How to Secure a Publishing Deal as a Videogame Developer [4 essentials for any aspiring developer]

As more Videogame Developers enter the industry looking for a Publisher to support & partner on their first title (and the already established Videogame Developers are also looking to secure a deal for their games), the increased competition to land a Publishing Deal is fierce.

Today, Publishers are swamped with Developers sending over their game and asking for their services; largely in the form of Funding, Marketing, and Distribution. In any given year, a Publisher can receive between 500 to 2000+ pitches in their inboxes. And a lot of these Pitches are good; the quality bar is rising, and it means Developers need to step their game up if they want to find a partnership. This has been confirmed by multiple Publishers in my recent talks with them.

There are more Publishers arising in the industry and some estimates put the number at over 700+ globally, it doesn’t compare to the influx of new Developers. The competition is stiff, and the talent is there — more than ever there are a great number of seasoned and talented developers looking for Publishing Deals in the market today. If you are a first-time Indie Studio, the odds are against you. Not only that, but Publishers can only sign a finite amount of games each year. How can you ensure your game is one that gets picked up and supported?

This is a short guide to securing a Publishing Deal with the notion that there are hundreds (in some cases thousands) of other developers talking to the same Publishers at the same time. This is a Short List to get you started, but I will be diving into details and more advanced strategies in future posts. This is an initial script to get you started.

1. Have the 3 Key Materials Ready;
   There are 3 essential materials that need to be shared with a Publisher in order for them to accurately evaluate your game. These being the Gameplay Trailer, the Pitch Deck, and the Gameplay Demo (which can take the form of a Prototype/Vertical Slice/Playable Demo). The Gameplay Trailer is used to excite people and get them to take the time to understand your game opportunity (and should be orchestrated as so), the Pitch Deck is used to provide all the necessary details (USP, Team, Platforms, Budget, Roadmap, etc), and the Build (the most important) is to give people the hands-on experience and feel.
   
   These are the “Launching Pad Materials” and if a Publisher is intrigued, they will ask for others (such as the detailed Financial Forecasts, a detailed Roadmap, GDD, Competitive Comparison, Live Ops, etc) but the three mentioned above will get you through the door. If you don’t have a Playable, you’re at a serious disadvantage. Most Publishers make it a requirement as it reduces the risk on their end substantially. The only time a Publisher will make an exception is if it’s a well-known Team or Individual who can point to successful products in their past.
   
   As well, professionalize your materials; include beautiful art from the game, proofread & spellcheck, have the deck follow a logical order that Viewers will understand, add structure and form, and put all docs in a Due Diligence Folder. You want the Publisher to consider you competent and savvy in this process — and it will show through if you take the time and effort to touch up the Overall Presentation of your game opportunity.
2. Approach the Right Publishers/ Be Strategic About it;
   There is a methodical and right way of reaching out to Publishers. If your game is for Consoles & PC, you’re not going to get far talking to a Mobile Publisher. If you’re Budget is USD $200,000, you’re not going to get far talking to a AAA Publisher (as they are looking to invest millions, if not tens of millions). If you are building an MMORPG, it wouldn’t make sense to approach a Publisher that focuses on Sports/Racing. If you have a Single-Player only game, you may hear crickets from a GaaS-Only Publisher (or Premium vs F2P).
   
   My advice would be to create a Tranche-List that is divided into “Best Fit, Good Fit, Bad Fit, Not sure” categories. Do your research and divide all the Publishers you‘re aware of into those brackets. Reach out only to the “Best Fit” publishers first (after you’ve practiced your pitch infront of 10 parties that give you constructive feedback and help you hone the presentation). If you’ve exhausted the “Best Fit” list, and there’s no traction or opportunity to partner with the companies in this tranche, move on to the “Good List”. You’ll have the best luck in the first Tranche if you’ve done this right and the results will diminish as you get closer to the “Bad Fit”. Feel free to tap into the “Not Sure” list whenever as there could be “Best Fit” opportunities within.
   
   If you have a team, sit down and talk about it. Does anyone know someone from these Publishers? Does someone know someone that knows a Publisher well? Try to get in through a “Warm Introduction” first before going through the “Contact Us” form or email. Decide with your team how to best approach these Publishers and strategize; your team members could be extremely valuable in this process and you would otherwise not be able to tap into that value without consulting them.
3. Have a Playable Demo & make sure the Intent is to “Wow!”; Unless you’re someone who is well known in the Industry and can point to commercially / critically successful products in the past (and you were instrumental in making them a success), you need a Playable Demo. It lowers the risk on the Publisher’s part, and there are too many Developers out there with Playables for them to give paper meaningful thought or consideration. You’re at a severe disadvantage without it. You can start talking to Publishers at the ideation / concept stage to get early thoughts and feedback, but don’t be surprised if no one is ready to pick your game up (and be pleasantly surprised if they are). There is a short list of Publishers that will fund a concept or idea but they are scarce in comparison to the ones that require a hands-on playable.
   
   The second part of this is your Playable Demo should be intended to “Wow!” the Publishers. Put the time and effort to polish what you have and focus on what makes the game different. Shine the parts of the game that make the product stand out, and make sure the potential partner can feel this. Verify with friends/family/other developers/non-fit Publishers they can feel the differentiator through gameplay. If non-Publishers or not-the-best-fit Publishers are giving less than stellar feedback, consider getting the game into a state where they’re thrilled before approaching the right partners. If they can feel the USP, and the experience is fun, the Publisher correspondent will be able to articulate that throughout their organization (and hopefully become a Champion for you). Many times I’ve seen a Developer rave about a new feature but it hadn’t been implemented into the Prototype, and the Publisher couldn’t test or verify. In this case, you may hear “come back when that feature is implemented.”
   
   The Developers we’ve worked with that have successfully partnered with Publishers had a “Wow!” playable. Their USPs were tangible, they were fun, and the demo popped. They spent a lot of time crafting the playable to make sure people could feel/see what differentiates their game from what’s currently on the market — and then they polished it to a T. Make sure it feels good and the people that are testing it are giving honest, positive feedback before approaching Publishers.

4. Identify and Communicate a Unique Selling Point [For the Game and the Team]; make sure your game has something unique or different about it. Most of the Publishers we speak with ask “How will this game stand out from the market? What is unique about it? If I hand this to our Marketing Department, will they be excited and find it easy to convey to the Target Market?” We find most developers will list basic game features as USPs or will list a feature that’s already out there and established. This will show you don’t fully understand what a USP is or haven’t done enough market research (and doing market research is important). In either case, it doesn’t look good, and the Publisher will lose interest / tune out.

The second part of this and rarely what we see Developers do, is try and distinguish themselves from other developers. What about your team or company is unique? Is there something rare about the culture or the team makeup? Maybe the core leadership team grew up together and have gone through the best and worst of times from High School to College to their First Jobs at a AAA Publisher (this would go over very well by the way — Publishers like hearing teams that know each other, have worked together in the past, and shipped products together). Maybe the team makeup are Millennials dedicated to improving Healthcare in their country and that passion permeates it’s way into the game in a major way (and a certain portion of the profits will go towards that cause). Maybe the team has a successful track record of identifying holes in the market and acting upon them (at other companies), and they’re doing it again as this new team. Make sure you identify these unique aspects of the team and convey them to the Potential Partners you are speaking to.

If your game has a real USP, and your Team has a real USP — it will go a long way to standing out in a crowded space. To make sure you have a Real USP — communicate with a myriad of other developers; play their games and stay in touch with them. You’ll need to do substantial market research to come to the conclusion that what you’re presenting is actually unique.

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