Hey there,
Really enjoyed your post, your clarity and way of thinking resonate strongly with me. I’m in a very similar headspace: I want to continue building a studio with each release compounding in systems, audience and creative momentum. Your approach feels aligned with that.
My background is a bit unconventional, but I bring a lot to the table. I spent years as a department head in the film and television industry, working on major productions including projects with Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios. I’ve since transitioned full-time into independent game development and founded Dumb Duck Games, where I co-released Lumberjacked on Steam earlier this year.
Lumberjacked was my first full Steam release, and I treated it as both a creative project and a testbed to learn the full pipeline involving launch strategies, Steam backend, trading cards, marketing loops, and community building. I’ve got the bug now and am currently prototyping two new projects: one is a stylized PvP physics-based game, and the other is a Adventure/Factory game mash up.
I’m equally comfortable leading or collaborating, and while my primary strengths are in game design, art direction, and worldbuilding, I also handle business-side decisions, contracts, revenue shares, Steam paperwork, and all the non-fun stuff nobody wants to deal with.
If you're open to chatting, I’d love to explore if there's alignment. Either way, I wish you all the best, your mindset will carry you far.
Cheers,
Brent
Dumb Duck Games