Patreon Full Time

My patreon has had a sudden surge over the past 3 months; it has jumped up from a very stable region in the low 3ks, where it has been for around 3 years, to hovering around the magical 4k mark which I put up as my full time goal.

Honestly, I am baffled that this surge has occurred, given that I have only been releasing content once every three months since my son was born, and so far as I am aware, nothing has happened to cause it. I don’t know if this spike in support is sustainable, or if it will drop back down to where it has been. I suspect the latter; but it doesn't really matter; even if it pulls back, I'm committing to move over to Patreon full time.

I will save my heartfelt gratitude for being in this position for another time (as I have dreamed about doing this full time since I made my patreon); for now, I want to talk about the timeline for me doing this, as it won’t be overnight.

I am currently approaching the middle of a large game project, of which I hold a key role. In an ideal situation, I need to see it out, both for the good of the team, as well as my own career. I will need to have this on my resume if my foray into full time patreon proves unsuccessful for any reason and I need to return to the industry in the future.

However, as I am sure everyone here is aware, ideal situations in the games industry are the exception not the rule. At the moment it is far from guaranteed that the project will see its completion.

Here is some details about how the timeline looks under these conditions,

1. I leave at the end of the project. (~2.5 years). This is a rough estimate as production timelines can always be extended. I would hope not in this case though.
2. The project is cancelled but the company goes on (~1 year). I have no interest in starting a new project, or to come on to another as support. If this happens then I will stay on long enough to set my family up. Healthcare is a concern.
3. The company or my position within it ends. (~3+ months). I don’t anticipate anything sudden happening just yet, but if the company or my position within the company was to end then I will transition immediately.

The only things that will prevent me from following through with transitioning over to full time is if:

1. my support collapses to a point where switching over would cause financial hardship on my family. The long term trend is above this threshold; so if support pulls back to the 3k mark this will be fine. I am anticipating it will.
2. Patreon becomes hostile towards my content, or shows signs of being financially unstable. This thankfully looks unlikely for now, but there has been one or two periods of concern over the years. Once I switch over to Pateron full time, my family's financial stability will be at the whim of a big tech’s terms and conditions, and I need to know that I can rely on it.

In the mean time, I will continue to heavily re-invest the patreon money into the projects (such as character and environment models, scores, VR help, etc), look to buying equipment that will help with output (such as a mocap suit). The only benefit me having a day job to my patreon is that I don't need supporters money to live off, so I can do these things; but this will change once I switch over to full time.

I will be removing the goals from my Patreon. I will be moving onto full time even if support pulls back, and the timeline is going to be determined by external factors, so it no longer serves as a goal.

Thanks everyone for their support. I honestly never expected to be in this position, and I am extremely grateful and excited! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. And if you are new; would you mind letting me know what has driven you here? I am very curious to know what has driven the sudden 30% surge since the start of the year!