[mathteddybear]

As someone who moves out of Bay Area back to home country and looks forward to spice up early retirement with small-time gamedev, I find the economics of indie development not that simple.

Generative AI notwithstanding, in order to make a game you will hire some artists, and the best artists are "getting paid in USD" already, to use the words from this discussion thread. They may be talent living locally, but they work on-line, too.

Thus, successful indie games usually have budgets "in USD" and sales "in USD". I mean, making one is still a first world problem.