My MMO game development has been handcuffed by technical issues. Graphics, audio, support, server administration. I was thinking about looking for an investor or a partner gaming site which can provide the financial backing which can get my game engines looking and running better. Any suggestions on where to look? I have established titles I can show off, and it's not like I'm looking for millions of dollars. A mere $150k would get me what I need to get my titles out of the dark ages and begin to draw in a lot more business.

Perhaps if you already have established titles you can go to those publishers and see if they would be interested in some sort of publishing deal? It might be easier to get them to agree to it if you have worked with them before and have proven to them that you can do the work...

Still $150,000 is a heavy chunk of change and I think you would probably need a solid demo combined with a well thought out business plan and a showcase of high quality previous work to show any publishers that you can get the game done and make a game that will recover the investment.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to speak with a lawyer specializing in games before starting any negotiations though and make sure you are legally protected...

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Original post by Capricussin Any suggestions on where to look?

F.F.F.

Family, Friends, & Fools.
I also recommend that you go visit your local SBA office (Small Business Administration). There's an office over here, at the Santa Monica Airport. They can advise you on the whole funding thing. First thing they'll tell you is that you need a business plan.

Read http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm

You can go to the big MMO portals and see if they will enter into a license agreement and provide completion funds. You might have to give up control of the distribution the game, but they might also take on the beta testing, hosting, marketing, billing and customer service issues that follow completion of the game. There are some game focused funds you might try but its not entirely clear what type of companies or projects they are interested in funding: http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/01/21/vanedge-capital-close-to-raising-100m-to-invest-in-games-with-ea-as-a-partner/

Any way you go, have a good business plan with clear a monetization strategy for investors to evaluate their potential ROI. 150K is still a lot of money and people are going to want their money back fairly quickly.

Good luck