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A reflection by
Callum Underwood
(a publisher lol)
Why pitching to publishers sucks
Who am I? What is my purpose?
Europe @ Caffeine
Special Projects @ SUPERHOT
Scout @ Raw Fury
Speaker notes for online: These are my jobs!
Why Pitching to Games Publishers Sucks
What am I talking about?
Pitching your game to a publisher is a deeply
personal event
This doesn’t match up with people’s experience
How can you make it easier?
Speaker notes for online: I’m going to talk about why the process is weird and broken
The Meeting
Are you pitching to the right
person? Can they say yes or no?
Speaker notes for online: Pitching to someone who has no decision making power is a huge waste of time
The Cycle
“Not right now but show us the next build!”
== infinite cycle of improvements and delays
Speaker notes for online: I can give you feedback and ask for a build, and we could do this 100 times
Time
Publishers can take a LONG time to come to a
decision
Speaker notes for online: Sometimes we don’t know, sometimes more people need to play, sometimes we miss it, or sometimes we are just so busy
Ghosting
“They haven’t replied in weeks”
Speaker notes for online: I’m sometimes guilty of this, but I try my best not to because it’s so so frustrating
What does the publisher want?
You: “Publishers don’t know what they
are looking for”
Me, A Publisher: “that’s nice but not
what we are looking for”
Speaker notes for online: What do I mean when I say not what we are looking for?
Sometimes it means the game is F2p, sometimes it just…doesn’t feel right
What materials does the publisher want?
A build?
Market forecast?
Previous games?
Team?
Etc..
Speaker notes for online: Every publisher wants you to have different things. You should have these ready either way
Genre fit
Do publishers have a “style”?
Style Speaker notes for online: No, Devolver publish amazing games that aren’t pixel!
Style
Speaker notes for online: Same with Paradox
Is everything in your pitch fixed?
Publishers hate: “We can scale the budget to
your needs!”
(sorry)
Speaker notes for online: We like to think every dev is an artist with unshakeable vision,
and they are letting us join them. Not that we are giving someone a job.
First Contact
Signed!
Speaker notes for online: Be succinct, and there are no rules
The Prototype
Shipped games generally don’t look like their
prototypes…
Get Even
Everybody goes to the Rapture
Offworld Trading Company
Devil May Cry
Spy Party
The Prototype
The build might have taken you months. It can
take publishers less than 1 minute to say no
(Sometimes we don’t even play it)
Speaker notes for online: I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
Chicken and Egg
No art pass All the art pass
Speaker notes for online: You need money for artists, but we want to see what your art looks like – it’s a paradox
What does a publisher look for in a build
Magic
Atomicrops looked terrible (sorry Danny). But it
had something special.
Gif Time - Then
Old Gameplay Gifs
Farm Marry Defend Recruit
Gif Time - Now Speaker notes for online: This is what it looked like
AFTER we signed it
Your Budget
Numbers? Budget? What?
Speaker notes for online: do you start with a budget, or end? For us it’s everything minus porting,
QA, loc etc, everything including that, a simple round number, your burn rate
Your Budget
Look at this
beautiful man
Speaker notes for online: Shams said that if he doesn’t see a budget on the last page of a pitch deck, he sends it back. This is smart.
Your Budget
Do you start with budget? End with budget?
How we view the budget
Burn
Rate
Launch Q1 2019
Art (PCM) $5250
Programming (PCM) $2210
Music (PCM - 6) $3000
Platforms Xbox, PS4, PC, Switch
Months 18
Total Development Budget $170,000k
Fake numbers lol
Speaker notes for online: This is specific to Raw Fury.
The scale problem
Publishers look at MANY games
The scale problem
Raw Fury signed less than 1% of the games
reviewed in 2017
My inbox Wednesday this week
Speaker notes for online: The signed line barely changes, but the review line changes MASSIVELY
Why?
PAX booth
only has
room for 3
games
Xbox offers an
E3
announcement
CERT takes a
lot of time and
effort
Speaker notes for online: If you sign everything, you can’t give your devs love
Why do we not sign a game?
