Contemporary independent game development affords radical creative freedom, but requires mastery of myriad disparate skills, making career-sustaining independent development challenging. At the NYU Game Center, we're addressing this challenge by establishing an incubator. The incubator bridges artistic practice with the realities of the marketplace in collaboration with a group of industry partners including Sony Santa Monica, Autodesk, and Indie Fund. What skills should independent game developers focus on, and how can they think strategically about the commercial context of their work without compromising the creative focus that motivates them?

This case study assesses the results of a successful university-created, industry-backed incubator, shares students' perspective on transitioning their game design practice from an art school to a commercial context, and evaluates a curriculum designed to empower independent game development. We hope that sharing our perspective will encourage others to explore the relationship between creative and commercial success.