[IGDX 2022] Common Developer Pitfalls in Signing an Agreement By Iain Garner, Kris Hadiputra, and David Liem

At IGDX Neon Doctrine CEO Ian Garner, Toge Productions CEO Kris Antoni Hadiputra, and Ripples Asia CEO David Liem held a talk have held a talk speaking about common developer pitfalls in signing a publishing agreement. 

One of the most important aspects of getting your game published is of course getting a publisher to sign off and green-lit the game but there can be a lot of bad actors in this field. Here, the three CEOs talk more about what up-and-coming developers should look out for before they sign that contract.

Do Genre or Style Matter When Pitching a Game to Publisher?

It’s no secret that certain genres of games are more popular than others and thus a big question on any developer’s mind is what kind of genres would publishers be more likely to fund.

To answer this, Iain from Neon Doctrine says that they don’t have a very formalized style and focus more on whether they like the game or not. No matter the genre or style that the developer goes for, it’s all about how well they manage to execute their vision of making the best game they could. Of course, some publishers might not like the style as much, but there are plenty of others that could get hooked on the game that’s being pitched. 

Kris from Toge Productions likewise says that his company doesn’t favor a particular genre or style. He did however mention that the developer needs to know their target audience, the value proposition of the game and whether they can deliver on that. It’s often good to include an early build of the game for the publisher to play so they can get an idea of what it would be like. If the team likes it, then they can proceed to the next step and see if they can build a relationship.

Besides the quality of the game, there are other considerations too like the management and working conditions of the developers themselves. This is really important because if the studio management creates a hostile or toxic work environment, then the deal is off even if the final game is a success. 

Building this strong relationship between the developer and the publisher is important. David from Ripples Asia mentions how he tries to learn more about the game by having a discussion with the developer and trying to understand their vision. It’s this kind of relationship that allows new creative gaming experiences to truly thrive. 

Things to Avoid and Prepare

When it comes to preparation, Iain says that developers should research the publisher that they want to reach out to and look through their past track records. Look at both their successes and less successful titles and their relationships with the developers. 

This applies to everyone because both parties can leave a bad trail with recurring business patterns that may be detrimental to the game. Speaking about particular red flags, developers should watch out for publishers that overpromise the success of the game for example saying that it would sell a guaranteed 1 million copies in a short amount of time. This is obviously unrealistic because even the biggest publisher can’t guarantee the success of the game they published, it really just depends on the game itself and how many players willing to give it a go. 

Of course, problems can always arise that cannot be prepared for. An example of this is when Samurai Punk released their new game ‘JUSTICE SUCKS: Tactical Vacuum Action’, everything seemed to be going fine. Unfortunately, it came out the day Queen Elizabeth II passed away, which caused the game’s initial sales to lower.

Things like this happen and even though it’s impossible to foresee the future. As such, many publishers look to better themself when it comes to reading the market and finding the best time to launch games. Iain says that even Neon Doctrine used to suffer from these kinds of situations when they launched a new game, only for a larger company like EA to suddenly bring their games to Steam, taking up all the recommendation space on the store’s front page. 

Read the Contract and Trust Your Guts

Before settling an agreement, a contract should be made. This is a very crucial part of the publishing process, especially for the developer. They need to go over the various terms and ensure that they are getting a good deal.

Kris suggests that developers at least should hire a lawyer that knows how to read contracts. This is to make sure that the agreement is not one-sided or gives the developer a bad deal. It’s also important to ask about plans on how to bring the game to market. David says that Ripples often get asked by the developers about the platform distribution, like whether is it possible to bring the game to console and PC. If the publisher is transparent and maintains good communication with the developer, then there’s the potential that this could lead to a fruitful partnership that could last for future games.

Iain also says that to some extent, you just need to trust your gut before deciding on things or wanting to change some plans. This is based on past experience and how often he would meet with developers that have worked with bad publishers. They say they had this uneasy feeling that something would go wrong and it eventually did. People have instincts and intuition for a reason and this is the time they should be using them. 

It’s certainly not easy getting your game out there to a bigger publisher, but it can be a lot worse if you’re not prepared. Hopefully, these nuggets of advice from people at the top of the industry will help new independent studios sort out what to look for in a publisher and avoid the common developer pitfalls of the industry.

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