Advice needed regarding the business side of making and releasing games on Steam as a South African

Hi,

I am a game maker in the making,
Please note I am very far from having anything playable, I am asking these questions more out of curiosity at this point in time.

I code in my spare time, with full intention of making games and releasing on Steam, not really interested in the mobile market at this time.

I would like to know what steps will I have to go through eventually to release on Steam.
I am a one man show.

Would it be best to create an official company for my games?
If so what type of company to register in South Africa(or another country) I read for Google you need overseas company, is that true for Steam as well?

Thank you for your time,
Gryspatrys

Comments

  • The best process to follow is generally:

    1. Make a game/prototype.
    2. Make another prototype which is a little bit better and more complete.
    3. Make more prototypes, getting better as you go.
    ...
    X. Make a prototype that is so good it stands head and shoulders above your others and people are clambering to buy it.
    X+1. Turn that prototype into a full game.
    X+2. Even though this is your X'th project it takes longer than you expected.
    X+3. Eventually finish your game and release it.
    X+4. Hopefully make enough money to work on another project.
    X+5. Restart at step 1 and hopefully get to X sooner this time (or for best effects overlap the iterations a bit).

    Generally you don't need a company until you reach X, and sometimes not until X+3. If you're working on it by yourself, there's very little reason to have a company until you're getting revenue. If you're working with others or will need to soon, then a company can be useful. Companies have administrative and financial overhead, so try delay it till you actually need it.

    Once you need the company, a private company, aka "(Pty) Ltd", is probably the most appropriate. Valve and most distributors will be able to deal with you without an issue. Google currently requires a Google Merchant account if you want to add IAPs or a premium price point, and it's not possible to get a Google Merchant account directly account as a South African company (or individual), but they are aware of it and working on it.
Sign In or Register to comment.