aka. “Dreaming of what I’ll do with this awesome idea/prototype before even knowing if people will want to pay for

it.”

(Self) Publishing

#publishing

Table of contents• Who am I

• Before you publish

• Self-publishing

• Finding a publisher

• Summary

• Questions?

#starttalkingalready

Who am I?This is a lecture by

Vlad MicuDid freelance journalism, consulting, event management and

research under own company

VGVisionary.comUsed to be the European editor of

Gamesauce MagazineWrote 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 RunThis slide’s design is inspired by

Brandon Boyer @brandonnn

#thatguy

You’re starting a business#answeryourquestionmark

Things change once money gets involved

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

#watchthesocialnetwork

Cover your bases!Money + Friends = Problems

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)

#dontskipthisstuff

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

#whateverfitsbest

What works for others might not work for you!

Casual vs. Indie? Whatever…

#buildexperienceanywhere

“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)

Step 5: Find your deadline. Finish your game.

#thelast10percentisthetoughest

“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)

A finished game gives you more leverage

#notallalphascanbesold

Step 6: Make the right choices

• What do you want?

– Money

– Respect

– Recognition

#fightforyourrighttopary

Basic formula: Income = Game Quality *

Exposure

(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)

#clonewars

Self-publishing vs publishers#celebrateyourindependance

“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)

Self-publishing#theindieway

“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)

Finding funding#askyourgrandmother

• Your family and friends

• Investors

• Selling small games

• Crowdfunding

Find Angel Investors#believeinangels

• Around Universities

• Business incubators

• Venture capital clubs

• Angel confederacies

Sell Flash games#flashgamelicensesmakemoney

“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)

Read Vadim’s blog#vadimisgod

“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

There’s no time to explain#seriouslythereisnottime

• Clear vision

• Great gameplay

• Awesome trailer

• Brilliant marketing

Let someone else deal with your payments

#sellsellsell

“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 )

Measure everything#statwhore

Advertising#evonymakestonsofmoneythisway

• 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.

An example#EAissmart

“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)

Test different methods for yourself

#advertisinggenius

“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)

Press release distribution#sendittoeveryone

Finding a publisher#loveatfirstsight

"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)

The list#gothroughallofthem

Big Fish Bigpoint

Real ArcadeGamehouseGame Fiesta

Game ThoughtsXing Interactive

IdigiconTubro Squid

Playfirst iWin

KongregateSix Waves Superior

InteractiveManifesto Games

Cosmi (Europe)AltenAlten

Jolly Good GamesMerscomEgamesAkellaTake 2

ArcadetownZero-G

GarageGames Alawar Oberon 

Greenhouse Plimus 

Regnow ShareIt RegSoft 

Portals#thecakeisnotalie

Spilgames.comRealMedia 

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)

Contacting publishers#justcall

Look for:• Licensing managers

• Partner managers

• Business developers

• Producers

Just call their office, ask the receptionist to forward you and ask their e-mail

How to pitch#youresellingyourteam

“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)

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).

The day after#whydidntyoucallme

“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)

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.

#readthesmallprint

Choose your partners wisely

Before you sign anything• Hire a lawyer, it’s an

investment

• Know your terms

• Don’t be greedy

• Ask others for advice and references!

#readthesmallprint

Choose your partners wisely

Before making any promise#protectyourstreetreputation

Be 100% sure you will ever be able to finish your

game!

Summary• Do your legal

homework

• Find funding

• Finish your game

• Pick your destiny– DIY– Sign a deal

#doallthesethings

References/Further Reading• Most importantly:• http://casualconnect.org/lectures/2010-seattle-lectures/steambirds-postmortem-a-new-take-on-the

-flash-industry/

• 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-policing-

23820/• 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

#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-with-

amanita-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

#readitall

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

#imlonely