1.
#publishing
(Self) Publishing
aka. “Dreaming of what I’ll do with this awesome
idea/prototype before even knowing if people will
want to pay for it.”

2.
#starttalkingalready
Table of contents
• Who am I
• Before you publish
• Self-publishing
• Finding a publisher
• Summary
• Questions?

3.
#thatguy
Who am I?
This is a lecture by
Vlad Micu
Did freelance journalism, consulting, event management and
research under own company
VGVisionary.com
Used to be the European editor of
Gamesauce Magazine
Wrote for many other international outlets including
GMR magazine, Control Magazine, Bashers.nl,
Gamert.nl, CriticalGamer.co.uk, XBLAFans.com,
Game Mode Magazine
And now went Indie since April 3rd to work on
Snobli Run
This slide’s design is inspired by
Brandon Boyer @brandonnn

4.
#answeryourquestionmark
You’re starting a business
Things change once money gets
involved

5.
#watchthesocialnetwork
Step 1: Before you even start
• Build your team
• Decide on agreements,
rights and IP ownership
• It’s a business, act
accordingly
• Track each other’s
contributions Cover
your bases!
Money + Friends = Problems

6.
#dontskipthisstuff
Step 2: Handy legal advice is
everywhere
“Online collaborations are a frequent occurrence […].
However, the legalities surrounding this kind of team
building raises a variety of questions.
Problems like privacy, jurisdictional issues, and age all
make these relationships potentially problematic. “
- Mona A. Ibrahim (entertainment lawyer)

7.
#whateverfitsbest
Step 3: Explore your options
• Build flash games
• Sell games to portals
• Run a portal
• Sell from your website
• Deal with publishers
• Invent a new model
What works for others might not work for you!

8.
#buildexperienceanywhere
Casual vs. Indie? Whatever…
“My colleague Mark likes to call [making casual games]
'polishing turds', and likes to point out that the result of
polishing turds all day is that you smell of shit. “
- Nick Tipping (Moonpod)

9.
#thelast10percentisthetoughest
Step 5: Find your deadline. Finish
your game.
“When Alec and I were working on Aquaria, the Independent
Games Festival submission deadline forced us to make hard
decisions about the direction we were taking and it also forced
us to look at our schedule more realistically. Had we not had
that deadline, I’m not entirely certain we would have finished!”
- Derek Yu (Mossmouth)

10.
#notallalphascanbesold
A finished game gives you more
leverage

11.
#fightforyourrighttopary
Step 6: Make the right choices
• What do you want?
– Money
– Respect
– Recognition
Basic formula:
Income = Game Quality * Exposure

12.
#clonewars
(Step 7: Dealing with being cloned)
“Sometimes it seems like you’re balancing your creative drive vs your
business acumen (both of which my British wit compels me to
admit are things I’m not really very good at) and trying to make
very important decisions with zero idea of where they’ll lead. At
what point does cloning impact your bottom line – and at what
point does thinking like that start to undermine your humanity?“
– Danny Day (QCF Design)

13.
#celebrateyourindependance
Self-publishing vs publishers
“You'll make a number of zeros more money
from a bad deal with a big portal, than a
good deal with a smaller portal.”
- Nick Tipping (Moonpod)

14.
#theindieway
Self-publishing
“So, my recommendation for indies, is a 3 pronged approach portals, direct sales, and retail. The hardest of these and the most
time consuming, is direct sales, but it's the only thing that grows
your business - in the form of community, and customers that will
be interested in your future games. I think that's why many people
neglect it, but do so at your peril; I certainly wouldn't still be
making indie games if it weren't for direct sales.”
- Nick Tipping (Moonpod)

15.
#askyourgrandmother
Finding funding
• Your family and
friends
• Investors
• Selling small games
• Crowdfunding

16.
#believeinangels
Find Angel Investors
• Around Universities
• Business incubators
• Venture capital clubs
• Angel confederacies

