Ask HN: Has anybody here ever successfully started a videogame company?

I think most of the honest people here 30 or younger will say they got into programming in some part due to videogames. These days, it seems more viable than it used to, with the various routes for self-publishing available through the Xbox Live marketplace and the app markets.

After seven years of doing much less interesting varieties of programming at work while making silly JS games at home - my urge to actually make videogames is stronger now than ever. So, I took action. I downloaded the XNA Toolkit and banged out a basic pong clone in an hour to start off with and moved forward from there. Coincidentally I happen to be friends with an amazing musician who was more than happy to provide me with music and a great artist to provide me with graphics. Fast forward to today and I've got a game that I can feasibly see myself releasing this week.

I want to keep doing this and would love if I could start doing it full time; it's been a blast. I'd like to do this full time but like most people, I'm not independently wealthy quite yet. I still have to feed myself. So, all of that is to say, has anyone here tackled the same endeavor and succeeded? Are there people who fund games other than the big successful videogame companies perpetuating themselves or does everyone find success on the side then keep going? Certain platforms sell better than others (I've heard Steam's much better than the Xbox 360 market)? Any hurdles to watch out for?

What is success? Game companies are easy to start and frequent to close down.

Recommendation: Contract iPhone development or Android development. Get a decent but minimal app in the App Store using Unity or Cocos2d, and recruiters / devs will be falling over themselves to hire you.

Consoles are a really crappy market. The CEO of the console company I used to work for really wanted to get into mobile. That was before the company tanked due to publisher shenanigans.

I have a friend with an XNA community game in the store. He's so disgusted with the garbage that goes on to get games to rank in the store that I think he's pretty much given up. I don't see that as a viable option to make money unless you do a lot of promotion work outside the store. It could still be a nice showcase of your work though.

I met someone this weekend that works for a small game studio that's exiting the Wii market. He said it's just becoming impossible unless you're one of the big guys. They've already exited XBox and PS3 so Wii was the last console left for them. They're now mostly targeting PC and Mac.

Steam certainly makes it easier to sell an indie game right now. Notch (of Minecraft fame) has a breakdown on why they don't use it though: http://notch.tumblr.com/post/9550850116/why-no-steam-notch

Mobile seems easy to break into but it's a crowded market. You've got big budget games crushing you from above and a flood of crappy clones on the low end. I'm still awefully tempted and I'm trying to pull together a couple mobile game concepts myself.

I'm a video game producer that has published on basically every modern platform. The best advice I can give is to laser-focus on your core mechanic, always asking yourself "Does this add to the fun?" Everything else follows from that.

Different platforms have different customers, demand different games, and have different challenges. For a small project, I highly suggest using a sophisticated and cheap multiplatform middleware engine like Unity3D. It allows you to quickly and easily iterate without worrying about coding new technology.

If you are looking for funding on a small project, I suggest something like Kickstarter. Heads up, unless your project has a sophisticated online component the biggest money sink is going to be your art. If you can a) get users to generate the assets, b) generate the assets programmatically, or c) use an aesthetic that revels in its own lo-fi chic you will have cut your costs dramatically.

The biggest hurdle will be your own enthusiasm. For a small project, keep the scope small. Check out flOw and World Of Goo to get an idea of what I mean by "small."

The best way to find something that is both new and fun is to experiment. Come up with wacky ideas for mechanics and build really ugly prototypes. When you have an ugly piece of unstable software that manages to enthrall its players despite itself THAT'S when you move forward.

Notch created minecraft...although that's probably an exception to the rule.

maybe try getting your game into the next humble bundle to get more exposure