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A two-person studio stacks ad and purchase revenue across free games while learning to validate faster.
$27,022 web ads · $13,635.76 mobile · $1,522 YouTube
“Having multiple games that generate a few hundred each month organically can actually cover a whole studio’s costs.” Their $42K year came from stacking web ads, mobile and a devlog channel, not from one hit.
Fewer bars = easier, cheaper, or faster for an AI-assisted solo builder. Editorial judgments based on the case details.
MikeRoxy is a two-person indie game studio that moved from publisher-funded development to independent releases. Its founders report $42,179.96 in 2025 income from free-to-play games on mobile and web, plus a YouTube channel about their work. Web platforms generated $27,022, all from ads. Mobile generated $13,635.76, including $2,000 from app purchases after store cuts and $11,598 from ads; the remaining amount is unexplained. YouTube generated $1,522, mainly sponsorships. The founders say they tested more than 100 prototypes and spent too long building multiplayer features before validating whether players enjoyed the core loop. Their corrective strategy is to release more games, test ideas earlier, reuse systems where they speed production, and stack modest income streams rather than depend on a single hit. They have made games since 2019 and describe 2025 as their first fully independent year. The revenue figures are founder-reported; no audit or third-party dashboard is described. They do not split revenue by title or report profit after labor and expenses.
For MikeRoxy, the first players should come from a playable release placed where the intended genre audience already spends time. Build a prototype that demonstrates its core loop quickly, then invite players through relevant game communities, creator outreach, and platform pages.
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Data credibility: Founder-reported annual studio receipts. The founders give a platform breakdown but no independent audit, title-level allocation, expenses, or net profit.
For MikeRoxy’s free-to-play model, the first dollar arrives after a game has enough players and repeat sessions to create ad inventory or a reason to buy an optional item.
MikeRoxy’s potential growth loop is a portfolio loop: ship a game, learn from real play, reuse sound production systems, and use each release to improve the odds of the next small win. The founders describe testing more than 100 prototypes and creating reusable systems to speed later production.
A studio testing many concepts will have quiet stretches when launches receive little play and the team cannot tell whether the idea, store page, or distribution is the problem. MikeRoxy’s founders say they spent too long extending multiplayer prototypes before testing whether people found them fun.
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