What game studios do contract work?

[mattmanp]

I found several small studios with links to contact them for contract work when I was checking out studios located near me. I don't remember off hand which they were but I found them using GameDevMap. You can try that too. BTW, I'm in Austin if you're wanting to search the game devs I was looking up.

http://www.gamedevmap.com

[Mooflet]

Thanks guys, all this info really helped!

[mobile1up]

just sent you a PM..

be sure not to think exclusively about iOS - while it is a great platform to work on - beware of the iOS trap. you can spend a lot of money working on a title and with little or no exposure, you get screwed because no-one can find your app. find a publisher/developer who can offer you a cross-platform experience.

my games run on multiple platforms (from same code base) - iOS is actually not the most profitable due to visibility in the app store. when you get some publicity, expect sales no publicity - expect nothing.

[FluffyLogic]

I imagine most independant developers will accept contract work, if the price is right. We (FluffyLogic) do contract work not only in the game realm, but also developing functional apps.

I don't think many developers advertise it too openly, as it tends to be something most studios are happy to take part in when the opportunity arises, as opposed to something they actively go out and seek. That may have been why you had problems finding studios that advertised it.

[Charybdis]

I (Scylla Games) do contract work on the side. I find most of my work on freelance sites:

www.vworker.com
www.elance.com
www.freelancer.com
www.odesk.com
www.guru.com

But it is hard to find good clients because they expect so much for so little. The whole industry is saturated and with such a low entry barriers, the average quality is so low. Just be careful and remember, you get what you pay for.

[Rubicon]

Another problem you're going to run in to, is that if they're any good they're probably either busy already or better off writing their own jetpack joyride beater.

We're a small studio and have done a ton of wfh in the past. Because of our overall experience levels and proven reputation for getting anything finished on time, we even charged quite a bit higher than the "standard" $4-5K a month. A lot higher tbh.

But I wouldn't do it now. Given we have all the kit and knowledge in place, it's better to put our own apps out and keep all the royalties forever.

All wfh does is pay you whilst you work. (I guess the clue is kinda in the title). We did it as Rubicon for seven years, and after seven years all we took out was having existed for seven years - on average earning less than we did over the past 10-20 working for bigger studios as employees. (Due to dry periods between jobs).

Big fail, should've gone indie much sooner.

So my advice would be to start a company and hire your talent permanently, or give shares to get the best.