[Agema]

A big difference between many indy developers and major developers is that indies are doing it out of love and maybe a salary top-up, whereas majors need to make a living from it. Most indy developers I know make their games as a hobby, whilst holding down a day job (which may be also as a game programmer doing some contract work).

Apparently it takes about $5-10 million for professionals to produce the average game, and the developers get 20% of the retail price. Assume $50 for a copy, and shifting 1 million copies looks about right to break even at worst.