The goal of making a game should be to survive to make the next game

The primary goal when setting out to build a game should be to make the next game. Not to make millions or to make your dream game, but to live to fight another day.

You see, every project starts out feeling shiny and full of hope until it hits reality. As the game comes together, some of the half formed ideas don't quite click. Everything gets harder, then you release it and players just don't get it.

And by the time you have given up and learned the hard truths you were meant to learn, you are out of money or energy and can't imagine going through it again.

And sadly it is at this time where you are finally prepared to succeed.

So what does the survival game development mindset look like?

If you are learning game development, you should build small games that can be shipped to your friends in a few weeks or months. The goal isn't to make a great game, it is to learn how to make a game. Your 1st game will inevitably suck, but maybe your 2nd or 3rd (or 30th) won't.

If you are a new studio with limited resources, you should make a smaller game that can be completed in a few quarters, not a few years. A well executed, small scope game can make a few million and then let your team make an incrementally larger game based on your deeper understanding of your genre and the market.

When you are a big studio with a large budget, you need to invest in large game concepts, but never bet so much that striking out leads to bankruptcy. Instead you should empower creatives to start multiple cool concepts that you can grow into major long-lasting franchises over time if players fall in love.

Think Embark launching 2-3 ambitious games in the FPS genre (The Finals and Arc Raiders), learning from the wins/failures, and doubling down on their hit game Arc Raiders. Compare this with the studio behind Concord that got shut down after burning through their entire budget on one game that was dead on arrival.

In general, all that matters is to find the fun, or better yet, Discover the Fun. And start small enough that you and your team can withstand multiple failures along the way, because trust me, you will fail along the way.

This is one of the bitterest lessons I've learned in my career and that nobody warns you about. So build small enough to survive the hard fought lessons learned from making of your first game.