17.
#flashgamelicensesmakemoney
Sell Flash games
“Creating Flash games was and is a way for us to earn some funding through an
established model - it's a low risk, low resource way of earning money by doing what
we love: making games. Sure, there are some compromises we need to make when we
create a Flash game - but you can decide in how far you compromise anyway. We
think it's a great & fun way of earning some starting funds. ”
- Rami Ismail (Vlambeer)

18.
#vadimisgod
Read Vadim’s blog
“3 years passed since I left office space. During that time I developed
and/or released more than 30 games. Also few games on EyePhone by my self and via others. Still I have only one portal and one blog
but we`re working at the new one casual-portal. […] In total I was
able to earn - $145,531. The first year was - $40,468, the second $28,329, the third - $76,734. In average per month - $4042, or $6380 if
to count just last year.”
- Vadim Starygin

19.
#seriouslythereisnottime
There’s no time to explain
• Clear vision
• Great gameplay
• Awesome trailer
• Brilliant marketing

20.
#sellsellsell
Let someone else deal with your
payments
“An order processor collects payments from your customers.
For a small percentage, an order processor will take the
payments for your game via credit cards, PayPal, mail, fax,
phone, and camel.”
- Amanda Fitch (Amaranth Games, LLC )

21.
#statwhore
Measure everything

22.
#evonymakestonsofmoneythisway
Advertising
•
CPM = for cost-per-mil. In
other words, getting 1000
impressions on your banner.
•
CPC = cost-per-click. If the
CPC is $0.15 and you get one
sale per 100 clicks, then a sale
costs you $15!
•
Challenge: Competing for ad
space with big publishers and
people with more money.
You’re selling a low volume,
low cost product.

23.
#EAissmart
An example
“Kotaku charges an $8 CPM (cost per 1,000 banner impressions) for their
standard advertising banners. Their news post about this PR stunt
will likely surpass 40,000 views. To err on the safe side, let's say the
total cost of the check and fancy box is $300. Since Crecente burned
the check, EA basically spent the equivalent of a $2.50 CPM for a
front page news post on Kotaku. That is an incredible value.
– Cheapy D. (CheapAssGamer.com)

24.
#advertisinggenius
Test different methods for yourself
“The total number of hits generated was quite impressive for the
amount spent. […] I wasn’t really sure what to expect with AdWords,
but I was pleasantly be surprised by the results. […]
The free advertising was much harder to measure, as it came from a lot
of smaller sources which don’t usually have their own reporting
features. The range of traffic was quite varied, with a few surprises as
well as a few disappointments. “
- Phil Newton (Sodaware)

25.
#sendittoeveryone
Press release distribution

26.
#loveatfirstsight
Finding a publisher
"Although publishers seem redundant nowadays, due to the
shift to digital, the contrary is true. They have vital
information about your target market, have the much needed
reach and therefore can take your game to the next level with
their arsenal of marketing."
– Maarten de Koning (Green Hill Studios)

27.
#gothroughallofthem
The list
Big Fish
Bigpoint
Real Arcade
Gamehouse
Game Fiesta
Game Thoughts
Xing Interactive
Idigicon
Tubro Squid
Playfirst
iWin
Kongregate
Six Waves Superior
Interactive
Manifesto Games
Cosmi (Europe)
Alten
Alten
Jolly Good Games
Merscom
Egames
Akella
Take 2
Arcadetown
Zero-G
GarageGames
Alawar
Oberon
Greenhouse
Plimus
Regnow
ShareIt
RegSoft

28.
#thecakeisnotalie
Portals
Spilgames.com
RealMedia
BigFishGames
Game du Jour
GameHouse
Reflexive
GameHouse
Yahoo!
iWin
Pogo
GameTram
Prizee.com
“I'm not anti-portal! I just believe that relying on
them is not a guaranteed way to build up your
business. Remember that every sale from your own
web site is another person you can e-mail when
you have another game out.”
- Christopher Natsuume (Boomzap Entertainment)

