Surprise success proves a struggle for indie game developers

Striking it rich with an indie video game hit may seem like a dream come true, but a quick look at lotteries and professional sports shows that a windfall can be difficult to handle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, game developers who’ve turned rich overnight have struggled to grapple with the sudden onslaught of attention, pressure, and — yes — even cash. Dong Nguyen, the maker of Flappy Bird, may be the most notable example (his simple game was pulling in some $50,000 a day before he pulled it from the App Store), but The New Yorker has interviewed a number of other developers about their struggles. The article includes discussions with the developers behind games like Ridiculous Fishing, Minecraft, and Braid to see how they’ve handled the sudden change of luck, and it turns out that sometimes fame and fortune isn’t as easy to deal with as you might think.