“I didn't start out with any funding, I didn't have any investments, I didn't spend all of my money on one big project,” David Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, maker, and publisher of point-and-click adventure titles, tells me. “I started with a little game I could afford to make, and it earned a little bit of money. I made another game that earned a little bit more, and I was able to grow very slowly from there. This wasn't my big plan; that's just how I worked.”
Gilbert and I aren’t talking about the current state of the industry; we’re talking about how he started his company in 2006 and has made a living for 18 years creating games that appeal to a small audience. But we didn’t ignore the backdrop of layoffs driven by companies who over-extended, over-invested, or put shareholders' profits ahead of sustainability. It was a few days after we spoke that Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff across its Xbox division and announced it had passed a $3 trillion valuation.
