I think a lot of developers started like this, making small projects with friends, partly just for fun. Now on the market, including the gambling industry, there are big players, advanced game studios like Belatra, which from time to time publishes releases https://belatragames.com/en/news/article/long-neck-fortune-game-release. On the website you can also check the company’s history, which starts from 1993.
RE: Developing a game with friends: a new adventure for the Blockchain Hive is coming.