Is it worth it? Porting indie games to consoles

Summary

Thomas Stewart, an indie game developer, shares his extensive experience in porting 12 video game titles across six platforms, including Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Atari VCS, and Nintendo Switch. He discusses the challenges of porting games to consoles, such as time commitment, complex SDKs, and the financial cost of acquiring dev kits. Despite the difficulties, Thomas finds porting worthwhile, with the majority of his revenue coming from console sales. He emphasizes that coding knowledge, time, extra funds, and the use of Unity can make the porting process easier for indie developers.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Thomas Stewart has successfully ported 12 titles across 6 different platforms, including Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Atari VCS, and Nintendo Switch.
• 💻 He has done this entire process by himself, including setting up business identities, handling SDKs, dealing with developer kits, and filling out backend paperwork.
• 🕰️ Porting games to consoles is extremely time-consuming, taking almost as much time as the actual development of the games themselves.
• 📈 Stewart believes porting to consoles has been financially worth it, as console revenue has been a major source of his income compared to Steam alone.
• ✅ Porting games to multiple consoles provides a sense of legitimacy and accomplishment, especially as an indie developer.
• 💼 Porting experience has expanded his skill set and increased his employability, making him more appealing to potential publishers and employers.
• ⚠️ The process can become monotonous and frustrating, particularly when dealing with issues like certification failures and tedious tasks like localization.
• 💵 Certain platforms require developers to purchase dev kits, which can be expensive, sometimes costing hundreds or thousands of dollars.
• 🤖 Developers comfortable with coding and using Unity will have an easier time porting, as Unity is the most supported engine for console porting documentation.
• 🕹️ Stewart advises developers to consider their game's complexity before porting, as larger games with multiplayer or more content will require significantly more effort.

Q & A

What platforms has the speaker ported games to?

The speaker has ported games to six unique platforms: Steam, Xbox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Atari VCS, and Nintendo Switch.

Why does the speaker believe console porting is worth it?

The speaker believes console porting is worth it because the majority of their revenue comes from game sales on consoles, and porting games across multiple platforms provides consistent income.

What are some challenges of console porting mentioned by the speaker?

Challenges include the time commitment, handling proprietary SDKs, managing store pages, age ratings, localization, QA testing, and navigating various backend dashboards.

What intangible benefit does the speaker get from seeing their games on different consoles?

The speaker feels immense satisfaction and legitimizes themselves as a professional game developer rather than just a hobbyist.

How does console porting affect the speaker's potential employability?

The speaker's experience with console porting makes them more employable, as they have expertise in a complex process that many game studios and publishers value.

What makes console porting feel monotonous to the speaker over time?

After multiple porting experiences, filling out localized game descriptions and dealing with certification processes can feel like drudgery, making the process monotonous.

What factors does the speaker consider when deciding which consoles to port to in the future?

The speaker now considers the difficulty of porting to certain platforms and the revenue generated by each, using past data to make more selective decisions.

Who does the speaker think is best suited for console porting?

According to the speaker, individuals who are comfortable with programming, have a lot of time, extra money for developer kits, and use Unity as their game engine are best suited for console porting.

What is the speaker's opinion on the use of Unity for console porting?

The speaker believes that Unity is the crowd favorite among game engines for console porting due to its extensive and clear documentation, which makes the porting process easier.

Why does the speaker caution about the cost of developer kits?

The speaker warns that some platforms require developers to purchase developer kits, which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, so developers need to be prepared for this financial commitment.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Porting Expertise: A Journey Across Platforms

Thomas Stewart introduces himself as a self-taught console porting expert, having successfully ported 12 titles across six platforms. He shares his journey of learning everything from scratch—setting up developer programs, reading documentation, acquiring dev kits, managing store content, handling age ratings, localization, QA testing, and pricing models. Thomas emphasizes how console porting has been financially rewarding, with most of his revenue coming from consoles rather than Steam. He explains that the work, though difficult, is worthwhile as it provides consistent income across various platforms, making it a key factor in sustaining his game development career full-time.

