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[Yarif]

Hello everyone,

We started an indie game studio in Casablanca, Morocco. And since the game industry is just beginning here. We doesn't have a lot of game dev event ( We are doing that to start a local community) so we refer to local events and workshops to get Business knowledge as bootcamp, startup weekend etc. And many business mentors advice me to use the Business Model Canevas to pitch our product, i agree that It is a very powerful Lean tool to build a quick and flexible strategy, but it is very generic and limitative to purely business product, and not adapted for indie video games. i mean when i want to make an indie game, i start by the core experience, gameplay, art... and then i look for the potential players, not necessary to define a value product that will resolve a problem for consumer, as mentioned in the BM.

Is there anyone who ever used a Business Model Canevas for an indie game, or is there any other alternative model to pitch a generic business investors ?

Thanks 

[xier]

Hey I went through these kind of services as well.

By all means they are very generic as they apply to a wide variety of business, but I think they are beneficial to do as they start making you think how you can best profit from your project and not just do it as a hobby. The idea of "solving a problem" makes you think how exactly you can use effective messaging to sell your game. Also it forces you to think how you are going to get the word out, and what channels you are going to use to actually make money. It's a business after all right?

For the most part, yes I agree it is very generic and basic information, but there is a lot to gain from those institutions which provide business advise. Just take it with a grain of salt. Realize what they are saying is very generic, but try to take those ideas presented and apply it to your own personal situation.

[Yarif]

I absolutely agree with you xier, when u say it helps to make an effective messaging to sell the game, and to validate it trough channels. I may try also to adapt my communication with the business coach to explain the game vision in a generic way, so every one can understand it.

We may readapt the Business Model Canevas to be more specific for indie game developers, maybe someone has done it before i guess, im not sure, but i will try to post something about it after having our first experience with.

Cheers

[Muz]

Games mostly have the same business model canvas. Just decide on your

Value proposition - Better graphics? Gore? Jiggle physics? Advanced gameplay? Longer hours? More engaging characters?
Customer relations - Blog, FB, Twitter, indie press, forums.
Channels - Steam? Direct download? Publishers?
Customer segments - Male? Adult? Children? Old ladies?
Revenue streams - Sales? Merchandise?
Key resources - Artists? Unity programmers? Decide which ones are more important based on your value proposition and customer segments.
Key activities - Marketing, graphics, code, design.
Costs - Office, monitors, salaries.
Key partners -

Honestly, it doesn't actually help much as you can't really "pivot".

If you decide that "my Tomb Raider clone with better jiggle physics isn't selling", it's not like you should rip out the code. But it does tell you what to focus your marketing efforts at, and which customers. And the BMC lets you look at things as a whole... like if you're relying on hot animated girls and don't have a good animation team, there's something wrong there.

I'd suggest not spending more than a day on this though. There's a lot of other important things to do.

[rluks]

Here is Riot games business model canvas for inspiration
https://www.flickr.com/photos/businessmodelsinc/8899489742/in/photostream/

Gamasutra article:

Revenues: Describe the economic or social return of the solution with the introduction of gamification.
Players: Describe who and what the people are like in whom we want to develop behaviors.
Behaviors: Describe the behaviors or actions necessary to develop in our players in order to get returns from the project.
Aesthetics: Describe the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when they interact with the game. This concept is the nearest to fun.
Dynamics: Describe the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on the player over time. This concept is the nearest to motivation.
Components: Describe the elements or characteristics of the game to create mechanics or to give feedback to the players.
Mechanics: Describe the rules of the game with components for creating game dynamics.
Platforms: Describe the platforms on which to implement game mechanics.
Costs: Describe the main costs or investment for the development of the project.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/SergioJimenez/20131106/204134/Gamification_Model_Canvas

Rovio business model canvas
http://www.slideshare.net/JukkaAM/entertainment-company-business-model-canvas-case-rovio-entertainment