How much does it cost to start a mobile game?
About $205,000 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $130,000 to open the doors and $74,800 to keep going for the 2 years it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $130,000
Game development (contracted): $80,000 ($30,000–$200,000). GameAnalytics (Manacube): $100k-$500k mid-sized indie; Clutch Software Development Pricing Guide (2026): average project $132,480; most common project $10,000-$49,999; US firms $50-$99/hour; average 13 months
Art and animation: $20,000 ($5,000–$60,000). GameAnalytics: 2D animators from $200 a day (author averaged $250/day), 3D specialists $300+/day
Music and sound: $4,000 ($1,000–$10,000). GameAnalytics: composers $250-$1,000 per minute of finished soundtrack
Localisation: $1,500 ($0–$5,000). GameAnalytics: $0.04-$0.15 per word
Engine licences and asset packs: $1,000 ($0–$3,000). Our estimate: Unity Personal/Godot free; Unity Pro about $2,200 per seat a year; asset-store packs
App store accounts, first year: $124 ($124–$124). Apple Developer Program $99 a year; Google Play $25 once
Test devices: $1,500 ($500–$3,000). Our estimate: a spread of iOS and Android phones
Legal (publishing terms, privacy, IP): $1,500 ($300–$4,000). Our estimate: no published figure was found for this item.
Launch PR and user acquisition: $20,000 ($2,000–$50,000). GameAnalytics: PR agencies $2,000-$5,000 a month, usually 2-3 months minimum; current SparkTower figure $20,000 for launch UA
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
To keep going until it pays its way: $74,800
Running costs while sales build: $74,800 ($9,180–$454,000). Backend, analytics and ads SDK services, Tools and subscriptions, Live-ops contractor (updates, events), User acquisition, Insurance, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Our estimate: GameAnalytics notes most indie games never recoup; no published break-even survey found
All in: $205,000
About $205,000 all in ($48,300–$791,000): $130,000 to open and $74,800 to keep going for the 2 years it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $195,000 short: borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, about $4,240 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $50,000–$250,000. GameAnalytics, 'How to budget your mobile indie game': $100,000-$500,000 for a mid-sized indie mobile game; under $100,000 usually means a hyper-casual game or sweat equity. Vendor guides: simple mobile games $10k-$50k. Current SparkTower figure $50k-$250k
How much does it cost to start a mobile game?
About $205,000 all in ($48,300–$791,000) for a small one, from home, in an American city. To open: Game development (contracted) $80,000; Art and animation $20,000; Music and sound $4,000; Localisation $1,500; Engine licences and asset packs $1,000; App store accounts, first year $124; Test devices $1,500; Legal (publishing terms, privacy, IP) $1,500; Launch PR and user acquisition $20,000; Forming the company $800 — $130,000. To keep going for the 2 years it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $74,800 — $74,800. The trade's published startup range is $50,000–$250,000 (GameAnalytics, 'How to budget your mobile indie game': $100,000-$500,000 for a mid-sized indie mobile game; under $100,000 usually means a hyper-casual game or sweat equity. Vendor guides: simple mobile games $10k-$50k. Current SparkTower figure $50k-$250k), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Development $80,000; Art and sound $20,000; Incorporation and legal $2,000; Launch user acquisition $20,000. A small indie mobile game: $50k–$250k (GameAnalytics and Juego Studios development-cost guides).
How much of that do you keep?
None of it is kept as an asset: a build is spent, and what it made shows in the product, not on the books.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $195,000 short. Borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $4,240 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's mobile game simulator the founder starts with $15,000 of their own money; the launch costs come out of it and leave $12,000 to trade on, with nothing borrowed.
Can you start a mobile game with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — a game the founder makes alone — on about $3,000 of essentials (asset packs, art and sound $2,000; store accounts and tools $500; incorporation $500), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. Solo developers use free engines (Unity Personal, Godot) and asset stores; most indie games launch on a few thousand dollars (GameAnalytics indie developer surveys).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free mobile game simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
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