05:01

⏳ The Time Investment of Console Porting

Porting games to consoles takes a significant amount of time, according to Thomas, sometimes equaling the time spent on developing games themselves. Despite becoming more proficient after multiple launches, Thomas admits that porting remains a time-consuming process. He questions whether focusing only on Steam would have been more productive, but he finds an intangible satisfaction in seeing his games on major consoles. He reflects on how this achievement legitimizes his work, makes him more employable, and opens doors to opportunities with publishers and studios. However, Thomas also acknowledges the repetitive and sometimes frustrating nature of the process, which can feel monotonous and tedious after multiple iterations.

🧑‍💻 Who Should Consider Console Porting?

Thomas provides insight into who might be best suited for solo console porting. He highlights five key qualities: 1) comfort with programming, as there are many proprietary SDKs and systems to integrate, 2) a significant time commitment, as porting requires extensive documentation and problem-solving, 3) access to extra funds for purchasing dev kits, which some platforms don't provide for free, 4) a simple game design, as more complex games (e.g., with online multiplayer) are harder to port, and 5) the use of Unity, which has the most robust documentation and support for console porting compared to other engines. He notes that using Unity makes the process smoother.

Keywords

💡Console Porting

Console porting refers to the process of adapting a video game so that it can be played on a different console or gaming platform. In the script, Thomas Stewart discusses his experience porting 12 titles across six different platforms, which highlights the complexity and time investment involved in this process. Console porting is a central theme of the video as it directly relates to the challenges and rewards of bringing games to various gaming systems.

💡Developer Programs

Developer programs are initiatives by console manufacturers that allow developers to create and publish games on their platforms. Stewart mentions applying for these programs as part of his console porting journey. These programs are essential for developers like him to access the tools and resources needed to port games to consoles like Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.

💡Dev Kits

Dev Kits, short for development kits, are tools or hardware provided by console manufacturers to help developers create and test games on specific platforms. Stewart talks about acquiring dev kits as part of his process, emphasizing their importance for ensuring games run correctly on actual hardware before release.

💡SDKs

SDK stands for Software Development Kit, which is a set of tools and guidelines provided by console manufacturers to help developers create software for their platforms. Stewart mentions incorporating SDKs into his projects, which is a necessary step in adapting games to run on different consoles.

💡Localization

Localization is the process of adapting a product, such as a video game, to different languages and regions. Stewart discusses dealing with localization, which involves translating game text and adapting content for different cultural contexts. This is crucial for making games accessible to a global audience.

💡QA Testing

QA Testing stands for Quality Assurance Testing, which is the process of testing a product to ensure it meets quality standards. In the context of the video, Stewart talks about QA testing as part of the console porting process to ensure games work correctly on different platforms before they are released.

💡Build Pipelines

Build pipelines are the steps or processes used to compile and prepare software for release. Stewart mentions setting up build pipelines, which is an important part of the development process for ensuring that games can be efficiently compiled and deployed to different consoles.

💡Pricing Models

Pricing models refer to the strategies used to set the price of a product or service. In the video, Stewart discusses considering pricing models when porting games to consoles, which is an important aspect of determining how to monetize games across different platforms.

💡Revenue

Revenue is the income generated from the sale of a product or service. Stewart mentions that the majority of his revenue comes from console sales, highlighting the financial motivation behind porting games to multiple platforms and the potential profitability of this approach.

💡Indie Developer

An indie developer is a developer who creates games independently, often without the backing of a large publisher. Stewart refers to himself as an indie developer, emphasizing the solo nature of his work and the entrepreneurial spirit required to navigate the challenges of console porting.

💡Unity

Unity is a widely used game engine for developing video games. Stewart mentions Unity as a preferred engine for console porting due to its extensive documentation and support across different platforms. This highlights the role of game engines in facilitating the development and porting process.

