Transcript Games and Toys: Not all Fun and Games

Games and Toys:
Not All Fun and Games
Tom Sloper
Who Is Tom Sloper And Why
Should I Listen To Him?
Expertise in Video Games & Computer
Games (25 years)
Experience in Toys & Board Games (five
years +/-)
Video Games & Computer Games
Game Designer: 15 unique released titles
Producer: 79 unique released titles
Employers: Western Tech., Sega, Atari,
Activision
Clients: Yahoo!, Sennari, Mastiff, Four
Winds, Flying Fishworks, Bonus Mobile,
TikGames, Goodsol, ATGames
Conventions: GDC, CES, E3, TGS, KGC,
MGS, SIGGRAPH
Toys & Board Games
Employers: Western Tech., Rudell Design
Independent projects (unpublished):
Space War, Reversible Puppet, Dice
Games Collection
Almost-acquisition tale
Conventions: Toy Fair, TGIF, ASD/AMD,
Hong Kong Toy & Game Show
Inventing Toys/Games
The Nutshell
The Easy & Fun Part - The Idea
Also Pretty Easy (And Fun) - The Prototype or
Demo (video/computer games not a solo
endeavor)
Also Kinda Easy (But Not Fun) - Protecting the
IP (Copyright, Patent)
Not Too Awfully Hard (Still Not Much Fun) Manufacturing Details, Business Plans,
Research
The Really Really Hard Part - Getting Published
or Distributed
Part I. Electronic Entertainment
Not Hollywood – Not Silicon Valley
– “Siliwood”
Not a solo endeavor – it takes teamwork
Forget the Hollywood model
It ain't like the music industry or the publishing
biz either
Ideas from outside the industry are a very hard
sell!
We hear all the time about somebody’s cousin
or grandma sending a script to Hollywood and
becoming rich overnight...
...That doesn’t happen in games.
Platforms & Audiences:
Important First Consideration
Young Kids - PC, Edutainment Handhelds
Tween Boys - Videogame Consoles, DS,
Game Boy, PC
Teen-Young Adult Males - Videogame
Consoles, PC, Mobile
Adults (female/male) - DS, Game Boy,
Mobile, PC (especially online)
Genres & Audiences
Edutainment - Kids (#2 genre on PC)
Action - Tweens, Teens, YA Males (#1
genre on consoles)
Shooters - Males (#3 genre on PC)
RPGs - Teen-Adult, male/female
Strategy - Adults, Males (#1 genre on PC)
Casual – Adult female/male (possibly
included in strategy category)
Sports - Males (#2 genre on consoles)
Some Stats
1 in 3 Americans who use PCs play online
games.
2 in 3 online PC gamers are female.
Females over 40 spend the most time
playing online games.
Ad revenue outstrips actual sales of online
games.
PC games presently 15% of market, but:
Casual games expected to outstrip
hardcore game revenues by 2011.
First Step – Document It
Concept
– “Elevator Pitch” in writing
Treatment
– Don't forget the competitive analysis!
– And the team bio.
Full GDD (Game Design Document)
– Not needed until there's funding and a team
Next – Business Plan,
Team Building
You probably think I skipped some steps there...
Well... The harsh truth is:
Publishers aren't interested in paper designs
from amateurs.
– Some will consider, but likelihood of success
extremely low.
– Is Grisham here? Coppola? The guy who created
CSI?
– Those guys have a shot with a paper design.
So the only way to make a video game is to
build a team and make it yourself.
Costs: “It Depends”
Triple-A hardcore videogame titles cost in
the tens of millions. Average PS2 game:
$8M, 40 people, 1½-2 years.
Casual online PC games are much
cheaper to develop: $30k-$200k. 1-4
people, 6-12 months.
Massively Multiplayer Online Games can
cost $100M to create, then involve
ongoing support costs.
Need to have a team in place before you
can pitch game to a publisher.
Need to have funding in place before you
can build a team.
Need to have a business plan before you
can get funding.
Key part of business plan: industry contacts
to build a solid experienced team.
Upshot: you probably can't get funding if
you're not an industry vet.
I hope you're wealthy!
If you're not wealthy, and if you're young,
get into the industry. Then work it from the
inside.
Venture Capital
SBA
Bank loan
Angels
Video Game Investor Conference
– June 21, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco
– Pitch directly to VCs
– www.srinstitute.com/cx599
SUCCESS RATE:
Based on WHO YOU
ARE and WHAT YOU
BRING to the Pitch
Meeting
Professional
Professional
Game
But Not In
Game
Industry
Game
Developer Professional
Industry
Not In
Industry;
Not
Professional
Complete Game
10%
9%
8%
7%
2/3 Complete Game
7%
6%
5%
4%
1/3 Complete Game
Small interactive demo
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
1%
Animation only
3%
2%
1%
0%
Paper only
2%
1%
0%
0%
Verbal presentation
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Idea in your head
Once You Have a Team
One concept isn't enough.
One demo isn't enough.
Hoping to get one idea published isn't a
good enough business plan.
Develop several demos, but seek entrylevel development work:
– Ports
– Localizations
– Find a niche
Start networking like crazy:
– GDC
– Austin
– E3
Get an agent or rep if you can.
– I’m not an agent; I’m not a rep.
– Start with Gamasutra (Companies tab).
And make those pitches.
– Not just one pitch.
– Not just one demo.
– Don’t start with your #1 choice publisher.
Go to publishers, not developers
– Only reason to pitch to developers: you ignore my
advice to build a team - you intend to "borrow" one, or
get one to buy into your one game concept.
