Lets say I make a game demo (the first level of a game, for example), and do alot of pre-production stuff for the rest of the game. I know I could form an indie team and go that route, but how are games 'pitched' in the game industry. I know for TV and animation, you come up with an idea, pitch it to the network/company, then come back with storyboards and character bibles and all that and then do a pilot (or some variant of that). My question is, lets take for example a new IP such as God of War. Who pitched the idea for the game? Do all game ideas come from inhouse or hired designers/producers? Is it common/possible to pitch a game demo/idea to publishers and do they pick it up? Or do you have to take out a buisness loan and create a studio/development house and then get picked up by a publisher? I'm a bit confused on what goes on and how games are conceived. Thanks for any explanation you can give.

A publisher will look at the team track record, and if the team has several people on it who have previously shown themselves capable of shipping quality software within budget, you have a small chance of getting your idea funded. If you don't have that, you probably have no chance at all.

So, playable demo, plus preproduction for most of the game, plus a team that a publisher can believe in, equals possibility (but not guarantee) of money.

Read http://www.obscure.co.uk/the_pitch.shtml

Quote: Original post by Professor420
My question is, lets take for example a new IP such as God of War. Who pitched the idea for the game? Do all game ideas come from inhouse or hired designers/producers?

If you're specifically interested in "God of War", check out the highlights of David Gaffe's presentation at DICE this year (David Gaffe is the creator). In it, he discusses how the game got greenlighted, etc. LINK

Quote: Or do you have to take out a buisness loan and create a studio/development house and then get picked up by a publisher?

Take out a business loan, borrow any money you can from friends & relatives, borrow even more money against your home mortgage, overly-hype your business plan to convince total strangers to invest in a start-up game company (don't forget the promissory notes and I.O.U.'s!), then sell your wife & children. And all the while, if you're working alone, keep your game in production.

And if this still fails, well, you can recoup your funds by writing a book called "My Trip to Hell and Back". :)

Regards,

Quote: Original post by Professor420
Is it common/possible to pitch a game demo/idea to publishers and do they pick it up? Or do you have to take out a buisness loan and create a studio/development house and then get picked up by a publisher? I'm a bit confused on what goes on and how games are conceived. Thanks for any explanation you can give.

A publisher will only fund you if you and your team have proven industry experience (IE you have already shipped at least one similar commercial game). Otherwise you will have to find the funding from other sources.

Quote: Original post by Obscure
Read http://www.obscure.co.uk/the_pitch.shtml

I really appreciate the link and advice. And I'm actually feeling more confident than when I posted. Right now myself (an artist) and another member of the boards (a programmer) are working on a game demo, the demo (the prologue of the game) and pre-production for the rest of the game should be done Q2 2007, as its my senior project and a piece he will add to his portfolio. I was wondering whether there is a possibility of actually pitching the game to a publisher (we'd probably shop around for other team members/start up studio once we have the demo), or if these things don't really happen, and games really only come from already-established/experienced designers, and you all definitely answered my question. Thanks a ton.

we hear that publishers get hundreds of submissions from developers every year well.
where are all the failed demos from devs that didn't get picked up by publishers.
they should be on some site for download, id like to see all these submissions that publishers are supposed to get inundated with.

or do the devs just break up the assets and put them into some other project.


also if you make a demo and it doesn't get picked up, try publishing it yourself online, with the money you make add extra levels etc, make the game incrementally with chapters, the sales from the last chapter can fund the next development, put a forum up for feedback, ask what the customer would like to see in the next chapter, personally i think games cost too much take too long to make cost too much to develop are too much of a risk.

personally id like to play a game that was not 30 hours long how about making it an hour long, but its the best 1 hour of video game entertainment you ever had, take the price right down to impulse buy price as well not the 30 quid we pay at the moment. short game pick up and play for an hour of fun, if it does well make the next section of the game for 1 more hour of fun, make it in chapters like the serials in the 40s at the cinema like Flash Gordon.

The prof wrote:
>Right now myself (an artist) and ... (a programmer) are working on a game demo, ... (the prologue of the game) and pre-production for the rest of the game should be done Q2 2007, as its my senior project and a piece he will add to his portfolio. I was wondering whether there is a possibility of actually pitching the game to a publisher

Pretty much anything is possible.

>or if these things don't really happen, and games really only come from already-established/experienced designers,

Lots of submissions from non-pros get in - but it's extremely unlikely any would get accepted, greenlighted, and taken all the way through production.

Quote: Original post by Dean Avanti
we hear that publishers get hundreds of submissions from developers every year well.
where are all the failed demos from devs that didn't get picked up by publishers.
they should be on some site for download, id like to see all these submissions that publishers are supposed to get inundated with.

Developers don't publicise their failures. If a project doesn't get picked up it gets tossed in the cupboard and fogotten or else it is changed in some major way in an attempt to get the publishers interested.