The big decision
I was ambitious but wasn't well prepared which led me to focus on the wrong tasks. Starting a video game studio is tough and requires excellent organzational skills, especially when you have a day job. At the same time, I became father and stable income was no longer an option.
Indiedevcasts was my dream project, but I had to make the very difficult choice to stop there and find a sustainable job. However, I made a very thoughtful decision and decided to work remotely and double my income to be worthwhile and future-proof (e.g to financially support my next projects and life goals).
I quit my salaried job, with three months' notice, without the assurance of finding what I was looking for. It's in my temperament, I need to put myself in a very bad situation to get out of my comfort zone and change the outcomes drastically. I remember some of my colleagues telling me how bad a decision it was with covid-19 and the partial unemployment strategy here in France. But hey, I couldn't help myself and decided to do it anyway.
My first client
I was already running Indiedevcasts as a company, so I started looking for a remote position as a freelance test engineer with a focus on writing Rust testing tools and services. It's a niche market with few opportunities, but once you find a client you start building your career and you get better income too!
I remember the first exchanges in English ... I was a terrible speaker (and I still need to improve today) and those were very stressful times for me. The whole process took me a month. Then came the administrative part, the first days of remote work, the first achievements, ... and I realized that I had succeeded!
Gamedev Reboot
It's been 1 year and a half now, and I've made great progress. I have a sustainable activity, more freedom because I work remotely, I can manage my time and I have savings. Now my main goal with Indiedevcasts is to start over and to build a community!
This means that you will be part of this journey! My ultimate goal is to build this community, share with you and learn from you. I want to make video games for fun, not for a living. If it works out financially then that's fantastic, otherwise I don't care because it will be worth it for the community aspect! Now if you want to take a peek at my next video game made with bevy engine, here is the video.
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What about you?
By what are you driven? What's your next gamedev project? If you have some time share with us your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading!