How to start a company?

I was thinking in details what does it take to open a computer game making company and what the cost consequences and other obstacles might be.

I know that most game making companies start out as a team, usually around 10-20 people, so I'm wondering how much does al this cost and how do most game developers get paid - sallery or paychecks or on how well the game performes on the market?

You probably need some people to run the company because running by yourself is too much I would think, so what are those people?

Hmmm...
I suggest starting with shareware.
One great shareware company SpiderWeb Software has only 4 or so employees. They have been at it for quite a while now which leads me to believe that they are profitable (or atleast not losing money). The link above goes to some pages the put up all about shareware developing. You should check it out. Also check out there games. They're really good.

One of my best friends has actually just recently started a company with some friends of his.

They are called Revelations Games Inc. and are based in Houston, TX.

Currently they are working on their first game.

Here are some things you can expect, or need:

1. about 5 to 10 people as a start-up team for the company

2. need some amount of experience or you will get no-where

3. money. capital. some of the guys that my friend has been working with the past year or so have either a side-job where they can actually make some money until they get a game published, or have no job at all.

If you start your own company, expect hard times, unless you already have lots of money by being in the business for awhile.

My friend and his friends have asked for lots of donations from people to fund their game. They managed to get a very good engine on the prospect that they would be able to pay the company back for the engine at a later date.

So there is definitely some liability there. If they are not able to finish their game and get money, they wont be able to pay back the company that gave them their engine, and then they could all easily be put into jail.

I have not talked to my friend in a couple months (since he is down in Houston and I am up here at college), but last time I checked they were expecting to here back from a guy about some funding. They were expecting a lot from this guy.

So...if you start your own company, expect risk.

I've started a, you could call, "company" but it's not a commercial company. We are just like a game making group. So far, it's just me and an artist.

The difficulty depends on the scale of a company you plan to make. Our "company" is open-source so it's all free, so is the work. If you plan to actually sell the stuff, it'll be a LOT of work to get going.

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So there is definitely some liability there. If they are not able to finish their game and get money, they wont be able to pay back the company that gave them their engine, and then they could all easily be put into jail.

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Negative. Cannot be put in jail if the company agreed to give the engine out based on the fact that they might get a return from it.
I used to own a printing company. If I borrowed money from the bank for new presses, etc., the bank lends me the money based on the idea that my company is reputable enough to pay it back and has the customer base to do so. If the bank lends me money and I cannot pay it back...the item in question is sold and to make up the remaining amount...if any...I sell other items in my shop. However if the item has depreciated to the point that I owe far more than its worth...it's possible that it could put my company in bankruptcy.

So if the company is expecting money back from the game because they let so and so use the 3D engine...if the company cannot pay then the company will have to either sell off enough assets so that the bill can be paid or they must place the company in one form of bankruptcy or another. Not all bankruptices mean the company is defunct. The persons who signed the loan agreement are ultimately responsible for paying back the money. If they signed it as a company then the president or presiding owner of the company is responsible for payback. Their are about a trillion ways to go about this so this is only one example. But just because a product fails to produce does not mean you will go to jail. It does mean you might have some serious financial consequences...but thats about it.

Also for those of you who have had a business, lending institutions and other companies are far more lenient with you than if you were just a single person. Unless you are absolutely in the hole so far that there is no way to get out...most businesses and banks will lend a hand or setup some sort of payment options. It's really not as risky as it all seems. But again to make money you must spend money and to spend money involves some measure of risk.