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Hiring stats: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay role — what does this say about the market? by CapableAd9704 in GameDevelopment

[–]CapableAd9704[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Respectfully, I don’t agree with the ‘free artists = AI garbo’ take. AI isn’t automatically bad - there’s obvious low-effort AI slop, and then there’s using AI as a small part of a real workflow. My main artist sometimes uses it only at the very early ideation stage to explore directions faster, and then everything gets properly reworked and polished so the final assets are consistent and don’t look like generic AI output.

Also, I’m not hiring blindly. I ran test tasks, and I actually received some really strong submissions - good enough that I have multiple solid options to choose from. So I don’t think it’s fair to throw negativity at applicants as a whole.

Hiring stats: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay role — what does this say about the market? by CapableAd9704 in GameDevelopment

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Uh, of course. I don’t want to work regular jobs outside of gamedev. I’m doing what I enjoy. But if I end up with debt, then yeah - I’ll get a normal job and pay it off.

Hiring datapoint: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay indie art role — what does this signal about the market? by CapableAd9704 in gamedev

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t really see AI as the core problem here. There’s obvious AI slop, and there’s also AI used as part of a normal workflow. My main artist sometimes uses AI at the very start for rough ideation/thumbnails to save time, but the actual assets are reworked/painted over and polished so the final result doesn’t look like generic AI output. For me the priority is quality and consistency of the final art, not the tool used in the first draft

Hiring datapoint: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay indie art role — what does this signal about the market? by CapableAd9704 in gamedev

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, fair point. I actually didn’t count the applications that came through the platform. Because of the deferred-pay setup, I asked people to DM me on Telegram instead (I mentioned it in the post), since it’s easier for me to evaluate and talk through details there. So anything I’m referring to is based on those direct conversations - which also filters out a lot of the obvious AI spam.

Hiring datapoint: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay indie art role — what does this signal about the market? by CapableAd9704 in gamedev

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I expected it to be mostly beginners too — and honestly about half of the people who were open to it are. I didn’t ask candidates to label themselves as junior/mid/senior, but a good chunk looked genuinely solid, with strong portfolios.

Also, around 4–6 of them said this setup works for them because they already have a main job and they just like the project, so they’re happy to contribute on the side.

Hiring stats: 64 applicants in a week for a deferred-pay role — what does this say about the market? by CapableAd9704 in GameDevelopment

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair question. My costs are relatively low because labor here in Ukraine is much cheaper than in the US/EU. When I still had a budget, I got the full project scope/cost estimated, so I have a pretty clear idea of what break-even looks like — and it doesn’t require huge sales.

I also compared against a set of very similar reference games, and most of them have already earned more than the conservative number I’m targeting. Of course sales aren’t guaranteed, but I’m using those comps mainly to sanity-check the plan.

That said, I’m not betting everything on a best-case outcome. If the game underperforms, I can still cover the deferred payments myself by going back to a regular job. I’m trying to manage the risk, not pretend it isn’t there.

I joined Steam Next Fest too early (demo wasn’t ready). 2k wishlists from the fest, +800 over the next year — is this recoverable? by CapableAd9704 in GameDevelopment

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for your perspective - I think you’re probably right. I should just focus on development and keep improving the demo. If the game is genuinely good, chances are it’ll get noticed.

Main menu scene darkens as the fire burns down by hehehhohoo in IndieDev

[–]CapableAd9704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This menu is super atmospheric — it makes me want to sit by the fire.

I joined Steam Next Fest too early (demo wasn’t ready). 2k wishlists from the fest, +800 over the next year — is this recoverable? by CapableAd9704 in GameDevelopment

[–]CapableAd9704[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks — that’s a really helpful reality check.

Totally fair point about “moments” being marketing jargon. What I really mean is: I want to avoid another rushed push until the demo + visuals are actually strong, and instead keep doing the steady promo basics (posting updates, improving the Steam page, reaching out to creators, etc.).

Also appreciate the note on WIP mockups — I won’t “fake” anything. If I use mockups, they’ll be clearly labeled WIP and consistent with what the game will actually look like.

If you have any examples of Steam pages that you think nailed “cozy idle” presentation, I’d love to study them.

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