How did you name your indie game studio/team?

[ameliori]

Hi guys! I'm assembling a group of people to make a very small indie gaming team, and as usual, one of the popular topics of discussion (apart from the plans and stories and characters) is the team name. We've been through a couple of gnarly ones; from pretentious (Auraflux Studio -- yech) to dumb (Baconlovers Studio). It's mostly jokes and ribbing at this point, but I know there'll come a time that we need to call ourselves "something".

Just curious on how you came up with your studio/team name? Or do you even need one at all?

[Chocopyro]

Our team is still in the midst of trying to find one, actually. But its cool, we have no projects announced yet, so no pressure. Though if we were ever to put "Studios" in the name, we would have to own one first.

[ameliori]

@Chocopyro: Your sidebar says it all: "Organization: Gah! We can't come up with a name!" That made me laugh!

In my opinion, your username sounds like a great name for a studio. Chocopyro Studios. Haha. Also don't worry, "studio" doens't have to be a place, I've been to small "studios" that are nothing more but a member's bedroom.

[Chocopyro]

Glad you found that amusing. It might as well be our name given our chaotic style, but thats mostly because we're all working double jobs and stuff. As for the suggestion, the problem with my name is it stems from the words "Chocobo" and "Pyro." Just kinda a gaming name I've had since... Way back in middle school, and for some reason I still use. XD The obvious problem is of course copyright. It could work though. Others on the team suggested it once or twice, so hearing it from an outside source makes me more willing to consider it. Maybe we could abbreviated to CP-Studios or something and hope that nobody asks what the "C" stands for. -shrug-

[Jackkel Dragon]

Not sure how much my "team" of a writer and an artist counts, but I'll share.

In my case, the artist didn't join the first project we worked on together until after most of the game (aside from the art) was finished, so we didn't really use a team name for that project. For our second (current) project, we ended up not coming up with many good ideas and fell back on our backup name "Team Despair" (inspired by Team GrisGris, the creators of Corpse Party: BloodCovered, and by the fact that the subtitle of our first game, a Corpse Party fangame, was "Depths of Despair").

While that name has been working for us so far, our tentative third project is primarily a romance game, so we started thinking of alternate names for our team to avoid the implication that there can be no happy ending to this game. So far it looks like we'll use the name "Team Nightshade" for that game, since that name ties into the story of the game and avoids the implications of "Team Despair" making a romance game.

[burnt_offering]

Don't do what I did which was a pun on the members names, as both of the other members at the time left shortly afterwards.

[kisa]

I think making a name that's like a joke would be perfectly acceptable.
Having a cool name would be nice, of course... But, having a joke name would be easier to remember and more fun for the team members in my opinion. *isn't a part of any groups and butts in anyway*

[Hijiri]

Well, the current names for my groups (MESI Games and Dark Mirage Games) stem from what each one was focused on. MESI is an abbreviation of a Latin term which fit with the generally dark and death-filled works I focus under it, but unfortunately I've forgotten it. As for Dark Mirage, it comes from the fact that what I plan to release under that label are fantasy stories with dark twists. And since mirages are like fantasy, it sorta fit with it.

[KittyKatStar]

Since Apple Cider only consists of 4-5 people (and most are in other groups, or working on their own projects too) uh... not sure if it really counts. ^^; But I'll go ahead.

Deji and I came up with it after flinging around the story theme for Autumn's Journey. Since we just wanted to create something cute and fun (and create more projects similar to that), we wanted something that could be considered comforting - like hot chocolate. Apple Cider fit the autumn theme, and I have fond memories of drinking hot apple cider with family and friends.

There also seems to be a food/drink naming trend with EVNs in general. XD

[Tyrantauranox]

I generally don't trust a game studio unless the name is at least a little weird. Double Fine, Vanillaware, Sucker Punch, etc.

@KittyKatStar: Some professional studios only have 4-6 devs, so you're cool.

[Akitsuki]

While I'm not joining any teams, I think a name should be easy to remember, whether it's unique, funny, or even hell scary LOL
There're also some groups take names after something they have memories about. Like perhaps the first time you met the members, you guys talked about cakes or sweets, then name it something like, Fluffy Cream or Salty Caramel (those examples are lame, but whatever).And just like Hijiri stated before, you could use a name that explains type of games you've been producing and working on. Or there's also a name that consists of the group's members' name. Not the full one of course, maybe you can take the first letter of the names, but that's just too common.

But overall, as long as the members are fine with one name, then it's good to go.

[nebulaway]

my name isn't really a team name or anything like that. it's just myself. i'm thinking about forming a team under this name but i don't know... i like doing everything myself or have people collaborate with me (or vice versa) for a project/game. maybe one day i'll seriously consider an actual team.

as for the origins, i have created so many worlds that it's not enough for a galaxy - but a whole nebula of them. it makes it easier for me to expand and create even more worlds. "nebula way" because there's so many ways to go.

[Chocopyro]

Well, my group may have finally found a name. Anyone know a place where I could check to see if certain names are copywriten?

[Shinoki]

It's probably good to just google the studio/team name to check.

(just random, but because this topic was brought up, I tried to think of a studio name... and since I like circles (round foods are the best) I tried to think of some names...but... a lot of them were taken by random other companies that had nothing to do with visual novels *sobs, does everyone have a liking of circles or something?*)

[Chocopyro]

Thats kinda the reason I'm asking. Like the name's out there, but it also looks like the artist who was singlehandedly using it changed her name and the domain name is for sale. Yet other places seem to suggest her brand is still out there. So I'm not really finding anything concrete. Its kinda... Ambiguous at the moment. -shrug-