man, that was a little rough...

Hey Davaris: I love you too!

Hey I thought you quit already!

To get your game in retail, you need a publisher.
This is a big point, he.

To get a publisher you need to find one.
Point

Internet is a good place to find publishers.
Study there productline. What kind of games do they sell.
Does my game fit in there line, is the big question.
Is the publisher looking for new games?
Or do they not accept submmions.
Does they publisher have there own developmentteam.
If so, you have a possible problem. If they for instance develop or planned a game to develop you have already in your mind.
Does the publisher have similar games like you wanted to develop
or even already developed. If so you have a possible problem.
They don''t invest bucks to publish your game if they have already one similar. I noticed this problem even at a small publisher. And not similar is a big word, no game is similar.
But a car game is a car game. A casino game is a casino game.
And left out all the details.

I found publishers interested in my game, but never it came to
an official contract.
I only will make one final game and if it don''t have luck, I will look for a job in the game industry. I noticed some nice possibilies. Also garage.com don''t will solve the problem. Read there forum. Internet distribution isn''t coming quick also,
if you want to self publish your game on the internet.
I am with my one man company for about 1 a 2 years in this industry. And noticed that there is to much strong competion.
Even from a small publisher who hired some big developers.
Or has an in house developer. That''s unfortunately also publisher.
Also if your first games sells, you need to look for the long term. Are you then also able to sell a game, to find a publisher.
And sells the game well enough. You are a company so you need to survive. If it''s your hobby it''s no problem ( and if you work outside the game industry), but you can''t submit a possibile
proffesional game to a competition publisher, IF you already work at a game publisher or developer as profession like what ever job (for instance artist, QA analyst). That''s
mostly prohobited in the employer contract!
You competete then with your own boss
Also I think, or better say that the possibilities are very low for an independend developer. I experienced it all the time, it''s very sad but true. Also another person I know who develop proffesional games as a company noticed true problems with publishers. So I only develop one programm and hope that it will succeed if it isn''t I will look for a job in this industry.

Davaris: I only said I am THINKING about quitting. I still have two games to sell now. So I will still be around here for some time. Bad luck for you.

quote: Original post by spikey

Does the publisher have similar games like you wanted to develop
or even already developed. If so you have a possible problem.
They don''t invest bucks to publish your game if they have already one similar. I noticed this problem even at a small publisher. And not similar is a big word, no game is similar.
But a car game is a car game. A casino game is a casino game.
And left out all the details.

That''s interesting. I tended to think the opposite. Do you think publishers often think the other way. If you have a less tried-and-true, orginal game are publishers afraid it won''t sell cause it''s hasn''t been done and re-done a thousand times?







"NPC's are people too!" --dwarfsoft

"Nazrix is cool." --Nazrix first, then Darkmage

quote: Original post by Nazrix

If you have a less tried-and-true, orginal game are publishers afraid it won''t sell cause it''s hasn''t been done and re-done a thousand times?

This is all down to timing. Yes - a publisher will be more likely to release a game if it fits a well-established (translated: selling) genre. However, No - a publisher is less likely to want to market 2 of the same sort of game at the same time... as they will be competing for market share and shelf space while still requiring the same expenditure as if they''d been released at different times.

quote: Original post by Kylotan

This is all down to timing. Yes - a publisher will be more likely to release a game if it fits a well-established (translated: selling) genre. However, No - a publisher is less likely to want to market 2 of the same sort of game at the same time... as they will be competing for market share and shelf space while still requiring the same expenditure as if they''d been released at different times.

Oh, okay. That makes sense.






"NPC's are people too!" --dwarfsoft

"Nazrix is cool." --Nazrix first, then Darkmage

You explained it very well Kylotan
But even in a later period it isn't all sure.
The publisher has the right to kill a contract every moment, when both parties developer and publisher signed. So for a small developer it's always difficult.

Article from Mary-Margaret:
The typical "Dev and Pub" is milestone-based, where the publisher pays you based on the delivery and approval of a set number of features on a specific delivery date. On the negative side, you're constantly at risk of "cancellation for convenience" (I've never heard of a publisher not insisting on that clause in the contract), which means that any day of the week, the publisher can just kill the project and leave you scrambling for a new source of revenue.

Read/Study on gamasutra.com
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000522/askmm_01.htm

But also here at gamedev.net.
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article867.asp

So I am not as optimistic as I started in this buisness.
But like I said I have one important project that need to be completed and then I will see if there are good chances. But I doubt it, but you never know. Maybe there is a chance.







Edited by - spikey on September 5, 2000 6:21:29 PM