Patreon Update 10/01/2019 - 3 Months To Go! (Patreon)

I'm going to start doing a monthly or semi-monthly public update related to the growth of SmutCube as a studio. That way I can talk about organizational developments outside of the weekly updates which should be about the changes made to the game that week.

We are rapidly approaching January 2020 after which I will be starting development full time. Development progress should be expected to increase by a factor of 2-4 if I commit 40 hours a week to development. It's likely that development speed will increase even more dramatically over the first few months while I am still used to working 50-60 hours a week between two jobs. I am anticipating that what takes me months now will take me weeks after January.

Before I get into the thoughts of the future I've had bouncing around in my head, I wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me. I've wanted to make video games forever but never thought I would be good enough to work at a major studio. I still don't think I'm quite good enough but I'm making the best of the opportunity you've given me to learn and grow for the benefit of those who enjoy the games I make. Thanks to your support I'm looking forward to the future I'm starting in January so that we can see the full potential of SmutCube in 2020.

I've changed the Patreon's goals to outline how its income will effect the longevity of the studio as a full time operation. 

As I've previously mentioned $2,000 is the pre-tax minimum I'll need to afford going full time. I'll be losing about $1,000/month from the difference between my expenses and income, but my savings will be able to absorb that hit for at least a year barring any emergencies.

While I'll need $3,000 to make ends meet it doesn't leave room for future growth such as starting a family, renting office space, or hiring freelancers regularly. I've given the Patreon 3 years to grow beyond that point which should be very attainable considering how quickly the Patreon has grown in the past. 

After $4,000 I'll be able to continue development full time indefinitely. I'll be making the same as an entry level programmer but I'd be much happier than I would be grinding away on some database management system for 40 hours a week. I'll be hiring free lancers fairly regularly for stuff like voice acting, model making, art design, etc. while I can afford it.

Beyond that there isn't much that will change for the studio, other than increasing the quality and frequency of free lancers hired. Hiring a second employee is going to be far too expensive to consider until past the $8,000/month range unless they want to work criminally underpaid without health insurance. If I do hire a full time employee it will be somebody who has a talent set that is the opposite of mine. More than likely this will be an art director who can do concept and 3D art to make the game(s) visually appealing. That's a bridge I'll cross if/when I get to it, but I wouldn't expect it to happen in the next 5 years if it happens at all.

Again, thank you to all of my current and former patrons and others who have helped spread the word. I really hope I can produce something amazing for you!