Going all in.

As of two weeks ago I am now officially a full time independent games developer. Hell yeah.

It's taken almost exactly a year from writing this post in which I said:

to finally go for it. The decision to go full time didn't really come down to money in the end. Well, it did and it didn't. I'm very lucky to have made a modest amount of money from Pumped: BMX, enough to give me a small amount of financial security while I work on Pumped 2. However I knew about that for quite a while and continued to work full time, relegating games to evenings and weekends.

It seemed like the sensible thing to do - I've got a fiancé and a mortgage, and I had a comfortable job, a pension and nice benefits. Over the course of a few months, however, I started feeling more and more restless - I had this incredible opportunity to 'give it a proper shot', to have a go a running a video games business, and I wasn't taking advantage of it. So I did my due diligence, went through my finances carefully and tried my best to grossly over-estimate budgets, and came out confident that I could support myself long enough to get Pumped 2 out of the door. I then sat on that knowledge for a final few weeks, had one last long talk with the lady-friend, and handed in my notice.

I'm under no illusions - I'm well aware that the odds are stacked heavily against me. But if I don't give it a shot, go all in, then it'll always be a huge 'what if'? hanging over me. If I end up back in an office in a couple of years time, then I'll be back there happy, knowing that at least I tried.

This might not be the most sensible thing I've ever done in my life, but I'll be damned if it isn't the most exciting.

Wish me luck.

Come say hello on Facebook or hurl abuse at @pumpedbmx!

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