Gamasutra has a short article up today about a new initiative to fund small game development studios, lead by Joystick Labs, which defines itself as a “seed-stage accelerator”. It offers $6,000 per founder of the title, up to $18,000, and requires relocating to North Carolina. Joystick Labs will fund and mentor a project, and in return expect to get a “modest equity stake” in the company they are helping out and a “share of the money generated by the game or app” (quotes taken from the Joystick Labs FAQ as of 4:08PST 8-9-10).

This is a very interesting time for independent developers, and it keeps getting more interesting. Earlier this year, another initiative titled Indie Fund was announced to help independent developers. This initiative is run by independent developers who have seen success, and there is a good chance they can empathize with a small team that has great ideas and just needs to get past that pesky step of funding.

I want to warn anyone trying to make it big with their own IP in this industry. Value yourself, your team, and your IP a lot. More than the person you’re negotiating with does. $18,000 might sound like a lot, but I made over three times that a year in an entry level programming position when I first started in this industry. If you are willing to hold off on your dream, you can work for a few years and be smart with your savings and have more money saved up, plus 100% ownership over your company and future profits. And if your dream is too important to you to wait a few years to incubate, then it is too important to ruin over a poor negotiation. Be very careful to understand what you will be expected to give up when signing any contract with an investor — do they get any creative control over your project? What are the exact numeric percentages of “modest equity stake” and “share of the money generated by the game or app”? In case it sounds like I’m really tearing into Joystick Labs, I want to say that the $18,000 funding they are offering is insubstantial compared to the value of having a good mentor with industry experience, and looking at some of the big names in their roster of mentors makes me feel optimistic. I’m just saying that you should be prepared to say “no” to any negotiation you aren’t comfortable with.

One more thing, while we’re on the topic: I would recommend checking out Tim Carter’s Core Talent Games, another funding initiative that seeks to promote talent (the actual people making the games) over companies (which usually reward businessmen disproportionately well compared to the actual people making the games). It should not come as a surprise that as a game developer in this industry, I find Tim’s ideals a direction we should desperately seek to take.