Part 8: The Game Design Business
If it’s a thing worth trying, you should be a little afraid.
—SAMUEL R. DELANEY, BABEL-17
Game design rarely happens in a vacuum. Even the hobbyist game maker who releases her work for free online must decide if work on a game is worth the time and effort she will put into it. More often than not, a game’s creators hope to recoup the time and resources and turn a profit that they can then use to finance their next project. When game teams involve full-time workers who need to be paid, offices with rent and bills, and distribution channels that require certain financial objectives to be met, the business end increases in importance.
Designers can pretend to be “above” the discussion of dollars and cents. Many claim ...
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