From a solo indie developer to a $1 million game

What the talk is about

Artem Shpytiak tells the story of going from a solo flash developer to a team that put over a million dollars into its own game. He covers failed early attempts with friends, a short-lived studio, 19 flash games, a year spent on a strategy game that earned little, and a crisis when an investor and two publishers fell through and two projects were cancelled. The team was saved by a publisher that finally signed and by unexpected success on Windows Phone, which brought over $500,000 despite warnings from others. His takeaways: never give up, make good games, analyze the market and treat advice critically, keep friendship and business apart, and attend conferences. Useful for indie teams and newcomers to game development.