Greetings GameDev Community,

I am reaching out today to get some advice in regards to how to best "sell" my idea(s) for my prototype and proof of concept. I decided this section was the best place to go for this topic as gameplay programmers most likely have worked on academic/hobby/side projects they believe have the potential to turn into something marketable.

As always, thank you for feedback in advance!

Hey TK7,

Brian Upton gave an amazing presentation called "30 Things I Hate about your Game Pitch" at GDC. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check it out as it may answer a lot of your questions and provide insight you haven't thought of.

Also, your question was a bit vague for me. I think "selling" your idea is dependent on your target audience. Are you trying to pitch the idea to investors, a publisher, or crowdfunding platform? Or are you trying to sell your idea to project managers / developers so they can build the project.

1 hour ago, TK7 said:

I decided this section was the best place to go for this topic as gameplay programmers most likely have worked on academic/hobby/side projects they believe have the potential to turn into something marketable.

This is not the correct section. This forum is for questions about programming, and your question is not about programming. This is not the section for "questions for gameplay programmers".
The best place to go for this topic would be the "Games Business and Law" forum, because "pitching/selling" is business. A moderator will probably move it there soon.

As for your question: do you only have the idea, or do you have something more, like a finished prototype? Usually nobody wants to buy ideas only.

2 hours ago, TK7 said:

I decided this section was the best place to go for this topic

Moving it to the correct forum (Business).

2 hours ago, TK7 said:

how to best "sell" my idea(s) for my prototype and proof of concept.

Read this. 

1 hour ago, 1024 said:

do you only have the idea, or do you have something more, like a finished prototype? Usually nobody wants to buy ideas only.

That article goes into this idea in depth. 

1 hour ago, Prototype.Jon said:

Are you trying to pitch the idea to investors, a publisher, or crowdfunding platform? Or are you trying to sell your idea to project managers / developers so they can build the project.

Investors are unlikely to be interested in one game. One game is not a business. Crowdfunding platform can work, but you'll still need to get your game published. Project managers and developers don't have money to develop games (they get money from publishers). Read that article, TK7.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Prototype.Jon said:

Also, your question was a bit vague for me. I think "selling" your idea is dependent on your target audience. Are you trying to pitch the idea to investors, a publisher, or crowdfunding platform? Or are you trying to sell your idea to project managers / developers so they can build the project.

Thank you for the link and your reply Jon,

I didn't realize just how vague the question was until you pointed it out. I would like to pitch my idea and proof of concept to a publisher. The target audience of males and females within the age range of 13-35 who enjoy team-based competitive third-person action games.

 

 

 

 

47 minutes ago, Tom Sloper said:

Moving it to the correct forum (Business).

Read this. 

That article goes into this idea in depth. 

Investors are unlikely to be interested in one game. One game is not a business. Crowdfunding platform can work, but you'll still need to get your game published. Project managers and developers don't have money to develop games (they get money from publishers). Read that article, TK7.

Thank you, Tom!

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, 1024 said:

As for your question: do you only have the idea, or do you have something more, like a finished prototype? Usually nobody wants to buy ideas only.

Thank you for replying 1024,

Yes, I would have a prototype as well as a documented proof of concept that provides great detail about the game.