Obscure, as a matter of fact i know of a publishing deal that has been closed just presenting a full game documentation. the publisher is the german Sunflowers. i guess however this doesn''t happen often.

Was this an existing developer (previously published games) or a brand new company?
Did the staff have industry experience or where they new?
Did the developer have an existing relationship with the publisher?
Did the publisher agree to pay them in advance to fund development or only to publish the game when finished?

Publishers used to sign projects just based on a design but after far too many failed projects most abandoned this practice. This is the first case I have heard of in several years.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

[edited by - obscure on December 3, 2003 7:26:07 AM]

well as far as i know, the situation is like that. the developer company was just formed, part of the people had a single title behind their backs, part did not. the creator of the company was also working as a creative director on this particular title. i think the publisher funded the development. now when i think about it, it''s quite a big plus to have a single title in your portfolio ;-( now i am more worried than ever...

Even with several titles behind your team, it can be hard to land the contracts. It definitely counts for something, but from the buzzing I''ve been hearing (so take this with a small Siberian salt mine...), it''s far more important for your COMPANY or TEAM to have one or more games to its credit. It proves that your team can work together and deliver, and that your management is less likely to fumble.

quote:

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Original post by Jay Barnson
It proves that your team can work together and deliver, and that your management is less likely to fumble.

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or that your team can work together and deliver even if the management fumbles. ( been there, done that )

Obscure,
You have obviously been very helpful thus far for everyone watching this post. I was wondering if you had any links or information regarding royalty %'s within your current development team. I, by the sweat of my brow, was able to entice team members into my development team. This was mostly due to the care that I took in preparing myself and the project before going out and searching for staff members. At this point I am speaking with a few small publishers, but before I go to them I want to have all of my in-house legalities wrapped up in a bow. So I was wondering if you knew, or knew who/where I could go to find out how a independant development team running as a corporation (by default) generally would split royalties. Thus far, with the exception of a few signing bonuses payed out-of-pocket by me, all staff is working based off of royalties, given the game is published. Do you generally do a departmental cut and then subdivide that? This is the only thing I can think of that would make sense, as some people work in more than one department (I am a programmer, writer and production head), they should be paid more. I just don't want to un-knowingly underpay one of my staff. They have all put a lot of work in on this.

If you could help me at all it would be very much appreciated.

[edited by - mrmacabreman on December 7, 2003 3:07:04 AM]

mrmacabreman,
Afraid I don''t have any numbers for you as this isn''t a business model I have ever worked with. The companies I work with are externally funded (publisher or investor) and so they are paying salaries. Some offer a royalty bonus or profit share but that is usually quite low because the salary pays for the work.

The "royalties later" concept is one that is generally negotiated on a case by case basis. There aren''t really any standard percentages. The more "corporate" you are the less you want to give away, the more "team" you are the more you share. The only useful tips I can offer are that you:
1. Decide what % of the total profit you want to give in royalties.
2. Award everyone one share.
3. Reduce their share if they worked for less time than everyone else.

I don''t think calculating how many different hats someone wore is a worthwhile exercise. If you work 1000 hours doing three jobs you are still only spending one third of that time on each job and the total is still 1000 hours. That is no different to an artist who worked 1000 hours just doing art.

You might feel that different roles have a different value to the project but this is subjective and is something you would have to negotiate when hiring people.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

The amout of royalities you recieve will depend on the type of game you are making. If you''ve made a Shareware game, then you should look for publishers with non-exclusive license deals. An non-exclusive license just give the said publisher the right to sell copies, NOT THE EXCUSIVE RIGHT.

Assuming that you want your game on retail shelfs, then expect 10%-20%. That royaltiy number will drop everytime you ask for money, time, resources from the publisher. If you approch a publisher with a 80% compelete game, then the publisher is not taking a big risk. He/she can see about what the game will be like, and is confident that you will finish the other 20%.

If you approch a publisher with a demo, then that publisher is taking a huge risk - what if your team falls apart mid-way, what if the market changes in 1.5 years, what if the game ends up not being fun, and what if you squander the money they give you.