With regards to MMOGS, how do developers actually FIND distributors/operators in local, as well as overseas markets once the product is actually completed, for companies that fund the entire project themselves? I tested out well.. yellow pages, and well, decided that it really don't seem too useful. Thanks for any advice anyone can offer Cheers, Steven

Just to elaborate on what i meant above, basically in Asia, there are "pure operator" companies who licence the rights to operate the game in their home country, and handle the marketing, distribution, hosting and payments within the local market.

Never having stayed for prolonged periods in the US/UK/China/Korea, i am not sure if there are such companies in those markets, or whether that is a function that the publisher takes up fully.

The first alternative i see to simply operate my own servers in my home market, and do internet advertising, and hope to reach to an international crowd. My thoughts of doing it like this is that the risks is extremely high, and there is a limit on the potential.

The second alternative i see is to look for publishers (if local operators don't exist that is), once the title is done. How receptive are publishers to operating other people's products?

My sincere thanks for any advice/critique/thoughts that is given.

I think you will have a much better chance of getting foreign operators if you can demonstrate that you have a successful product. Seems like the best way to do this would be for you to operate it yourself in your market for a while.

Well, it seems like you're looking for is a distributor, which is different than a publisher.

Distributors tend to operate in one country, and do everything to ensure that their games are being distributed to all local retail and e-tail outlets. ie. in the US, BestBuy, GameStop, Amazon.

Problem is, however, that distributors dont tend to work directly with developers, but rather they have deals to distribute the titles of certain publishers, which means that in order to get access to their distribtion channels, you must be published by a company that they work with.

That is why there really is a clear line between well funded, distributed games, and indie games, as distributors tend to only work with the bigger publishers. The music market is a bit different as there tend to be more distributors working with a greater selection of record labels (though you will still find that most music on store sheles belongs to a select group of labels).

Lastly, you asked how reeptive publishers are to working with outside developers. This really depends on the publisher, as a lot tend to have in house development teams. However, it is certainly possible to approach a publisher as an independent studio. The only problem here is that the publisher will want to see work experience on a AAA title, or at least something else to assure them that your team has credibility.

Bottom line is, I guess, that as an independent developer, your best bet is to distribute your title yourself or through an online publisher like Dexterity or Garagegames.

Hope this helps.

As it is a MMOG there are two elements needed. Distribution of the player client and opperation of the servers. I don't think any distributors would be in a position to help with the latter of the two. You need one company to do both so you would probably need to look for a publisher that has experience running MMOGs (or possibly one you feel may be looking to get into the market).

As one of the previous posters said I think the best way to attract a publisher will be proven success. You need to show the game is a success in your own market then export it.

Hmm, didn't realize we were talking about a MMOG here, guess I should read more closely next time! :)

Dexterity and Garagegames, as mentioned in my last post, probably wold not be suited for a MMOG, although I do seem to recall that ThinkTanks or some other Garagegames game was purely online.

There are a few game server operators out there. A small list can be found here:

http://www.the4thcoming.com/Servers.asp

But those will only host the game and provide minimal technical & marketing service. You do need some form of customer support and in-game support to make your product valuable.

-cb

Thanks all for the advice.

Lacking experience, i try to visualise the actual physical process of distributing. Locally, it seems still manageable. Arrange hosting, payment, get development staff to double as C/S rep for a while, get yellow pages, contact retailers, negotiate to display POS material, sell low cost client, pray very hard.

Now assuming that 3-4 months have passed, or perhaps i have a very encouraging beta, and i want to find some foreign partners/operators. Only thing on my mind is tradeshow, and all i know of is E3. Go, get all namecards?, contact later.

Could any of you share some advice on alternative means of sourcing for operating partners for MMOGS, or comment about exection above?

Thanks

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Original post by Steven yeah ... development staff to double as C/S rep for a while ....

Very bad idea. They are developers. You hire them for their ability to develop, not their customer facing abilities. The developers will be busy developing, even after launch (bug fixing). Plan to have the proper people you need if you want it to be a success.

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get yellow pages, contact retailers, negotiate to display POS material, sell low cost client, pray very hard.

You need to market the game as well.