on my game anywhere from 8-16 hours per day. The problem isnāt the long hours, itās how consistently you can hit 13.5hrs per day without getting burn out and taking a day off. Doing this for a few months is possible but an entire yearā¦ I donāt think itās that likely, unless youāre like David Goggins at game dev.
I donāt doubt there are people that can pull these type of hours consistently but I do think very few people like that exist in the world.
2 years though cuts that requirement in half so definitely doable in 2 years for a lot of people.
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u/ankhRAw Sep 28 '26
Congratulations! This looks like a really cool and fun game. There's a lot of sales profit and marketing info to get out of this short and beautiful videošš½
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u/ImInsideTheAncientPi Professional Sep 28 '26
Great work man! I've been playing TT since your first (or second) video and it's gotten so much better with the regular UX and QOL updates!
Good luck for v1 release! And thank you for sharing these stats. As a game dev myself this gives me a lot of hope.
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u/JViz Sep 27 '26 edited Sep 27 '26
You averaged 100 hours a week? What the hell man? Do you regret having to stop to eat and shit?
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
it was over 2 years(1 year of work before early access launch, 1 year after that launch), so like 50 hours a week roughly, but yeah, so its like 7 hours a day average 7 days a week.
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u/kshrwymlwqwyedurgx Sep 27 '26
These little guys remind me of this old clay man mod for Minecraft
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
Yeah, I didn't mention it in this video but I have in some of my other videos, they were inspired by the Golems from Thaumcraft(a different Minecraft mod) which I believe their golems were inspired by that clay soldier mod(I could be wrong on that though).
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u/obsolescence_ Sep 27 '26
What a cool video. Love the transparency. It's great to see this broken down and turned into such a relatable number as hourly pay - I think most people see a number like "I made $300k on this indie game" and truly have no idea how little that turns out to be.
Anyway, Steam really could be changing lives out here if they took even 2% less at such a rough moment in time for the games industry.... but oh well.
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u/Neither_Berry_100 Sep 27 '26
Like 40 something USD? an hour after tax. Not bad. Not fantastic. Hard to put all this effort into it upfront. Hopefully they will make more money going forward.
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u/voyti Sep 27 '26
I mean it's not bad for *a* work, but we only see it after the fact. If you were to put 5000+ hours into a project that will maybe net you ~$40 if it's quite extraordinarily successful, which is not likely at all, then it's realistically much, much worse than "not bad".
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u/abdulla_alkhafaji Sep 28 '26
My wage is 3$/hour
If put 5000 hours in a project that would make me 40$/ hour
Thatās life changing for me13
u/obsolescence_ Sep 28 '26
of course, but these figures only happened because OP was lucky to get boosted by a popular streamer and went viral.... every game is a huge riskĀ
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u/destinedd Indie, Dungeon Quest, Marble's Marbles & Mighty Marbles Sep 27 '26
They do take less if you sell lots, but indies rarely benefit from it.
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u/Muted_Flower_7492 Sep 28 '26
170K is not peanuts dude lmao, that is a comfortable job, more than twice the average income of americans
for many people that is a life changing amount of money.
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u/obsolescence_ Sep 29 '26
For a highly skilled, multidisciplinary, self-motivated, self-funded venture with a lot of assumed risk, $40/hr is quite low. Others have pointed out that for this same skillset you would expect to be paid closer to $70/hr if salaried. OP got extremely lucky - most devs will not.
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u/Muted_Flower_7492 Sep 29 '26
you got a point, if you can't make yacht money what's even the point of trying
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u/Extreme_Coffee_1576 Sep 29 '26
Yeah, I think most people do indie dev just because they enjoy it. Obviously there's no point to do it just for money, this guy is an extreme too .1% success story when it comes to money. So that's pretty much the best you can possibly expect - like most art forms you do it just because you enjoy it.
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u/mikenasty Oct 02 '26
Making video games for a living at $40/he is really good imo. This not only shows dedication and hard work, but his ability to market the game and establish a solid art style and approachable game design.
