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A mobile game studio that grew through short publisher-ready prototypes, released titles, and creator partnerships.
almost $78,000 in 2024 · $50,000 in 2023 · $21,000 in 2022
A failed $40,000 game changed the operating model: build smaller games in 30–40 days and show publishers the work.
Fewer bars = easier, cheaper, or faster for an AI-assisted solo builder. Editorial judgments based on the case details.
Ivan built Creauctopus after moving from CG production into mobile games. His first named release, Ailment, launched in 2019 and earned Google Play and App Store features; a video about its earnings passed one million views. A 2020 follow-up, described as an Ailment prequel, reached about $5,000 a month for six months. Ivan later left his CG job, but his first full-time year in 2022 brought only $21,000 from publisher deals, ads, and in-app purchases. A third game consumed more than a year and roughly $40,000, then returned only an estimated $2,000–$3,000. He changed the portfolio strategy in 2023: smaller games, built in 30–40 days around trending genres, and prototypes aimed at publisher interest. Income rose to $50,000 that year and almost $78,000 in 2024. For 2025, Ivan reported $100,000 gross before taxes, while Creauctopus expanded to about eight full- and part-time contributors. Publisher work, existing games, and YouTube sponsorships all contributed; the figure is studio income, not a margin or a single game's sales.
For Creauctopus, the first customer is a publisher willing to fund or distribute a prototype, so build proof in the format that publisher can evaluate.
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Data credibility: Ivan reports gross income from games, publisher deals, and YouTube sponsorships; figures are unaudited and before expenses and taxes. The third game’s $2,000–$3,000 return is an estimate in the transcript.
Creauctopus's early game revenue came through several routes: publisher deals, advertising, and in-app purchases. Ailment created an initial public proof point, while the follow-up game produced a temporary run of about $5,000 per month in 2020.
The Creauctopus growth loop strengthened when Ivan made games publishers could evaluate and documented the work in public. Smaller 30–40 day projects increased the number of concepts he could show, while public posts made the studio discoverable to publishers who later approached him.
Creauctopus endured two different quiet periods: years of learning with no game income, and the disappointing return on a third title that cost roughly $40,000 to develop. For a studio in this position, the safest response is to cap each experiment before production starts.
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