29.
#justcall
Contacting publishers
Look for:
• Licensing managers
• Partner managers
• Business developers
• Producers
Just call their office, ask the receptionist to forward you and
ask their e-mail

30.
#youresellingyourteam
How to pitch
1. Know everything about
the publishers you’re
pitching to.
2. Be sharp, don’t bore
them.
3. Remove any risk form
your project for the
publisher (or have it
already done).
“It’s absolutely crucial that you word your pitch as an
opportunity […] If you present yourself as having a good
idea, a strong business case and a great team, that for the
investor is a chance for them.”
- Seb Canniff (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

31.
#whydidntyoucallme
The day after
“They made us wait at least 6 months after they said "yes, we'll do
business with you" before sending us a nice little 2 lines email
saying "sorry, we are dropping the business deal. If you have other
games, tell us. Have a nice day."
What this tells me is that you should always make sure you have
constant conversation with your publisher and make sure you know
what their goal is and if their compatible with yours before dealing
with them.”
- Christopher Natsuume (Boomzap Entertainment)

32.
#readthesmallprint
Giving away a piece of the pie
• In exchange for a
solid marketing
budget.
• Extra workforce,
support and other
services.
• Guaranteed minimal
revenue from the
game.
Choose your partners wisely

33.
#readthesmallprint
Before you sign anything
• Hire a lawyer, it’s an
investment
• Know your terms
• Don’t be greedy
• Ask others for advice
and references!
Choose your partners wisely

34.
#protectyourstreetreputation
Before making any promise
Be 100% sure you will ever be
able to finish your game!

35.
#doallthesethings
Summary
• Do your legal
homework
• Find funding
• Finish your game
• Pick your destiny
– DIY
– Sign a deal

36.
#readitall
References/Further Reading
•
•
Most importantly:
http://casualconnect.org/lectures/2010-seattle-lectures/steambirds-postmortem-a-new-take-on-the
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://underdevelopmentlaw.com/ip-enforcement-for-independent-game-developers
http://underdevelopmentlaw.com/collaboration-agreements-and-online-development-teams/
http://underdevelopmentlaw.com/the-business-and-legal-issues-surrounding-team-building/
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=2.0
http://mygaming.co.za/news/news/8745-born-indie-game-Desktop-Dungeons-cloned.html
http://www.qcfdesign.com/?p=376
http://www.next-gen.biz/features/the-cloning-of-desktop-dungeons
http://blog.wolfire.com/2011/02/Counterfeit-Lugaru-on-Apple-s-App-Store-developing
http://www.macworld.com.au/news/game-clone-raises-questions-about-mac-app-store-policing23820/
http://makeitbigingames.com/
http://makeitbigingames.com/2009/01/one-way-to-divide-your-company-equity-at-start-up/
http://www.amaranthia.com/downloads/How-to-Sell-your-Game.pdf
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidGalindo/20100724/5531/How_much_do_indie_PC_devs_
make_anyways.php
•
•
•
•

37.
#readitall
Moar Reading!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://positech.co.uk/cliffsblog/?p=827
http://www.over00.com/?p=819
http://www.positech.co.uk/content/analytics/analytics.html
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/08/indie-games/
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=5369.0
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game
http://www.develop-online.net/news/35631/HOW-TO-Successfully-pitch-your-dream-game
http://www.xblafans.com/machinariums-xbla-refusal-and-more-the-original-interview-withamanita-designs-jakub-dvorsky-90.html
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/03/gdc_2011_humble_indie_bundle_c.php
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/the-humble-indie-bundle-leaving-no-customer-behind/
http://www.andymoore.ca/2011/03/thoughts-on-mobile-platforms/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/howtoguide/article52742.html
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1296948465/no-time-to-explain-indie-game

38.
#imlonely
Contact me
• I’m in ur campus, working in ur Gamelabz
• Will be staying in the guest lecturer house at Talo 6 #F28.
Look me up there in the evening and let’s play some
beer pong.
• Mail me at v.micu@vgvisionary.com
• @vgvisionary
• Website: www.vgvisionary.com