Highlights

Thomas Stewart has ported 12 titles across six different platforms single-handedly.

Porting games involves establishing a business identity, acquiring static IPs, applying for developer programs, and setting up hardware and dev kits.

He mentions the complexity of integrating various SDKs and backend dashboards for different platforms.

Porting to consoles takes as much time as developing new games, showing a nearly one-to-one time commitment ratio.

The majority of his revenue comes from console game sales, not Steam, indicating the financial benefit of console porting.

Porting to consoles provides intangible benefits like personal satisfaction and a sense of legitimacy as a game developer.

Console porting has improved his skill set, making him more employable and desirable to publishers and game studios.

He discusses the repetitive and sometimes frustrating aspects of porting, such as failing certification processes and filling out localization pages.

Stewart warns that console porting can become monotonous after the third time, leading to feelings of drudgery.

He emphasizes the need to be selective about which consoles to port to, using past experiences to guide future decisions.

He advises aspiring developers that programming comfort, time, and some money are critical to successfully porting games to consoles.

He stresses that some platforms require purchasing dev kits, which can be expensive.

Porting simple games is easier than more complex games with features like online multiplayer or large amounts of content.

Unity is highly favored for console porting due to extensive documentation, making it a preferred choice for many developers.

Stewart is glad to have gone through the console porting process and sees it as a worthwhile experience despite the challenges.

