Business of Game Design: Funding & Self-Publishing Dr. Lewis Pulsipher Copyright 2013 Lewis Pulsipher Pulsiphergames.com.
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Transcript Business of Game Design: Funding & Self-Publishing Dr. Lewis Pulsipher Copyright 2013 Lewis Pulsipher Pulsiphergames.com.
Business of Game Design:
Funding & Self-Publishing
Dr. Lewis
Pulsipher
Copyright 2013 Lewis Pulsipher
Pulsiphergames.com
Note about the slides
Slides are provided primarily for
those who want detailed notes later,
not as an accompaniment to the talk
Consequently, they are “wordy”
Available at
http://pulsipher.net/teaching1.htm
Or just go to pulsipher.net (not
.com) or pulsiphergames.com and
look for teaching material
November 7, 2015
Who am I
Designed my own games while a teenager
Began playing commercial wargames in
1963
Played the original Atari 2600 and have
played some PC games heavily, but rarely
play any video games these days; never
owned a game console
My favorite game is “the game design
game”
Who am I
Designer of several commercially-
published board wargames (most
recently January 11), more games to
come
Active designer of board and card games
(playtesters solicited!)
Book “Game Design: How to create video
and tabletop games, start to finish”,
McFarland (booth at GenCon)
Wikipedia: Lewis Pulsipher; Britannia
(board game); Archomental
Some of my games
We’re talking about business,
not about game design
But if you want to make money, you
have to know the business
It’s hard to find a publisher these
days
– Many have in-house staff, others are
self-publishers
As a last resort, you may want to
fund and publish your game yourself
– But then you become a publisher, not
a game designer!
Reality Check
Almost no one makes a living designing
(or selling) games
Most who do, work for a game company,
not freelance
Publishing is risky – but that’s why
publishers make a lot more from a
successful game than the designer
Many publishers began as self-publishers
– Including Fantasy Flight (once they got out of
the comic distribution business)
Reality Check 2
OK, How much do you
make if you do find a
publisher?
In my experience, royalties are a
percentage of the publisher’s actual
revenue
– 5% is most common, range 4-8%
Publisher sells to distributor at 40% of list
price or less; distributor sells to retailer
for 10% more
Internet sales are becoming significant—
then publisher makes 100%
Shipping costs may be subtracted from
revenue
Royalty example
$40 list game, 5% of $16 = 80 cents
Per 1,000 copies, $800
$20 game, $400 per thousand
Wargame typical print run is <= 2,000
“Euro” games might go up to 10,000
Most games sell poorly after first six
months, most are not reprinted
German “Game of the Year” might sell
250,000 or more, after award
It’s a hit-driven industry. How many hits
a year, compared with hundreds of
games published?
What about the biggies?
In general, the really big companies have
staff to design their games
Many will not even accept outside
submissions
Virtually all will require you sign a
statement relieving them of all liabilities
At least one only works through agents
In USA, Hasbro owns all the traditional
boardgame publishers such as Milton
Bradley, Parker Brothers, Avalon Hill
Publishing alternatives
All these methods require considerable knowledge to put
game together in correct format, to hire artists/editors
Spend the money to self-publish traditionally
– Expensive
– Risky
– Requires constant attention
Use a third party to help self-publish traditionally
– Fulfillment companies
– GameSalute no longer offers their more extensive service
Self-publish through POD
– TheGameCrafter.com and others
– Requires virtually no funding
PDF/desktop publishing/Print n Play
– Requires virtually no funding
“P500” – preorders
– Generally only established publishers
“Ransom”/crowdfunding model—kickstarter.com,
Indiegogo
Distribution methods
Traditional distribution/aggregator
– You get only 33%-40% of list price
Internet distribution through your own Web
site
– You get 100% of list, but will your target market
buy this way
– Not mass-market, for example
Online PDF distribution sites such as RPGnow
Thegamecrafter.com or other POD
Sell at conventions
Give it away and hope for a deal with a
traditional publisher
Funding
Self-funded
– I’ve heard of people taking a second
mortgage
Friend/family funded
Publisher funded
– But then we’re not in self-publishing
any more
“Ransom”/crowdfunding model
“Ransom”/crowdfunding
Ransom: If I get $X I’ll give this
away to everyone
– Originally for fiction
Crowdfunding
– Kickstarter
– Indiegogo and others
Kickstarter
Even traditional publishers use
Kickstarter
– For them it’s a “gauge the enthusiasm”
and pre-order system
Costs nothing to try it
– Well, except for your time
KS (and Amazon) take a chunk of
the successful funds
Indiegogo
Much newer than KS but may be
available where KS is not
Big difference: if a project is
partially funded, you get the partial
funds (KS: no money changes
hands)
Not as well known/frequented as KS
Creating the Look of the Game
Hiring artists, unless you are one
Hiring for editing and layout, unless
you’re good at it
Creating files to be printed
Requires both understanding and
computer-technical skill
Some programs are free, the best
cost a lot of $$$$
Time-consuming to learn
Using traditional publishing
methods
Finding a suitable printer, arranging for
shipping, arranging to house inventory
(unless you have a BIG house…)
Sales, shipping, promoting, customer
support
– “Discoverability” is a big problem now –
people won’t buy your game if they don’t
know anything about it
Fulfillment house can take care of storing
inventory, perhaps even of customer
support
Online resources
Boardgamegeek.com (along with sister
sites for RPGs and video games)
Sloperama.com – good advice about
getting into the video game industry
Board game designer’s forum
GameCareerGuide.com (video games)
Questions?
Comments?