Dangers of Game Development
Disclaimer: This post reflects general observations and lessons learned from working in creative industries.
It is not about any specific individual, project, or legal matter.
Starting a project with a friend can feel like the dream, shared vision, late-night brainstorming, the excitement of building something together. But money has a strange way of distorting relationships. When financial stakes enter the picture, priorities shift, values get tested, and even the strongest friendships can fracture.
This is especially true in creative industries like indie game development, where people often come together for different reasons:
- One person may want to tell a story or create art.
- Another may see the project as a business opportunity.
- Both can be valid, but the mismatch becomes dangerous when money enters the equation.
The Subtle Shifts Money Brings
Money has a way of magnifying small differences:
- What happens when one partner values artistic integrity while the other pushes for monetization?
- If one person feels they’re carrying more weight, resentment festers.
- Some are comfortable reinvesting everything; others want quick returns.
What starts as “just a side project” can quickly become a battle over control, credit, or compensation.
Contracts: A Double-Edged Sword
Many people assume contracts will protect them. To a degree, that’s true; clear agreements are far better than vague handshakes. But here’s the reality:
A contract is only as strong as your willingness (and financial ability) to enforce it.
Legal battles are expensive, slow, and emotionally draining. Even a “solid” contract can become meaningless if the cost of defending it outweighs what’s at stake.
This is why disputes are often settled confidentially, behind closed doors; because fighting it out rarely benefits either side in the long run.
When People Have Nothing to Lose
Perhaps the most dangerous shift comes when money pressure pushes someone into a corner.
When a partner feels they’ve already lost control, or have little left to protect, they can become reckless, even vicious:
- All-in aggression – They may fight not to win, but simply to hurt you or burn everything down.
- Abandoning principles – Values they once preached can vanish when survival or pride is at stake.
- Greed unchecked – Respect and collaboration dissolve, leaving only the desire to extract as much as possible before walking away.
The person you thought you knew transforms. Where you once saw a friend or collaborator, you now see someone willing to risk it all, even at their own expense.
That shift is disorienting. Your respect for them diminishes, because their choices stop being about building something together and start being about taking, no matter the cost.
And once you’ve seen that side of someone, it’s nearly impossible to unsee it.
Lessons Learned
If you’re considering going into business with a friend, whether for a game, a startup, or any creative project, keep these points in mind:
- Clarify motivations early. Are you both in it for art, money, or both?
- Write down agreements. Even if you trust each other, memory is fuzzy and perspectives shift.
- Plan for success AND failure. What happens if the game makes no money? What if it makes millions?
- Be realistic about enforcement. A contract is not a magic shield, it’s a roadmap, not a guarantee.
- Protect the friendship, or protect the business, but rarely both. Decide what matters more before money complicates things.
- Watch for “nothing-to-lose” behavior. When a partner stops caring about the outcome, things can turn ugly very quickly.
Closing Thoughts
Money isn’t evil, but it changes the context of relationships. What feels like collaboration can morph into negotiation, and what once felt like trust can become leverage.
When you mix friendship and business, you aren’t just making a game, you’re gambling on whether your friendship can survive the weight of money, power, and ambition.