There is nothing lost by attempting a KS and failing. Same goes for Greenlight
I disagree. If I were a publisher and a company wanted me to publish their game and I saw that their kickstarter attempt had failed, I'd feel pretty confident that obviously the demand is not there for the game. Why would I want to publish a game that doesn't have any demand?
And if you already have interest from publishers why not just use them?
You might think their cuts are high, but the truth is, cuts will always be high, publisher or not.
What kind of share are they wanting?
I've had to give more than 50% of my sales money away to various people/organisations and we have no publisher.
Going full indie mode can be just as expensive as having a publisher, in my experience
I'd rather not talk about specifics just so it doesn't bite me in the ass somewhere down the line, but it's much more than 50% of overall sales. I also don't have to pay nearly that your 30% in taxes, don't have to pay any engine royalties. So if I managed to fund it myself, the amount I get after all other costs would likely be almost twice that I would get with a publisher. However, then I'd have to publish it myself. If I had a publisher I'd be able to get my game seen by more people, I'm sure. Most likely, I'll end up using the interested publishers in some form or another. However, if I manage to fund the project myself, then their cut would be much, much less. So it's more about how I should fund the game.
1. Yes your game could be kickstarted, your money aims are reasonable and its got nice style to it. But you need to plan your kickstarter campaign well, it is a task in itself! Treat it like a full time milestone in your development, take your time, build up a loyal following of fans by promoting your game with trailers and updating your dev log, get in touch with press that might like your game and try to get some publicity BEFORE you Kickstart...
Thank you! Yeah, I've actually already planned out the whole kickstarter just in case I decide to do it and I plan on making a teaser trailer I could include. I'm not just entirely convinced it'd succeed and I don't want to risk it. I'm thinking maybe I'll do kickstarter as my last resort.
2. Publishers if they are funding it will either take percentage ownership of the IP or they will want a massive cut since they have to recoup their expenses and make profit. What would be in it for them doing loads of work and funding it if they weren't getting good returns. - they might take a smaller cut for just marketing a finished game, but you still end up paying..
Well publishers tend to take 100% of the earnings until their investment is recouped. After that they take their normal cut so they're making a profit. The problem is that a lot of publishers take massive cuts because they know they have the upper hand in negotiations. That's not necessarily evil. It's just business. I know there are some publishers out there though that specifically want to help indie developers, so they fund the game and take small cut. Basically they're an angel investor like you talked about below.
3. You could look for an angel investor but they will want a percentage of the business and profits, which might sound bad but a good business partner if the deal is right can be really good for you, I mean if your new business arrangement means you finish the game and get lots of publicity and a partner who will help with business stuff now and in the future, who is invested in seeing you succeed can be pretty damn good. so dont rule it out if the deal could be good just do everything properly and with lawyers.
Yeah, that's definitely something I'd be willing to do. The problem is finding connections. I was hoping there was some convenient website where you can get connected with investors interested in your type of project.
If you go to publisher, you have to be carful of the publisher and the deal.
A publisher take a bigger cut, but you need to be sure:
- He gives you some fund.
or He invest something (marketing). Everything in the contract, don't believe them
There is more and more publisher that only signed you and don't do anything (I've heard two or three story like that).
They just take their cut... and nothing else.
"Old publisher" use to fully fund you but without giving you any royalty (or when sales are higher than a threshold). So 0% for you.
So don't be afraid of a high pourcentage if they have some kind of commitement (funding/marketing etc...).
Yeah, my composer was wary of publishers because apparently where he lives that's pretty much all they do is take a cut and do nothing. Luckily the publishers I've been talking to are much better. They've shown in their previous work that they are good publishers.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, keep it coming!
My main thing is that this is my first game. I don't want to sign any deals and then find out there was a much better way of doing it. I'd rather ask around and research and find out the best, most viable path to take before walking down the wrong road.
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