Handed in my notice. Full-time Indie again in Jan!
Today I handed in my notice (30 days) at Big Fish Games Vancouver after being there for just over 2 years. So by Jan 15th 2011 I’ll be Indie again under my old banner of Grey Alien Games – woot!
I’m totally “stoked” about this as I’ve got a ton of things I really want to do and I’ve met some amazing people over here in Vancouver who I’m looking forward to teaming up with. Also if any of you want to team up or are interested in working with me as a design consultant, let me know! I specialise in Casual Games and Facebook games and I’m passionate about arcade/retro games.
To pre-empt any “reason for quitting” questions, let’s just say that I need to do my own thing again and leave it at that. Thx.
Also, in the Autumn of 2011 I’ll be moving back to the UK because my wife’s work visa will run out (mine was tied to Big Fish Games but hers was not because she was a “dependent”) – unless something happens before then that makes it possible to stay.
Wish me luck in 2011! And good luck to all of you too.
December 16th, 2010 at 4:54 am
I will be following your return to the indie scene closely, Jake! Good luck, and welcome back.
December 16th, 2010 at 6:31 am
Now you’ll just have to make millions of dollars before the visa runs out. Go go go!
December 16th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Congratulations and good luck! It’s been interesting following your trip into full time work, and I’m sure it’ll be just as fun hearing about what you’ve got planned as a re-indie.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Congrats (I think) good luck with that – interestingly which is scarier going back to be an indie for the first time or the second?
Also – do you have any plans as to which market you intend to target? PC stuff using Blitz, XBLA / Facebook / Flash / iPhone / Android / original IP across multiple platforms?
It might be worth an article summing up the various indie options, but I wish you and your family all the luck with whatever endeavours you have planned.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
You are to be congratulated for having the courage to quit and go indie again!
It can be hard to give up a job with steady income for a future that is uncertain, but totally within your control 🙂
I hope to quit my job within the next 5 years and go indie 🙂
December 16th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Good luck Mr Alien sir!
Please keep us all informed with your progress 😀
December 16th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Brave Move 🙂 – Congratulations and good luck!
December 17th, 2010 at 5:01 am
Thanks a ton everyone! Great to have this encouragement, makes me want to start today! Waiting 30 days will be tough.
@Jon Howard: I’ve been making a big doc with the pros and cons of all those options you’ve listed except that PC stuff using Blitz can be PC/Mac/Linux of course. At first I may just do an XBLIG game (or Flash game) purely for fun to get back into the swing of things + convert some of my old IP to iPad to test it out. Then I need to make a decision on what will make good money and that I can be passionate about making,and do that. Article = good idea, especially as a discussion point.
@Robert: Good luck. Make it sooner than 5 years!
For sure I’ll keep everyone informed of what I’m up to.
December 17th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Welcome back to Indie. There’s no place like home!
Any tendencies yet concerning your next big project? Maybe Facebook ? iPad? Or a good old Portal Game?
December 18th, 2010 at 6:24 am
@Leo: The more I think about it, the more it may just be a fun XBLIG game. I can’t release any new IP for 3 months due to a non-compete. Almost all other platforms (Facebook, iPad, casual games) will make more money than XBLIG, but I am drawn to it.
December 18th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Oh yes I see. And long term? I guess making facebook games is not so easy for an Indie, although you have already some experiences there.The iPad market is fast growing but the market probably still relatively small but since we’re talking long term this is probably going to change soon.
Really tough decisions. I decided for myself that making facebook games would be too huge a project for me. I considered iPad but in the end I decided that making a portal game would be the best choice.
Probably also because my current game framework is windows only which was a mistake likely. I believe that sooner or later I need to port it to work on multiple platforms.