How does one make money developing video games? I want to make products and just have them sell...

come up with your concept; flesh it out the best you can by yourself.
you can get artists and musicians on fiverr or upwork pretty cheap.
the key to any business is cashflow. that's why i would say only create a 5-10 minute demo until you can develop some investors i.e. impressionable kids on indiegogo. or else you risk running out of funds before you have anything to show for it.
just make sure you pick a popular type of game and an art style that draws people in.

see if you can get some stupid youtuber to do voice acting or have a cameo in your game. this will give you free marketing when the youtuber pimps your game. do this as early as possible so the youtuber's stupid fanbase invests in your game as well.

Yeah with the game business, cashflow is very hard to get in the beginning, but once you get that one good hit, you're pretty good for a while. Unfortunately, unlike other businesses that are monthly based, your cash flow is very unreliable and sometimes in bursts, so you have to work on continuous production, unlike in other businesses where it's just a matter of keeping the truck running until the next production upgrade.

>Make a game. >get a publisher who ssell and markets the game. >Split profits.

Getting a publisher is damn hard these days. Much more difficult than in the 90s and 00s.

>4. publish the game.

Is this required? What are the ramifications if you just walk away with the money?

you could probably get away with it.
afaik only 1 person has ever gotten in trouble for a crowdfunding scam and he only had to pay a fine.
washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/06/11/the-ftcs-first-crowdfunding-enforcement-is-over-a-failed-board-game-on-kickstarter/?utm_term=.7a587b0b6758

Anyone remember that kickstarter of the mother who wanted people to pay for her daughter to go to a game making course?

dailydot.com/news/reddit-kickstarter-rpg-mackenzie-wilson-susan/

Do you think those kids grew up to be actual faggots? I think they did. Maybe they died of AIDS

What is steam?

you still around op? i have some great game ideas but no programming talent. how can i get in touch?

Grow up already and take the Oracle job, autist.

Nobody takes bidya seriously

>but muh highest grossing industry

Kek. You're still seen as a manchild. Take the code job and do this shit as a hobbie or something

To be honest, with the way the industry is going, I do feel discouraged to join a dying culture. But at the same time, I feel like I can help revive whatr is lost

op, whats your email? i have great ideas and would love to work with you. have you started anything? do you know which direction you want to head in? do you like to work with a specific platform instead? or genre?

p.s. this includes great ways at making money off freemium without ads and bullshit coin sales too. something brand new in the mobile market

Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline for now

>What are the ramifications if you just walk away with the money?

Probably nothing.

There are tons of kickstarters that raised money and then didn't deliver the products. They just string customers along for a few years then say "woops we ran out of money to finish development, sorry guize" while running away with the cash.

I honestly wish I had the lack of shame as they do. It's free money.

My advice is to set your sights within a reasonable limit. Start out with the goal of creating a simple indie game that you can make within a time period of months, not years. It's important to realize that your first game doesn't have to be your dream game and doesn't have to be a huge success, it just has to make enough $$$ to pay for the time you spent working on it and then help fund your future development of new games that could be more complex.

Personally I think game development is an excellent business model because the product is 100% digital which means the cost of goods sold is effectively zero. Also, the work involved after you publish it can be zero if you don't update it at all and if Steam handles the customer service for you. The only other business model that is incredibly similar to this one in effect is selling ebooks on Amazon, which is also a great opportunity but you have to actually write something that sells.

You'd have to be careful about not delivering though. If your real name is attached to the kickstarter then it could kill your future career opportunities. You would be known as the guy that failed to deliver your project after being paid for it.