Genre
We already have a similar game
Doesn’t “feel” right
Doesn’t immediately cause a reaction
I’m just not in the mood for that type of game
I didn’t eat breakfast yet
QUICK VR SEGUE
Publishers won’t sign your VR game because:
• Fans aren’t asking for it
• QA is different
• PR is different
• Marketing is different
• Porting is different
• Barriers to entry @ office
• Platforms are different
• Storefronts are different
• Demoing is a pain in the ass
• (Notice I didn’t mention money?) sorry…
Speaker notes for online: VR can make money, of course, but it’s painful to pivot away
From “normal” games for a publisher
Build &
Budget
Wider Play
Sessions
Team, Scope,
Finances,
Pitch
Whole Team
Plays
Due Diligence
& Face to
Face
Contract &
Cuddles
How We Choose – The Process
Don’t Go with This Person
We Want This Person!
Who to contact?
contact@chucklefish.org
publishing@nomorerobots.io
info@11bitstudios.com
callum@rawfury.com
developers@surpriseattackgames.com
contact@serenityforge.com
indies@doublefine.com
bandac@goodshepherd.games
publishing@coffeestain.se
contact@annapurnainteractive.com
fork@devolverdigital.com
hello@finji.co
hello@curve-digital.com
publishing@nkidu.com
pitches@tinybuild.com
collective@eu.square-enix.com
gameslabel@team17.com
publishing@humblebundle.com
Speaker notes for online: don’t do what this guy did, although it did make me laugh. It was an honest mistake
Reboot is the best conference <3
@DevRelCallum on twitter
callum@rawfury.com (Publishing!)
Or
callum@caffeine.tv (Streaming!)
Please ask any questions you like
Thanks to these folks for
providing anecdotes or
fixing my shit slides
@FelipeBudinich
@bobbylox
@simianlogic
@wombatstuff
@stuckbug
@steishere
@KristoferRose

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Why Pitching to Games Publishers Sucks

  • 1. A reflection by Callum Underwood (a publisher lol) Why pitching to publishers sucks
  • 2. Who am I? What is my purpose? Europe @ Caffeine Special Projects @ SUPERHOT Scout @ Raw Fury Speaker notes for online: These are my jobs!
  • 4. What am I talking about? Pitching your game to a publisher is a deeply personal event This doesn’t match up with people’s experience How can you make it easier? Speaker notes for online: I’m going to talk about why the process is weird and broken
  • 5. The Meeting Are you pitching to the right person? Can they say yes or no? Speaker notes for online: Pitching to someone who has no decision making power is a huge waste of time
  • 6. The Cycle “Not right now but show us the next build!” == infinite cycle of improvements and delays Speaker notes for online: I can give you feedback and ask for a build, and we could do this 100 times
  • 7. Time Publishers can take a LONG time to come to a decision Speaker notes for online: Sometimes we don’t know, sometimes more people need to play, sometimes we miss it, or sometimes we are just so busy
  • 8. Ghosting “They haven’t replied in weeks” Speaker notes for online: I’m sometimes guilty of this, but I try my best not to because it’s so so frustrating
  • 9. What does the publisher want? You: “Publishers don’t know what they are looking for” Me, A Publisher: “that’s nice but not what we are looking for” Speaker notes for online: What do I mean when I say not what we are looking for? Sometimes it means the game is F2p, sometimes it just…doesn’t feel right
  • 10. What materials does the publisher want? A build? Market forecast? Previous games? Team? Etc.. Speaker notes for online: Every publisher wants you to have different things. You should have these ready either way
  • 11. Genre fit Do publishers have a “style”?
  • 12. Style Speaker notes for online: No, Devolver publish amazing games that aren’t pixel!
  • 13. Style Speaker notes for online: Same with Paradox
  • 14. Is everything in your pitch fixed? Publishers hate: “We can scale the budget to your needs!” (sorry) Speaker notes for online: We like to think every dev is an artist with unshakeable vision, and they are letting us join them. Not that we are giving someone a job.
  • 15. First Contact Signed! Speaker notes for online: Be succinct, and there are no rules
  • 16. The Prototype Shipped games generally don’t look like their prototypes…
  • 18. Everybody goes to the Rapture
  • 22. The Prototype The build might have taken you months. It can take publishers less than 1 minute to say no (Sometimes we don’t even play it) Speaker notes for online: I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  • 23. Chicken and Egg No art pass All the art pass Speaker notes for online: You need money for artists, but we want to see what your art looks like – it’s a paradox
  • 24. What does a publisher look for in a build Magic Atomicrops looked terrible (sorry Danny). But it had something special.
