Andy Schatz est un sacré bonhomme.
Après avoir bossé pendant quelques années dans une boite à la solde d'Electronic Arts il décide de tout reprendre à zéro et de se lancer dans le développement de jeux indépendants. En deux années il a fait un sacré chemin : il s'est mis à son compte, à monté sa société, à publié son premier jeu, à embauché son premier employé et il y'a quelques jours il était maître de cérémonie pour le IGF 2007.

Il publie sur son blog un historique de son parcours. A lire absolument si le sujet vous intéresse un minimum !

(...) Soon, I had signed a deal with a retail publisher to get the game in a box on store shelves with MumboJumbo, the 10th largest video game publisher in the world. The game came out for online sale on October 31, 2005, 10 months after I had started. Including rent, some small contractors fees, business travel expenses, and two new computers, I had spent $8000 dollars to make the game. Goldeneye, the game from EA that flopped miserably, probably cost somewhere around 15 million for development costs alone.

Our sales for Venture Africa were not spectacular. On the other hand, when I started making the game, I had intended it more as a proof of concept and a proof our our pipeline, and a learning experience. I had predicted between 1,000 to 10,000 sales. So far, we’ve sold over 60,000 copies. The game was in Wal-Mart, Target, Gamestop, Apple Stores, and more. (...)

http://www.pocketwatchgames.com/

Ron Gilbert devrait pondre quelques posts sur la GDC 2007.
Mise en bouche :

[quote]
Best Quote:

"I hate sitting next to these game school graduates with all their wide-eyed enthusiasm. I just want to strangle them and yell 'wait until your project gets canceled and you've been laid-off for the 3rd time!'"

-- Overheard in the hotel lobby
[/quote]


Le reste à suivre prochainement sur son blog.