Hi everybody.
I’m trying to come up with (or rather pick) a name for my 1-man company and would like to get a voting started to help me swing one way or the other.
Thanks!
You gotta be joking man.
Are you in the business of making a game? Or simply “creating a company”?
Nobody will care about name or logo or anything like that if you make a good product.
And even when that happens, you can simply rename/rebrand everything…
Both.
I care. That’s why I asked for a public opinion.
Plus, learning how to pick names for a, well, anything, is an interesting aspect of that process that I would like to understand better.
I don’t believe so and I’ve been in situations of “rebranding”. Even at small scale it is not a pleasant routine.
Well…
If you ask a bunch of strangers about the name of a one-man-company they don’t even code for,
the one man in the company will probably end up rebranding because none of us have any attachment to your company.
This company needs to be you. If everyone else on the name for you, eventually, you will be creating games for everyone else, all at once, and that never works.
Start with the company name.
Own it.
Then, make games for you.
If you try to please too many people, you will please no one.
That’s pretty rude. Would you walk up to someone who asks a polite question and barrage them like that? Damn, man. Someone really peed in your cornflakes 
As for the original question (and I answer this common question a lot) - choose the name that is meaningful to you. For example 343 Studios is meaningless to most people and so is Bungie. It’s just nonsense naming, really, for video game studios
It’s the games that make the name, not the name that makes the game, so your choice is whatever makes you happy, and this really is the best choice.
(btw, I voted Kartoshka without knowing what it meant, and chose not to read up on it so that I would give the initial undiluted impression, I hope that is helpful! it does sound interesting, whatever it is… the other choices were pretty generic and did not stand out. I would also drop “development” from the end. Studios don’t need to call themselves studios, after all)
I agree with Hippo. Not sure why people are so hostile, but this is the Internet…
I like Kartoshka. Even more after I translated it!
Well, after reading up on what it means, I love it so much more. I am hoping for a minimalist potato logo.
Thanks! That helps!
I’m of the opinion that unless you’re about to start marketing, you don’t need to worry about a name at all.
I’m also of the opinion that when you look at names like the aforementioned Bungie, or Obsidian or People Can Fly or Hanger 13 or Activision or Crytek or Naughty Dog or Lionhead or Maxis or Black Box or Westwood or Team Bondi…you realize that the name of your company doesn’t really matter at all. Every once in a great while you get a Bioware or Ubisoft, but they’re few and far between and no one cares.
If you want a name that has meaning to you, then go for it. I’d agree that Kartoshka does sound mildly interesting.
hung jury on not needing to think about marketing yet,
but… think of all those names you just listed. did any of them mean anything before they made games? bioware and ubisoft started out worthless too.
the name only matters to the owner of the name until you give everyone else a reason to know who you are
I didn’t say they don’t need to market. I only said that if they’re not marketing, they don’t need to worry about the name yet. It would probably be a good idea to start marketing as soon as possible (by “marketing” I’m referring to things as simple as posting updates to a blog and then posting about that on Reddit or something), but absent that issue worrying about a name before actually having any games can be an excuse for procrastination.
Bioware and Ubisoft have meaning independent of the games. Bioware = bio + ware. The company was formed by doctors initially selling medical equipment. Ubisoft = ubiquitous software. Outside of those two and a few others, almost all game company names are gibberish that literally no one cares about, which was why I said it really doesn’t matter.
Thanks everybody for voting and for your thoughts on that topic! Between “Kartoshka” and “Witchcraft” I was slightly leaning towards “Kartoshka” and probably gonna go with this one.
I am at that point where its time to create IOS and/or Android development accounts. Since Android, for example, requires a Google account - to my mind it makes sense to pick a name now. Also, if I could publish nameless with just a name of the game - I probably would.
I see where you going with it, but…Coming up with a name is not an active process that you spend time and time on using whiteboard and slides. You can be thinking of one while driving the car or brushing your teeth - outside the active development hours. In fact, if you are committing to your project, I would recommend picking a name asap. It does help with moral and dedication a little bit. Well, plus “marketing”.
To be honest, I’m not quite sure why this question raises that kind of “tension” (for lack of a better word). Maybe if I gave more details on where I’m at with my project - that would help. idk.
We’re developers. For better or worse, we like to tell people how to develop 
And that’s mainly what this forum is for, so it tends to spill out in cases like this.
Haha yeah
the most important thing when coming up with your name is making sure that you can make an intro title logo animation thingy that looks cool and fits with the name somehow.
“company”
in quotes…
Something you want to confess to?
Yes! Sometimes I don’t comment or test my code because I don’t feel like it…
Finally, such a relief to say it out loud!
Thanks, mate!
This is like a musician asking what they should name their song or record label… or a painter asking what to name a painting… or a writer asking what they should title their book. Don’t second guess yourself. You’ll know the right name when it comes. I don’t divulge my business on here, but when my record label name came to - after some time - it stuck and I can’t imagine it being anything else. When I go to write a song, I know the title before I go into it. Some people don’t work this way.
Think about the things you like, or what inspires you. If you are serious be prepared to live with the brand for literal years if you nurture it like a garden.
This highlights a big divide between games and other things like music or writing or art: a lot of people making games aren’t doing it creatively. They aren’t doing it to broadcast a message or transmit their emotions or raise questions. They’re just making another survival sim or 2D platformer because why not.
It’s like a cover band, except the act of making games is not entertainment while the act of playing music live is.
Unless they are doing the exact same thing, or attempting to… it’s not a cover band. There are also good and bad cover bands. I can’t give an analogy of a cover band and games other than maybe the mod community.
The act of making games is totally entertainment - do you think when you write songs you just come up with them off the top of the head and perform them live on the spot? No. An album takes months to craft and perfect like a game - then comes the engineering and recording side - which is an art unto itself that takes decades to master that you typically outsource. Then you need cover art and distribution. Merchandise. It continues. By this point - let’s don’t count your equipment - you’re in thousands deep.
It is very much a parallel to the gaming business or movie industry. TV ratings have dropped because people can watch Netflix. Most of us download games on Steam instead of going to a physical retailer.
Both are creating content/escapism. A lot of people don’t even play music live or go to concerts now. They stream at home and CD’s will be discontinued by 2020.