  • 25. Gif Time - Then Old Gameplay Gifs Farm Marry Defend Recruit
  • 26. Gif Time - Now Speaker notes for online: This is what it looked like AFTER we signed it
  • 27. Your Budget Numbers? Budget? What? Speaker notes for online: do you start with a budget, or end? For us it’s everything minus porting, QA, loc etc, everything including that, a simple round number, your burn rate
  • 28. Your Budget Look at this beautiful man Speaker notes for online: Shams said that if he doesn’t see a budget on the last page of a pitch deck, he sends it back. This is smart.
  • 29. Your Budget Do you start with budget? End with budget?
  • 30. How we view the budget Burn Rate Launch Q1 2019 Art (PCM) $5250 Programming (PCM) $2210 Music (PCM - 6) $3000 Platforms Xbox, PS4, PC, Switch Months 18 Total Development Budget $170,000k Fake numbers lol Speaker notes for online: This is specific to Raw Fury.
  • 31. The scale problem Publishers look at MANY games
  • 32. The scale problem Raw Fury signed less than 1% of the games reviewed in 2017 My inbox Wednesday this week Speaker notes for online: The signed line barely changes, but the review line changes MASSIVELY
  • 33. Why? PAX booth only has room for 3 games Xbox offers an E3 announcement CERT takes a lot of time and effort Speaker notes for online: If you sign everything, you can’t give your devs love
  • 34. Why do we not sign a game? Genre We already have a similar game Doesn’t “feel” right Doesn’t immediately cause a reaction I’m just not in the mood for that type of game I didn’t eat breakfast yet
  • 35. QUICK VR SEGUE Publishers won’t sign your VR game because: • Fans aren’t asking for it • QA is different • PR is different • Marketing is different • Porting is different • Barriers to entry @ office • Platforms are different • Storefronts are different • Demoing is a pain in the ass • (Notice I didn’t mention money?) sorry… Speaker notes for online: VR can make money, of course, but it’s painful to pivot away From “normal” games for a publisher
  • 36. Build & Budget Wider Play Sessions Team, Scope, Finances, Pitch Whole Team Plays Due Diligence & Face to Face Contract & Cuddles How We Choose – The Process
  • 37. Don’t Go with This Person
  • 38. We Want This Person!
  • 40. Reboot is the best conference <3 @DevRelCallum on twitter callum@rawfury.com (Publishing!) Or callum@caffeine.tv (Streaming!) Please ask any questions you like Thanks to these folks for providing anecdotes or fixing my shit slides @FelipeBudinich @bobbylox @simianlogic @wombatstuff @stuckbug @steishere @KristoferRose

Notas do Editor

  1. Thank you for allowing me to talk at reboot
  2. You are presenting something that is personal to you, I hope. It’s something you care about, and it’s something that you want other people to care about. I’m going to talk about why this process is weird and broken.
  3. This can be the worst. Many horror stories of people having excellent meetings then finding out it was with someone who has no part of the signing process. Make sure you have the right person!!
  4. The issue here is that I can give you feedback and say show us another build, and I could do this 100 times
  5. Sometimes this is because we just don’t know More people need to play Haven’t figured out finances
  6. I am sometimes guilty of this, but sometimes we just have nothing to say. I try and let people know if there are delays, but this is very frustrating
  7. What do I mean when I say not what we are looking for? Sometimes it means the game is F2p, sometimes it just…doesn’t feel right
  8. Game design doc Build Prototype Market projections Family photos Previous games Team setup Salary breakdown
  9. Is there such thing as a Raw Fury game?
  10. Is there such thing as a Devolver game? Everyone knows devolver ship pixel games right? WRONGGGG VR and multiplayer whattttttttt
  11. “Teleglitch: Die More Edition is a roguelike top-down shooter with retro pixel graphics. ”
  12. We like to think every dev is an artist with unshakeable vision and they are letting us join them. Not that we are giving someone a job. We don’t like it when you suggest design changes for us
  13. That’s the catch 22 of the games industry
  14. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  15. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  16. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  17. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  18. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  19. I play pretty much everything. Rarely do I not play something. It can take me 5, 10 seconds to play something
  20. You need money for artists, but we want to see what your art looks like
  21. everything minus porting, QA, loc etc, everything including that, a simple round number, your burn rate Do you start with the budget, or end with it?
  22. This is Shams from Paradox. He once said that if he doesn’t see a budget on the last page of a pitch deck, he sends it back
  23. I don’t care, but it needs to be there
  24. This is super rough. That’s OK, it’s how we work.
  25. That’s hundreds of games reviewed, and less than 6 signed.