There are other examples like UnReal World [1]. It's a game about surviving in the wilderness in Finland made by a guy living out in the wilderness in Finland. It had its first release 31 years ago, and the dev is still going at it. He's not exactly rolling the dough, but what's better than doing what you enjoy and making enough to get by doing it?
Well sure, making way more than you need! But spending the prime of your life doing something you love with the chance of a nice payday, seems more pleasant than spending the prime of your life doing something you dislike but with a more guaranteed upper mid payday.
[1] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/351700/UnReal_World/
It is absolutely possible to succeed as a solo indie game developer, even if the likes of Minecraft or Stardew Valley or Dwarf Fortress are pretty extreme outliers. But it's nice when they do succeed.
Luck is a big factor, but working hard is an often underrated component. Equating game development, or anything in life, as a lottery is a terrible mindset to be in and sets one up for failure and mediocrity.
Success lies somewhere between cutting one's own losses early, and unrelenting stubbornness.
That's pretty fucking toxic and is why the video game industry is such a cesspool of broke dreams. But don't take my word for it. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ea-exec-says-toxic-... is as much a place to start as any
My VR game eventually sold 130k copies over four years, but amortized over 1.5 years of development, $100k contracting expenses, $25k hardware, most copies sold at sale price, and another partner to split earnings with I still would have made significantly more as an employed principal or even senior engineer.
As far as indie game success goes, selling this many copies puts me on the far end of the percentile scale. Oof.
There is of course the non-monetary "compensation" aspect. I created something I am truly proud of, tons of people have either seen or played it and enjoyed the experience, and I crossed a huge item off the ol' bucket list. Even if the game had only sold 10k copies, I still would have called it a win personally.