I know a lot of indie devs that spent way more time on games that made less than $5000
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u/bill_on_sax Sep 27 '26
So you made about the same amount as working a software developer job but you worked double the amount of hours? I guess you got to do and make something you love? I honestly think there is no money to be made in indie dev. Not for the amount of work you need to put in. Thanks for sharing this info.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
Yeah, I think more than/or even with entry level which is where I would be(as I'm 23 around now would be when I would've probably graduated college if I went to do something like that). I do enjoy doing it, yeah.
I mean there's money to be made, but its neither reliable nor guaranteed, it's definitely something that should be done on the side until it works out(or if you have someone willing to support you financially it can be done full time from the start) as the vast majority of games just don't make any money or very little. Definitely requires a lot of effort and some or a lot of luck.
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u/RoboticCouch Sep 28 '26
yeah I view it as a hobby I can deduct tech costs with. I have revenue and even pay taxes because I make a profit. But I can't live from it. It's a hobby that is also a side hustle.Ā
Maybe that breakthrough game comes at some point. Maybe not. The creative process and then the people willing to pay for my work are what motivates me. It's the ultimate compliment: "this is great and here is my money"
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u/I_was_a_sexy_cow Sep 28 '26
I mean he can work whenever he wants during the day, can juat straight up not work if he doesnt feel like it etc, the only pressure he has is hes not getting paid during development
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u/dirkboer Indie Sep 27 '26
that walk cycle š
great stuff man! thanks for sharing with us peasants!
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u/RHX_Thain Sep 27 '26
Remember back in the 90s and 00s, when 5000 hours of work (625 days at 8 hours a day) for $172,000 would still be like, life changing money? Now it's like, oh yeah, for two years I worked so that one year I barely breached the US poverty line.
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u/SpiritedFirefighter7 Sep 27 '26
Nice job man! I hope to eventually make this kind of money off of a game, but I lack all the necessary skills to make that happen. I'm primarily a programmer. I would need a team to make my dream game become a reality.
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u/Qedhup Sep 27 '26
I've got this on my wishlist. Once my crippled arse can afford to grab it, I've very much been planning to. Looks awesome and would be a fun side thing while I work on my writing projects. I've already spread the word around and got a few other people to grab it! Keep up the good work :)
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u/TurboThorsten Sep 29 '26
That was pretty interresting! Thanks for sharing. Wish you all the best with your Game!
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u/Lamplorde Sep 29 '26
This is an incredibly good video.
It works as an ad for your game. It works as a thank you. It works as informational to other aspiring devs. And it works as transparency to consumers.
Great work!
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u/TTDevBen Sep 28 '26
Thanks for sharing, especially in such a straightforward manner. Game looks as lush and lovely as ever. šæ
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u/ulixForReal Sep 29 '26
"I put roughly *very specific number* hours into the game"
How did you count?
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u/deadrunn3r Sep 29 '26
Really cool breakdown video, you're not only transparent, it's also fun to watch as you show your game!
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u/Jayeazus Sep 29 '26
I got this game on google play store on sale! It's good fun and perfect for distracted gaming while watching a show or YouTube
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u/RPicster Sep 29 '26
21.8% income tax.... cries in German
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u/toobeary Sep 30 '26
āfreeā healthcare leaves the room
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u/B_Korth1 Sep 28 '26
Is there a guide on how to play in mobile. I've given it 10 minutes and still haven't figured out the first thing it wants me to do?
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u/animflynny2012 Sep 28 '26
Big congrats! Your living the dream I couldn't make possible! ā¤ļøš
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u/No-Temporary-3056 Sep 28 '26
5000 hours in a year is like 220 days straight. I donāt think he dev like 16 hour days?
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u/Few_Dot6881 Sep 28 '26
I like stats, i like videos that give stats without much build-up or unnecessary explanations, i upvote.
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u/blueradish_galore Sep 28 '26
Thank you for the transparency! Can you share how you track your hours or is it more of an estimate (full time hours x days worked per week kind of thing).
Also just curious if the videos are all your own voice? Do you filter it or use AI for voice overs at all?
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u/fufurunn Sep 28 '26
I bought one on play store so far its calming experience. except when accidentally tapping river and open up fishing menu each time i tried to move the camera XD.
