We get a lot of very emotional stuff typed on here about budget publishers and I thought that it might be helpfull if people posted what they knew about good publishers rather than get into big arguments. So here goes: RealGames ========= These guys are by far the most professional budget publishers I have come accross. Of course they have Real.coms big money behind them so I guess its no surprise. They always got back to me very quickly, by email or phone, and the checks arrive on time (even early some months). They have a superb QA department, (who even agreed to pose for the crew photos in one of my games) and I am happy with the terms of my deal with them. (dont ask for figures, there is an NDA, I couldnt tell you...) RegSoft ======= These guys handle the credit card payments for my shareware games. All I can say is that over 3 years, I havent ever had a single problem with them. They take a big commision, but no more so (AFAIK) than any of the other similar services EGames ====== These guys can be a little slow to get back to you on stuff, either by email or phone. they also have a tendency to call you at 12PM when you are in the UK egames seem to have very good distribution, but the downside is that they want family-friendly stuff suitable for very novice gamers, and they dont offer especially big royalty cuts. XTremeGames =========== I never actually took a deal with them, but I have experience of the contract. The terms may not be to everyones liking, but to be honest, these guys seem to take games at a much lower level than the others. Your game may well get turned down by Realgames, yet get accepted by Andre, and thats no bad thing. I''m not going to step into the huge flame war about crystal interactive, its not worth it, so please dont get this (hopefully usefull) post deleted by posting lots of crystal-related stuff on here. Thanks http://www.positech.co.uk

Ok, one question, according to the Santa Claus Games CEO the game Star Miner sold 150000 copies, how much money were you paid for those sales of that game that Santa Claus Games published?

I''m curious if anyone has had experience yet with GarageGames.com. They don''t publish exclusively for those that license the V12 engine from them, so I''m curious if people have taken any interest in what they offer publishing-wise.

Kevin

Electronic Arts
===============
They sell pretty much copies.
The advertising is good.
Contract is only for 2 years.
They are very good, I can recommend it.
Only the process to step in is very slow and
takes a couple of months.

Southpeak
=========
Is also selling much worldwide.
They are a bit quicker then EA, in the submission handling.
They pay on time.
Good license opportunities.

Infogrames Inc.
==============
Very well distribution international.
Good and fast tech. support.
Good localisation.

I''m not really sure how Garagegames.com is going to work. On the one hand, they say that the ''published'' games only get listed in their database without any specific marketing for the product. This would mean that they would have to build a huge user database. But on the other hand they are already negotiating deals with several developers for when they officialy start publishing (sometime in October I think). As far as I know, the only major publishing deals would come from Sierra, assuming that a game sells well on gg.com. I just dont understand waht kind of preparations they would be making, if they really only serve as a game directory. Does somebody want to explain this to me?


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"I think I''ve put some great material on this board!" --Archwizard

Alex McAndrew
http://www.pcgamesforyou.com

Best publisher is yourself.

For sure a cheap creditcard processing service is needed, but I wouldn't consider this a publisher.

Creditcard processing service:
------------------------------

Getsoftware.com
I have sold Smugglers 1 with them. I am not 100% happy with the appearance of their site, but they always paid in time (they send checks on the 15th of the next month). You always get answers to your mails also.

RegNow.com
They seem to be swimming in money. I got some nice goodies send to me. I signed up with them and can't complain. I haven't got a check of them though, but this is due to my own wish at the moment.

May I do some advertising?

Smugglers 2 - Coming soon.

http://www.smugglers2.com
The website is still a placeholder, but some pics are already on.

Edited by - Jester101 on August 15, 2001 12:18:46 PM

We also use RegNow and GetSoftware, very happy with both of them. They have different royalty scales, so we switch between the two based on our particular product's price.

I should add that they're not really "publishers". They mostly provide just the credit card processing and electronic delivery. You will have to do the marketing, etc. yourself.

-M

Edited by - Torn Space on August 15, 2001 12:41:38 PM

Since we are mentioning Credit Card processing companies I thought I''d mention the one I am with currently. KAGI is the name , they have the best percentage return from all the credit card processing companies I have seen on the net. Their webpage isn''t too good though (ie Doesnt look too professional) but they respond quickly to email and their registration is simple and quick. They have been around a long time too. Click here to go there.
-Jason Starr-


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Freeze Software
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It appears that Kagi does not provide fulfillment of order, just credit card processing, so that is probably why they offer lower fees. However, this could be a good service if you want to ship the game yourself or email a registration key to buyers. By the way, does anyone have any experience with Lomax Games (www.lomaxgames.com)?



cbeek

Hello, I have been wondering about this, and since I see this topic here I decided to ask. What kind of legal "red tape" (in the USA) do you have to go through when selling games through a publisher such as XTremeGames? Do you have to have a business license or anything like that, or do you just have to declare the income for taxes? I am wondering this becuase my next project is going to be a game and if I think it is good enough I may see about submitting it to XTremeGames. I am not real familiar with legal stuff, so if someone would give me an idea of whats involved it would be much appreciated.

Thanks for any comments,
Jon