– Publishers and what they do...
– Developers and what they do...
– Why pitching to developers doesn't work...
Having multiple demos makes you and your
team more attractive...
Hope to get one of your team’s original concepts
greenlit...
But what you're really selling is your team's
development skill. (At least, that’s what they’re
more likely to buy.)
Publishing Options At A Glance
Video game or large PC game (CD/DVD)
1.Get it published by an established big
publisher
2.Become a publisher yourself
3.Get it distributed by an established bulk
distributor
Small PC game or web game
1.Get it hosted on an established game portal
2.Get it hosted on a downloads site
3.Host your downloadable or web game on your
own site
Publishing Options (cont’d.)
MMOG
1. Get it published, hosted, and supported by an
established big publisher
2. Publish, host, and support it yourself
Mobile game
1. Get your mobile game published by a mobile
publisher
2. Get your mobile game hosted online for folks to
download
3. Offer it for sale on your own site
Typical Deal (Average PS2 game)
There is no such thing as a “typical” deal.
Ignore this slide!
Advance: $5M
Royalty: 15% of net sales
Break-even: 1M+ unit sales
Part II. Toys, Board Games
DIY – You can invent it all by yourself. No team
required, you don’t have to be in the industry.
TGIF - a vital resource for inventors - mark it on
your calendars! Sept. 7, in Orlando.
www.tgifcon.com
Your prototype doesn't have to be "final
production quality" - unless you're going to
manufacture and distribute it yourself.
Card Games - really easy to prototype and make
them look great, thanks to computers.
Should Go Without Saying
Make your prototype.
– Board games: see Sloperama.com FAQ 20.
– Card games: see Sloperama.com FAQ 38.
– Toys: hey, you’re the inventor... you figure it out.
Test it on F&F (a great free resource!).
Protect your IP. See Sloperama FAQ 39.
–
–
–
–
Patent – www.uspto.gov.
Trademark – ditto.
Copyright – www.copyright.gov.
Lawyers are a good thing.
Three Options
1. License to a manufacturer/publisher through
an agent (I’m not an agent);
2. License to a manufacturer/publisher by
yourself (“self-license”);
3. Self-manufacture, self-publish.
(Do not deal with any of those invention
companies who advertise on TV.)
What Are Your Priorities?
Maximum profits?
Creative control?
Ease (less difficult)?
Higher likelihood of success?
First Step Depends on the Option You Choose
If going through an agent (recommended over
self-licensing), first select a good agent (I'm not
an agent).
– Commission can vary from 25% to 60% of the royalty.
Don’t pay an advance to an agent.
– Sloperama.com, FAQ 20
– DiscoverGames.com
If self-licensing, carefully research publishers.
Find a company whose product line is a good fit
for your invention.
–
–
–
–
–
Typical royalty: 5% of net sales.
Sloperama.com, FAQ 20
DiscoverGames.com
www.toy-tia.org
ThomasNet.com
Self-Manufacturing
Get professional design help. Links on
DiscoverGames.com. Look in Yellow Pages too.
Manufacturing & printing
– See links on DiscoverGames.com,
Sloperama.com FAQ 20, ThomasNet.com.
– More units = lower per-unit cost. Usual first run:
5,000. Where will you store them? Assemble
them? Custom parts entail mold-making costs.
Overseas cheaper than domestic.
– Size & shape of product matters – go to the toy
store, look at similar products on the shelves.
– Keep costs a reasonable margin below 50% of
SRP (retail = 2x wholesale).
Self-Publishing – TRADE SHOWS
American International TOY FAIR (NY,
February)
ChiTAG (Chicago, November)
ASD/AMD (Las Vegas, Aug.; NY, Sept.;
L.A., Oct.)
Essen Spiel Fair (Germany, October)
Origins Int’l. Game Expo (Columbus,
June)
TGIF (Orlando, September)
Protospiel (Ann Arbor, July)
Comic Cons, Sci-Fi Cons, Puzzle Cons...
Paper Games
Online self-pub options:
– Get them hosted on an established paper
games site (Google “paper games”);
– Host them on your own website.
That Was The Long. This Is The Short.
(I’m starting to wrap it up)
You can cheaply DIY re toys and board
games, but...
– ...video games require huge amounts of cash,
large teams, and you have to be in the
industry.
– Nobody “dabbles” in video games; it’s a
career, or nothing.
It's fun to design toys and games,
and to playtest them, and see the
delight on people's faces as they
enjoy what you made...
BUT...
Whether you’ve created an electronic game
or a non-electronic game or toy...
... to get published & distributed is a lot of
hard work.
– Requires a completely different set of sales
skills and business smarts...
– Not just creativity and a sense of what's fun.
Inventor hat  Salesman/businessman
hat. (Keep your Creative hat on always.)
Others have done it before – you can do it.
Final Parting Thought
Even the experts can't predict
what will, or what won't, become a
hit.
Yours might be the next big hit.
Resources / Links
DiscoverGames.com – great articles & links!
Sloperama.com (articles #1, 2, 11, 13, 21, 31,
35, 60, 62, 20, 38)
Gamasutra - articles, news, companies list...
GameDev.net - get diverse opinions and get
really confused!
IGDA.org - ditto!
BoardGameDesign mailing list - ditto!
BoardgameGeek
“So You Wanna Be A Game Designer”
(GameSpot.com – Google the title)
Questions?
I'm sure I glossed over a lot of stuff, like
"why" and "how much" and "how
long."
Before you ask, the answers are
"money," "it depends," and "it
depends."
Now go ahead and ask anyway...(~_^)