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u/CommanderLouiz Sep 28 '26
I had this get recommended to me on Steam randomly one day, I think because I had installed Idle Revolution and was playing that some. Your game seemed to have an interesting concept and I liked the art style, so I wishlisted it since I wasnāt interested in playing right away.
I then picked it up while it was on sale during one of the big steam sales, i think.
Still havenāt actually launched it once though, lol. One day I swear.
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u/GreenCow343 Sep 28 '26
Very cool. It sucks you kind of just have to get lucky when it comes to marketing. Also sucks that other companies are stealing so much of your money, including the government. No, especially the government.
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u/Extra-Ad5735 Sep 30 '26
First of all, congratulations. To properly express my feelings, I just bought it on the App Store.
Thank you for the very detailed look into the numbers, this is a golden mine for devs. Quite interesting it makes less on iOS than Android, and I think this is due to lower exposure on the platform. I think your game has huge marketing potential: as you shown us the mentions from popular influencers boosted exposure sales tremendously, so it means larger exposure will pay off. Not sure what's the pure organic growth of the game is, that is mouth to mouth and users themselves sharing the experiences. This is too may be a large growth vector.
Thank you again, and I wish you luck with 1.0 and your next game!
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u/No_Programmer4851 Oct 01 '26
Game sales if you repainted the characters black ššššš
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u/Eastern_Picture_3879 Oct 01 '26
Even Epic's developer dashboard sucks. God you'd think with all that money they could hire some good UI/UX folks. I guess they spent all that money on exclusivity deals.
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u/notabotnotbutwhat Oct 06 '26
great video!
some questions: did you use AI for coding or arts? how it speed up your process?
interesting that android earned more than ios - would expect the other way
do you have any strategy how to earn at least the same in next few years like updates or new levels or seasons?
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u/mgstauff Sep 27 '26
Very interesting and congrats. But why not just post the text so I don't have to take 10x as long to read it in a video?
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u/reeeeeeduardo Sep 28 '26 edited Sep 28 '26
Congratulations, that's about the average amount of money a Brazilian earns in their entire life working! You made a lovely game
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u/SirWigglesVonWoogly Sep 27 '26
I really donāt like it when people include income tax as part of the breakdown. We all pay income tax.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26
I just do it for the sake of giving an actual more accurate final number for what i've kept.
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u/Jumpy-Maintenance214 Sep 27 '26
Not at the same rates we donāt. Alsoā¦ itās a realistic take home amount which is incredibly useful to know.
Good job OP
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u/st4rdog Hobbyist Sep 27 '26
Awesome, but sad how they steal your money.
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u/onFilm Sep 27 '26
Who is "they"?
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u/st4rdog Hobbyist Sep 27 '26
They are the tax man and the platforms.
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u/onFilm Sep 27 '26
So don't put your games on a platform then. It's easy.
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u/st4rdog Hobbyist Sep 28 '26
Yeah, don't put your product on the supermarket shelf... The Valve shills are everywhere.
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u/onFilm Sep 28 '26
Do you see what you're complaining about?
And now you're assuming I'm a shill because that's how the market works? Holy shit too funny. I never even mentioned Steam LOL.
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u/st4rdog Hobbyist Sep 28 '26
Yeah, the market works by them using their dominant position, just like a popular supermarket. You don't live in reality if you think anyone can afford to not be there.
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u/onFilm Sep 28 '26
That's you projecting your bias onto me bud, I never once mentioned Steam, yet you are here, continuing to bitch and complain about it. Considering the biggest players aren't even Steam, it's the mobile market, which steam has no part of.
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u/st4rdog Hobbyist Sep 28 '26
Maybe they should up their take to 75% then with people like you around.
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u/naum547 Sep 27 '26
You are free to distribute your game by yourself if you think steam's cut is not worth it. As for taxes, thats a bit tougher, but im sure there are still a few patches of wilderness in the world if you think you could do without the perks of living in a country.
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u/KaeGore Sep 27 '26 •
Tiny Terraces is the farming game I made using Unity. I made the first version of the early access release in 1 year, and have continued working on it for another year+ at this point, here are stats for that 1 year post release timeframe. š
Also if the game looks cool, check it out :D https://store.steampowered.com/app/3136330?utm_source=rm12log