Transcripts

hello my name is Thomas Stewart and I am

a console porting expert not really but

I have ported 12 titles across six

different platforms so I'd know a thing

or two about what it means to develop a

video game and put it on different

consoles so I've launched 12 titles on

six different consoles completely

single-handedly learning how to do

everything myself establishing a

business identity acquiring a static IP

address applying for all these developer

programs getting all the dev kits

setting up all the hardware reading all

the documentation filling out support TI

tickets incorporating all of the

different sdks into my projects getting

my games to run on each different system

rumaging through dozens of different

backend dashboards setting up the

content for store Pages dealing with

things like age ratings and localization

and QA testing and build pipelines and

pricing models and I've done this twice

on Steam and then 10 other times on all

different console platforms so these

platforms that I'm talking about are six

Unique Systems that you're familiar with

you know Steam and Xbox and Playstation

4 and PlayStation 5 which are actually

very separate from each other and have a

whole different process Atari VCS and

then lastly Nintendo switch which my

first game on Nintendo switch should be

releasing fairly soon and let me tell

you it's a lot of work but is it worth

it and that's the question that I want

to talk about I'll give you the short

answer first yes I think that it is

worth it because the majority of my

Revenue has come from game sales on

Console platforms if I only had my game

sale Revenue from my steam launches then

I would have way less money but the fact

that I have consistent income dripping

in from six distinct platforms gives me

hope that I'll be able to continue doing

this

fulltime okay so that's the short

version but let me give you the long

version I already told you that console

porting is a difficult thing to do

especially as a solo Indie developer but

difficulty isn't the only Factor it also

takes a huge amount of time now I'd like

to think I'm actually getting pretty

good at the process there are some

consoles that I've launched three

different titles on now so I'm kind of

getting the Cadence of things and

getting familiar with how everything

works but even then it takes a lot of

time now it's hard to measure exactly

what the time effort is on these because

I'm always working on multiple projects

concurrently but the time period that I

spent developing both tanks but no tanks

and bridges and docks is comparable to

the amount of time that I spent porting

to consoles so it's almost a one: one as

far as it comes to time commitment so I

have to think to myself would would I

have been better off this past year if I

had ignored consoles and instead been

able to release two more games onto

steam probably not but maybe but when

I'm talking about whether or not porting

to consoles is actually worth it I think

there's also a there's an

intangible benefit seeing my own games

on each different platform fills me with

like an immense amount of satisfaction

it makes me feel like a more legitimate

game developer instead of just a a

hobbyist like if I could go back in time

and show my 10-year-old self that I had

released games that I had developed all

by myself on Xbox PlayStation and

Nintendo I think that the younger

version of me would think that the

current version of me is super cool oh

young and naive Thomas not only that but

it has legitimized my work in the eyes

of potential Publishers and employers it

has expanded my skill set so that I'm

actually much more employable if I'm

looking for contract work or trying to

publish game because I know the ins and

outs and intricacies of what it takes to

bring a game onto consoles I've had

conversations with Publishers and game

studios that are willing to pay me for

my expertise which makes me feel a lot

better about being able to earn money if

I have to return to the workforce but

hopefully that won't happen knock on

wood but I will say

this the shininess wears off after a

while like once you've done this the

third time around it becomes a bit more

monotonous filling out pages and pages

of localized game descriptions just

isn't as fun as it used to be and it can

feel mundane and like pure drudgery

sometimes failing a certification

process can just take you out at the

knees and make you wish that you could

just start on the next project already

and more than a few times I have checked

my analytics on launch day and been

disappointed with the results so even

though I'm making games it's not all fun

in

games so yeah that's kind of the long

version of it yes I think think that it

has been worth it but going forward I

might be more selective over which

consoles i port my games to in the

future because now I have enough data to

go off of of which ones are hardest to

port to and which ones make the most

money at least for my games it's not

consistent over the different titles

that I've launched but some are trending

higher than others for sure so I know

that a lot of people that watch this

channel are game developers or aspiring

game developers so you might be asking

yourself well could I Port my games to

consoles and I think that's a great

question to be asking and let me give

you my opinion of who is best fit to be

able to single-handedly Port their own

games to consoles number one if you are

comfortable programming there's a lot of

proprietary sdks and you have to tie

into different platforms accounts and

how to figure out how to do the save

systems and all of that stuff there's

actually a lot of good documentation

depending on the platform and a lot of

times you will actually have a code

snippet that you can just copy and paste

and just tweak it a little bit so that

it fits into your game better but I

think that there is a big hurdle for

people who aren't super comfortable in

code having a background and

comfortability in code I think helps a

lot number two if you have a lot of time

now I won't beat a dead horse here but I

will say it takes a lot of time to

figure out how all this stuff works be

prepared to read a lot of documentation

and put your head down and just try and

trudge through all of the confusion

number three if you have some extra

money because believe it or not uh some

platforms when you sign up for their

developer programs they will gift you a

developer kit other platforms will not

gift you a developer kit and you have to

buy them out of your own pocket this can

be in the hundreds or thousands of

dollars I don't think I'm allowed to

disclose but it's like a good chunk of

change so if you are not anticipating

that you might be very sorry so if you

plan on pursuing console porting just be

aware that you might have to Shell out

some cash in order to get your hands on

a devkit and devkits are vital because

you have to be able to test your game on

the actual Hardware to make sure that

everything's working properly number

four if your game is relatively simple

porting gets a lot more complicated if

you have things like online multiplayer

or a lot of content I can Port my small

games in a matter of days or weeks but

for bigger games it'll easily take

numerous months and number five and this

one might be controversial but if you

use Unity I hate to say it but after

going through each ecosystem for each

platform it's abundantly clear that

Unity is a crowd favorite now it's

definitely possible to Port a game to

consoles that's made in gdau or unre

engine or game maker or your own custom

engine but the documentation speaks for

itself out of all the documentation that

I read Unity is definitely highlighted

above all the other game engines I

didn't even see a mention for a lot of

these other game engines Unity is

definitely the one that is highlighted

the most when it comes to documentation

so if you use Unity then your job will

probably be a lot easier than using

anything else so those are some of my

thoughts around my console porting

experience it's it's not a no-brainer

but I'm glad to have done it if you want

to check out any of my games I will

leave links below to all the different

platforms and you can check it out

thanks for sticking around blah blah

blah see you in the next one