LAZR Lead Campsey Talks Solo Development and the Hunt for a Publisher
For many indie developers, building a game is only half the battle. Without the resources and reputation of AAA studios, publishing companies play a vital role in the indie world — providing the publicity, support, and funding to help smaller devs achieve their full potential. For Garrick Campsey, the solo dev behind upcoming action-platformer LAZR, locking down a deal with a publisher isn’t as straightforward as signing the first contract that comes your way.
In his experience, indie devs face a difficult task in finding a publisher that provides the support they need without sacrificing control of their project. Game Rant spoke with Campsey about his experience finding the right publisher while putting together a full game by himself.
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When Campsey first published early gameplay from LAZR — the result of a challenge from a friend on Discord — he immediately started seeing the fruits of his labor on social media. After his sample got some attention he was “immediately approached by a bunch of different publishers,” Campsey said. He was faced with a decision. Some publishers were offering a lot of money to develop LAZR, but things weren’t necessarily so clear-cut. “A lot of the other contracts that I read were essentially loans where, if the game didn't make money, I was on the hook for that,” he said. “That was a step that didn't feel comfortable to me.”
After deliberating, Campsey settled on a deal with Top Hat Studios. The New York-based publishing shop gave the developer a contract that was so attractive that he had to talk with them “to make sure it was real."
“They offered me a contract that was fair and that wasn't taking advantage of me.”
The longer Campsey
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