Let me ask you guys something: how do you want to support my games?

I’m at a crossroads, and I’m not sure how to proceed. I’m going to get right to the point: I’m setting up a Patreon, and depending on how it goes, how I approach developing games will change forever.

Once upon a time, I gave away my games for free. Those of you who were around when I dropped the first Legionwood or the One Night trilogy probably remember a quite different Dark Gaia Studios. For one, I was just Dark Gaia back then, as there was no “studio” to manage. I was doing what I enjoyed for the fun of it, creating content at my own pace for loyal fans who supported me however they could. I didn’t have to deal with the pressures of being a professional game developer – there were no publishers to court, no worries about how a certain genre was selling, no quotas or deadlines to meet.

When I finished university in 2014, I found myself stranded in the real world with no means of supporting myself, so I released my first commercial game to try and turn my passion into something that would sustain itself. These days, my games sell decently well on Steam, but selling a product means I have to treat what I do like a business. Now, with a few years of professional game development behind me, I want to return to my roots. I want to tell stories, not sell things – I want to give my games away again, but I need your help.

And so, I’ve decided to run a little experiment. I’ve set up a Patreon page, and here’s what I have in mind: if I can generate just enough income each month to make the time I spend on game development worthwhile, I will release my games for free once more. That means no more commercial releases – if you guys support me directly, you’ll have unlimited access to everything I make, forever, for free. I won’t have to worry about running a business. I’ll be able to just relax and make games.

Let’s see how it goes. If you’d like to check it out, the Patreon page is here. Any support you can provide will be greatly appreciated.