Trying to bring first game to market; all publisher checkboxes seem within reach except past shipped games. How to overcome?

Aidan · 2021-03-19T17:48:24

I'm about a year into making a game which, for the sake of argument, let's say is pretty marketable. I've been compiling a checklist of things I need before I can pitch my game to publishers. There's a lot to do, but nothing particularly painful or mysterious. I feel that I could be ready to pitch in just a few months. Except for one thing: all sources say that publishers care just as much about WHO is making the game as they care about the game itself. In particular, they want to see past successes. Well, in my imaginary pitch to an imaginary developer, I've just shown them 100% of my experience. It's this game. And although I'll have a few people who I can point to as collaborators, I'm not a studio, nor does my cohort include all the people I'll need to complete the project. Assuming that no publisher in their right mind would take someone in my scenairo (and no studio would hire me as an employee, either), it sounds like the only way to get into the industry, let alone hook a publisher on a personal project, is to self-publish, suffer, self-publish, suffer, and then try again once you're a grizzled veteran. Am I right, or is this overly cynical? I'm asking because I'm pretty sure that my project can't come to fruition without a publisher's involvement. I'm trying to figure out whether it's time to drop it.