Failure Is A Reality...

But it doesn't have to be your destiny.

This post isn't meant to bum you out. In fact, quite the opposite.

First I just want to muse about the reality of failure. It happens. It'll happen (or already has) to you, me, your parents, your friends, small businesses, multi-million dollar conglomerates, societies, civilizations, empires, etc.

We all fail in some way or another. Having millions of dollars or a huge team behind your project doesn't guarantee your game or venture success. Surely it helps, but offers no guarantees. Indie games on a 0 dollar budget are really just as likely to succeed these days as game produced by a AAA studio.

So don't let your situation define what you think your chance of succeeding is. It's nothing external that defines your success (though I'm sure many would argue against that notion), it's internal. It's your creativity, your tenacity, your ambition. When we come to realize we are in control, even when it doesn't seem like it, you become empowered to do what it takes to succeed.

Failures are just stepping stones to success, that's a pretty common idea nowadays and it's true. At first I stated failure doesn't have to be your destiny, and by that I meant you don't need to stop short of success. Don't walk up three flights of stairs when there's only 1 more flight to go to the top (the view is breathtaking...I hear).

For myself, High Moon may not make a lot of money. Heck, statistically speaking, it likely won't. But that's not how I decided to define the success of my game. Success for High Moon is finally finishing the product and delivering it. Learning the ropes of game development along the way, establishing a foot hold in the industry and having at least a handful of people really appreciate what I made. Avoid defining success in ways that are out of your control, because then your success is in the hands of others, not your own.

Make it happen folks :)