Making the Jump - How to Move from AAA to Indie

It’s a common dream of many AAA devs to strike out on their own and gain creative freedom. So, if you’re currently in an AAA role and thinking of leaving to join an indie studio - or even setting up your own - what should you bear in mind?

As ever, advice is best evaluated in context so here's mine - I've worked with a number of former AAA devs and I've seen many, many pitches from teams who have that background.

If you want to remain an employee, how do you go about getting a job in an indie team in the first place? Most indies are formed initially through personal connections, and hiring often doesn’t happen through traditional recruitment channels. There are sites like Work with Indies but for the most part you will need to source your own opportunities by talking to devs at events, joining online communities and generally putting yourself out there.

You're likely going to be trading structure for a certain degree of chaos. Now, AAA varies hugely in terms of operational rigour (to put it politely) so it may not in fact be that much of an issue, but in general indies do not tend to have the same level of sophistication in production, HR, finance or other functions. Be prepared to be clear about what your expectations, what will be offered to you as part of your employment package and how you will integrate with the team.

Assess the company you will be working for. There is a huge wealth of information available on Companies House (or regional equivalent) which will let you get a snapshot of finances. In addition to this, you should be able to have an open conversation with the founders - you may need to sacrifice some perks that you are used to from your former job.

Be ready to step outside your comfort zone and core skillset - if you have any secondary abilities aside from your main discipline, those will likely be called upon at some point! Don't worry if these aren't quite up to the same standard - so much of indie game development revolves around practical creativity rather than perfection.

This is heavily dependent on the nature of the project (and your employment agreement) but you might well find yourself in a situation where you are able to talk more about your work in public, as well as building up your own portfolio and network. Indies tend to believe that any visibility is positive sum - make use of the opportunity to promote yourself.

Sometimes management oversight doesn't really happen in indie dev! If you're used to having your work closely tracked then you might find yourself a bit lost at sea with vague task definitions. The most important thing here is to be proactive and keep making progress even if things are a bit ambiguous - make sure to keep up the communication on your side as well.

You might well find yourself working remotely or in a much smaller team and losing some of the social opportunities and cohesion you're used to. My recommendation here is simply to spend time on your relationships outside work - this is always difficult to do when you're on a busy project but it's so important and time invested in doing this always pays huge dividends later on.

This goes without saying but indie dev is not a perfect glowing Wonderland where everyone has creative freedom and nobody ever crunches. It's true that indies often start from a baseline of caring for their employees but cash, time and resource constraints can sometimes impinge on those good intentions. Find folks to work with who continue to take these things seriously even in challenging times.

Indie dev really runs on relationships - make sure that you position yourself in a team who value this and actively work to create a constructive environment where your contribution is valued.

For many people, going indie is an opportunity to finally work on their own project. Despite current sentiments, I would never discourage anyone from doing this by default - life is short and if you have the opportunity to make something that is meaningful to you then you should take it.

The "indie dev is impossible" rhetoric has zero value. Yes, it is unbelievably hard to break through, the marketplace is very busy and there is a lot competing for players' attention but great games can still find an audience.

Your experience will give you an advantage, especially if it is in a core discipline. Be careful about the voices you listen to in the indie space. Macro pessimism and appeals to luck are very seductive opinions because they generate a lot of emotion, but they don't tend to be helpful perspectives in practical terms.

With that out of the way…let's talk about how difficult everything is!

I called this section "the founder" even though many developers won't think of themselves that way. You will become responsible for a business in some way if you choose this route - it is far better to embrace that from the outset than view it all with complacency or hostility.

Most countries have business bureau-type organisations that will help you with the basics - it is also a good idea to talk to other indies about setup and introductions to relevant professional service providers like lawyers, accountants and insurance brokers. Read this book by Mike Futter and Bithell Games! It's very comprehensive and will help you structure what you're doing. I wrote this post a while back about big costly mistakes that it’s possible to make when starting a games business.

Once you get the business logistics out of the way, your core responsibilities will be Audience, Cashflow and Operations.

