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Thomas Brush26 Oct 2022

5 Ways To Make $100,000 By Making Games

Key insights

5 takeaways

01
Diversify revenue beyond unit sales by participating in curated sales events and bundles, such as Steam daily deals or Humble Bundles, to generate significant short-term income spikes.
02
Secure professional publishing partnerships to obtain upfront capital ranging from $30,000 to over $1 million in exchange for a percentage of future revenue.
03
Monetize the game development process itself by creating and selling premium educational resources and asset packs, which often offer higher profit margins than individual game titles.
04
Utilize crowdfunding as a viable funding path by performing meticulous preparation and engaging directly with platform representatives to secure necessary promotional support.
05
Prioritize building a direct audience through email lists and social media to reduce dependency on platform algorithms and ensure long-term financial autonomy.

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Transcript

Hey guys, it's your friendly neighborhood gamedev Thomas. In this video, we're going to talk about how to make money. How do I know how to do this? Well, what do you think? I've done it. And by the way, guys, stick around to the end of this video because all [music] of these points will basically be useless without my final point. Also, click that like button, leave a subscription, comment, do all of it, and make make sure you're doing everything that you should subscribe. The first way is obviously what can you guess? Gaming. But that's not just the only way in this one little secret, okay? It's not just game sales. It's actually participating [music] in events. These are huge, right? So, if you do like a Steam daily deal, you're going to get a pop of 10 $20,000 minimum just from this daily deal. Wow, I just made $10,000. And the way you do that is you just reach out to people at Steam. My big secret is finding email addresses. I just can find people's email addresses. Hey, can I get the email address of the president of marketing?

Really? Well, why don't you let them know that I uh I have their son? So, I had to ask for that, but it worked out. And bang, we made some money. The same is true with Humble Bundle, right? You could do a Humble Bundle, you can make like $30,000. So, when you launch a game, don't freak out when you're not making a lot of money. It's totally fine. The money comes from the events, sale events, launch events, bundles, [music] that kind of thing. Oh, and by the way, guys, if you want to create your own 2D art or you maybe want to create a 3D game really fast, there's two courses below. Totally free. Like, there's no gimmicks. All right, there's no gimmicks. Do it. Click below. Jeez. The second way to make money is through publishers. Okay, so a lot of you probably think, "Oh, Thomas, I don't want to work with a publisher. Publishers are going to screw me over." Yes, probably. They might. If you find a really great publisher, okay, they're going to pay you from $30,000 to upwards of a million dollar. They're going to take 40% 50% maybe maybe if you're lucky like 30 20% of your game's revenue after launch and they're going to pay you money to do it. That's pretty cool,

right? They're going to do this before you even finish your game. That's awesome. Now, it's also true these subscription service platforms do the same thing, right? Third way to make money, crowdfunding. Thomas, Thomas, I don't want to do a crowdfunding campaign. Why? Why are you scared? That's probably why. If you're scared of crowdfunding, I totally understand. And then I did one and I made $100,000. And then I did a second one and I made $85,000. Now, let me give you a little bit of uh insider knowledge. [music] Uh Kickstarter doesn't like FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS ANYMORE. HELP YOUR CUSTOMER. [screaming] But let me give you really quick the secret to crowdfunding. The secret is it takes you a long time to build a campaign. Okay? You don't just launch a campaign. I've had friends I've had people just launch campaigns and not even think about it. You need to do your research. You need to watch tons, tens, dozens, tens or dozens, dozens of YouTube videos about how to create a great campaign video. You [music] need to reach out to the Kickstarter team. Talk to them on the phone. I had to do this. [music] Talk to actual people at

Kickstarter. Because guys, if you build rapport with them, what are they going to do? What do you think they're going to do? They're going to promote your campaign. As long as it doesn't have guns. I've made six figures in all the other ways we talked about, but this one's pretty big. And that's just training material, resources, that kind of stuff. So, while you're making your game, [music] why not just take a lot of the stuff that you're creating for your game and create resources out of it? Don't discredit it. Don't think that it's silly because it's training material and it doesn't matter. I I'll be honest with you guys, the thing about training material is it's it's a premium product, right? So, instead of selling a $15 game, you're selling a $150 asset pack or you're selling a $300 course. You see what I'm saying? If you want me to feel guilty about it, you can. Um, well, you can leave. Now, the fifth and final way to make money, and this is sort of an overarching [music] principle, and it's the most important thing you'll probably ever learn in your life. In the 1900s,

the true like what everybody wanted was oil. All I want is oil. In the 21st century, you know what? Everybody wants traffic. aka a big audience. So, what you need to be doing if you want to be an entrepreneur, if you want to be a digital entrepreneur, if you want [music] to make games and you want to make money selling your games, freaking stop relying on Steam. Stop relying on Nintendo. Stop relying [music] on Sony and Microsoft and Google. Okay, so my I'm losing my voice, but I wanted to [clears throat] address this. Some of you right now are probably thinking, "But Thomas, you have 300,000 subscribers on YouTube." I'm not trying to be mean. How did I get there? Right? How did I build this big audience? I started small. I didn't wake up one morning out of my mother. What? That sounds weird. I wasn't born straight out of my mom. That's weird. I wasn't born this way. Start relying on who? You. So, build. Yeah, that sounds like a cool commercial. Start relying on you. [music]

You for $355,000. You can rely on you by relying on me to sell you how to learn how to rely on you. Build up that audience. [music] How do you do it? Post on social media. But Thomas, I want to make games. I know. I agree. I feel the same way sometimes. There will come a day when you're 30 years old or you're 40 years old or you're 50 and you're still sucking at the teeth of Steam, Google, Microsoft. [music] [music] Stop sucking at themies. Build your own audience. You'll thank me later because you'll be able to do so much [music] with it. In the event Thomas Brush is offered $10 million from Microsoft, he's likely

going to be a hypocrite and take the money. Once you have 50,000 email subscribers, once you have 100,000 YouTube subscribers, guys, honestly, sky's is the limit. I do want to say thank you for subscribing and supporting my studio and supporting frankly my dreams. I get to make games. I get to make resources for you guys and I love it. So yeah.

Summary

Achieving a six-figure income in the independent game development industry requires a diversified revenue strategy that extends beyond standard unit sales. Rather than relying solely on platform-based storefronts, developers should leverage strategic partnerships and alternative monetization channels to stabilize cash flow. Key revenue drivers include participating in curated sales events and bundles, such as Steam daily deals or Humble Bundles, which can generate significant short-term spikes in income. Additionally, securing funding through professional publishers can provide essential capital—ranging from $30,000 to over $1 million—well before a project reaches completion, provided the developer is willing to share a percentage of future revenue.

Crowdfunding remains a viable path for independent creators, though success requires meticulous preparation and direct engagement with platform representatives to secure promotional support. Beyond direct game sales, developers are encouraged to monetize their production process by creating and selling premium educational resources, such as asset packs or instructional courses. These products often command higher price points than individual game titles, offering a more lucrative return on the intellectual property developed during the game-making process.

The overarching principle for long-term financial sustainability is the transition from platform dependency to audience ownership. While storefronts like Steam, Nintendo, and Sony are necessary for distribution, they should not be the primary source of marketing reach. Instead, developers must prioritize building a personal brand and a direct audience through social media and email lists. By cultivating a dedicated following, developers gain the autonomy to launch products independently, reducing the risk associated with platform algorithm changes and ensuring a consistent, self-owned pipeline for future projects.