Today, I will share a story about an individual developer who successfully made money by using AI to create a game, with a current monthly income of $52,000 (equivalent to 370,000 RMB). This is a free multiplayer online flight simulation game (MMO flight sim) developed with the help of AI, where players do not need to endure long loading times or large data updates every time they play.
http://fly.pieter.com
Game development process
"Success!!! I implemented full multiplayer functionality using Python's websockets server, broadcasting and receiving all player location data every 100 milliseconds (10 times per second). Almost 100% of this code was generated by AI; I used Cursor and Grok 3 to write the server code."
"Now everyone can fly together! Maybe the server will crash after the tweet goes out, but let's give it a try anyway! The reason the planes weren't moving before was due to players who had already exited the game, but their positions were still retained in the system. Now, every red plane represents a real-time online player!"
The author had never made a game before, yet through Cursor, they fully utilized AI to complete their own flight simulator in just about three hours. Although the development process wasn't 100% smooth, it was still around 80% efficient. There were a few instances when the developer had to revert to previous versions and ask multiple questions to resolve certain issues, but the developer expressed a strong liking for this method of development with the assistance of AI—it’s really fun! 😁
Traffic Sources
The website traffic sources are also quite interesting. Surprisingly, a number of people visited this 'fly a plane' website: http://fly.pieter.com after beating their meat (masturbating). Truly wtf lol 😂!
Game Modification and Iteration
I had Cursor paired with the Claude model attempt an implementation once, and it successfully handled the anti-aircraft tank in one go. I only needed to make slight adjustments so that the up and down arrow keys could control the turret's vertical movement, allowing for easy shooting down of planes in the sky.
In addition, there is a small issue that needs fixing. Currently, the tank is hovering slightly above the ground, and its speed is even as fast as the airplanes. This problem will need to be addressed as well.
Daily update progress
The author is currently still updating the iteration status of his product and business data every day:
The game physics update has now been decoupled from requestAnimationFrame(), fixing the issue of slow performance on devices like the M1 MacBook. Additionally, with the help of AI, the game has added an anti-aircraft tank and turret aiming system. Players can now control the turret with the up and down keys to more easily shoot down planes!
Day 10 Update
Today was busy but fulfilling!
About 16,000 more players tried my free-to-play AI-powered flight game today! 🎮
💸 Revenue update after 10 days live:
💬 Sold 19 in-game ad spots, and revenue continues to grow!
Friends who want to buy in-game ad spots, act fast! As I mentioned before, to avoid cluttering the game world, I will keep doubling the ad prices to maintain scarcity. The next stage price will increase to $10K/month, then $20K/month. Grab it if you want! Purchase link: https://buy.stripe.com/00g5lueHfbdifBudR8
Today's completed to-do list：
✅ Fixed the issue of game crash messages being tampered with
✅ Added a rearview mirror function on the plane (displayed in the upper right corner)
✅ Added multiple fun sponsor-exclusive game objects (not just airships, but carefully designed unique advertising formats)
✅ Added a function to automatically restore to full health (100%) after the plane lands at the spawn point and comes to a complete stop
✅ Added a practical radar system to the aircraft carrier (details see the video)
Developing a game is indeed more challenging than any SaaS project I've worked on before, because the creative space is just so vast. For example, @marckohlbrugge suggested adding tanks, and not only did I add tanks, but I also started thinking about adding a turret aiming system — the ideas just keep coming!
Even though it's only been the first month since the project launched, it's already generating revenue, which greatly motivates me to continue developing. I really want to create an interesting and excellent flying game!
The improvements I plan to make next：
Set a game mode with rounds lasting 5 or 10 minutes, resetting player scores Add smooth interpolation effects for aircraft movement (just hang in there, it's coming soon!)
Day 11 Update
Today's update is relatively light as I'm on the go ✈️ flying to France 🇫🇷.
Unfortunately, @easyJet doesn't have in-flight WiFi, and since ThreeJS relies on CDN, I can't even write code while on the plane! Surprisingly, most flights in Europe still don't offer WiFi.
Another 17,000 players tried my free AI flight game today, a 6% increase from yesterday! 🎮
💸 Revenue after 11 days of operation:
💬 22 in-game ads sold, generating a total monthly income of $52,000. ✈️ 12 F16 fighter jets sold at per unit 360
Total: $52,360/month 🎉 Great milestone!
It now also attracts more well-known sponsors to join, such as @boltdotnew, which is very cool!
Currently, the price of in-game ads is $5,000/month. Friends who are interested can click here to purchase directly: https://buy.stripe.com/00g5lueHfbdifBudR8
Since the ads need to be encoded using AI, but the actual placement still requires me to manually adjust in the console, for example:
object.position.set(-450, 250, -200);
It's very troublesome, there must be a better way, I'll ask AI later! 😅
Tasks completed today:
✅ Fixed the issue of game crash messages being tampered with
✅ Added a rearview mirror function (located in the upper right corner)
✅ More in-game sponsored items have been added.
✅ Snow/rain weather effects have been added (preparing for future weather changes that will affect aircraft performance).
About the developer
This legendary individual developer, after obtaining a master's degree in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship from a university in the Netherlands in 2012, chose a completely different path: he moved to Asia to start a digital nomad life, followed by a period of confusion and anxiety.
In 2014, inspired by Jennifer Dewalt’s story of "building 180 websites in 180 days," he decided to take on the challenge of "creating 12 startups in 12 months." One of these projects, Nomad List, achieved tremendous success, promoting the digital nomad culture and encouraging millions to work remotely and travel freely.
He then founded Remote OK, which has since become a leading global remote job recruitment platform. In addition, he has been involved in numerous projects, including the AI tools Interior AI, Avatar AI, and Photo AI, all of which have achieved remarkable results.
Despite a success rate of only about 5%, his persistent experimentation and efficient personal development style—preferring to work alone and using simple technology stacks (HTML, JS, PHP, and SQLite) to quickly launch projects—has earned him significant attention and praise.
He has compiled his development experience, philosophy of life, and entrepreneurial journey into books and podcasts. While traveling and working in over 40 countries and more than 150 cities worldwide, he advocates the idea that "the world belongs to those who respect local customs, and everyone should live and move freely."
His income data:
✈️http://fly.pieter.com $52K/m 📸http://PhotoAI.com $132K/m 🏡http://InteriorAI.com $35K/m 🌍http://Nomads.com $24K/m 🛰http://RemoteOK.com $36K/m 👙http://levelsio.com $12K