Indie dev is "simple" in that, if you are able to make a game which finds a consistent audience who play for a long time, you will be able to create an engine which powers your business. Getting to know your audience is essential and you should use any opportunity you can find to do this - it is your main job. AAA tends to insulate individual developers from players and this separation causes many of the problems I've seen with new ex-AAA teams - don't make any assumptions. Go looking for specific communities who are relevant to the game you want to make. Design, code, art…everything flows from this audience understanding if you are a commercially oriented indie.

The upside of this is that you are now close to the "demand signal", something which will have been shielded from you by layers of executives and marketing folks. You can now figure out what players actually want - you have the opportunity to discover something genuinely new without having to play the political games required to sell ideas internally. Make use of this!

Managing your cashflow is vital - don't overtrade, don't take on staff and expenses which you cannot sustain, keep everything under control. This is incredibly difficult and virtually every indie developer has got this wrong at some point. Experienced indie (and all-round awesome bloke) Tony Gowland of Ant Workshop recommends never scaling your burn rate beyond just the residuals you are receiving from your game catalogue - that's a tough line to tread (especially when you don't have any residuals yet!) but it gives you an idea of the level of financial discipline needed.

Operations are about keeping the business moving smoothly. You might be used to some team management from your previous role, but you will have to do that on top of your core business responsibilities and alongside any actual creative input you want to have on the project. Even if you're a solo dev, there will be a lot to juggle so get systems set up early and use them. I recommend Clickup for when you outgrow Google Drive or similar.

Don't target fixate on your previous discipline. If you are a coder, some part of your brain deep down believes that coding and systems design should be prioritised at the expense of everything else - do not listen to those traitorous neurons! Game development (and especially indie) is about balance, the 80:20 rule and efficiency over perfection. Focus on the objectives - what effect do you want to have on the player and how can you get there without burning huge amounts of time and money?

Timebox everything. This is the most effective way to get through your project on schedule and keep things moving along - setting your own time constraints forces pragmatism and prevents you from going down rabbit holes.

Get ready to fail. While I don't believe in macro indie pessimism, I certainly do believe in the potential of any game project to end in disaster. Focus on game prototypes that really connect with people, then make sure you stick the landing of your public releases with as much QA as you can possibly access - keep close to your audience and allow them to help you out.

Even when doing all that, sometimes things just don't work out. Your circumstances will be specific to you but having fallback options like contract work, making products such as asset packs or an alternative full-time role can be very helpful - that might allow you to plan for the long-term and think about how to get to Game 2 or even Game 3. Almost always, you will need multiple shots to make it work.

Get stuff done as cheaply as possible. No, cheaper than that. Look at how much indie games actually make (I recommend GameDiscover Plus for this) without focussing on genre outliers, feel the horror and then adjust your costs accordingly. This is the harsh reality and it is better you encounter it sooner rather than later. It is hard to be sustainable without making a hit - it can be done, but you will need low costs, multiple revenue streams and massive persistence.

Talk about your work early and often - there will be an audience for even the most mundane parts of your process. It's funny that people are frequently so resistant to that idea, yet there is successful content in the world about everything from choosing project management systems to the right way to set up a purchase order. If you can do something in public then consider it - the more eyes you can get on your project the better and audiences value authenticity much more than perceived perfection.

Mental health and motivation can be real challenges for founders. Take these seriously and don't isolate yourself with your problems - talk to other indies who have been there before you. Just as being closer to the audience can be hugely beneficial, equally you might experience a huge amount of negativity and criticism. Remembering that you are not your work and that people who don't know you have no basis for an opinion can be helpful - dealing with human beings at scale is a skill you can develop over time, so don't worry if you're not handling this well to begin with.

Indie dev is an incredible world consisting mostly of folks who really want to see each other succeed. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it since close to the beginning of its modern era and its given me some of the most amazing experiences of my life - things that would never have happened if I had been a cog in a machine at a large organisation. If you are ready to take the plunge and you understand the risks then don’t let anything hold you back - just be sure to ask for help when you need it.