Everything you need before you even think of pitching to a publisher
Fabian Malabello & Lex Suurland
Monday 27th June 2022
So you posted some nice GIFs on Twitter and, much to your excitement, a horde of scouts and publishers slid right into your DMs. Nice!
You then sent them a budget breakdown? How much time have you set aside for console lotchecks? What's your future hiring plan? How are you planning to handle cross-platform multiplayer support?
Sounds about right... right? You might be asking yourself: "Why didn't anyone tell me I needed to prepare all of these things?!" It's OK, we are here to help you demystify the processes that publishers go through when evaluating your game and what you can prepare in order to make the process as pain-free as possible. To start, let's put ourselves in the shoes of a publisher.
With 10,000+ games released on Steam in 2021 alone, the vast majority of which have generated less than $5,000, publishers simply aren't willing to take as many risks as they used to when it comes to signing games. Gone are the days where a ten-slide pitch deck with some cool concept art could land you a publishing deal.
Publishers are looking to limit their exposure and reduce the risk of releasing a title that's anything less than a slam dunk. No doubt you have seen dozens of news articles about publishers raising obscene amounts of money, whether it be from listing on global stock exchanges, raising multiple series of investments, being acquired, or building war chests from venture capital investments.
You can bet your bottom dollar that publishers are going to go over every small detail of your game with a fine-tooth comb
As far as we're concerned, it's awesome to see the traditional money world taking the video game industry more seriously; but the other side of that coin?
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
