Game Developer Asks How To Pitch - Industry Expert Answers

I am regularly referring to industry experts on all kinds of biz issues that my game developer friends hit me with, so, I thought it fitting to dedicate a little space to matching some of those nagging questions with expert answers.

I have a large and diverse network of experts, so this is probably going to be a series. If you have questions, send them to me.

I’ll introduce you to the developer and then to the expert. After that, I’ll roll with Q & A.

(Note: Ever since I started discovering spammers leaving messages on my blogs, I haven’t been allowing comments, but, I feel like this topic might be a good opp for conversation, so I’ll leave it going and do my best to monitor.)

The Developer:

George Hufnagl, Producer/Audio Designer, My Escape Games www.my-escape.net

Partners:

Duane Beckett - Designer and Story Writer

Alan Rawkins and Gillian Patterson - Programmers

Simon Turnbull and Dave Rigley - Artists

Sushmita Das - Advertising Consultant

• Started: 2010
• Game types: Flash Games (browser-based and mobile - looking to expand in the future)
• Current status: finishing first title by the end of August (Critter Cubes). Almost complete with game demo, codenamed "Krong" and one other game in the pipeline upon completion of these two projects.

The Expert:

Jason Rice, Founder of Ninja Logic
www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsrice

• Years in games industry: 7
• Background: Focus on mobile development, designing and producing titles for Oasys Mobile. Worked with licensors like Wall Street Journal, Phil Helmuth, 2K Games, MTV. Producer for Merscom, recently bought by Playdom, who was just purchased by Disney. Produced casual and mobile games. Founded Ninja Logic in 2009 to do consulting, production oversight, game design, outsourced QA and other contract services for companies like National Geographic. Still actively involved in competitive gaming communities, open source game projects and other grassroots gaming projects.

Q & A

George Question: What is the general desired length for a game proposal?

Jason Answer: This depends on the publisher and the scope of the game. Ideally you want the information to be presented concisely up front, with some in-depth information following that helps the publisher better understand where the game is trying to go. In the casual space I've seen proposals as short as 3 pages and as long as 20. At the very least, I need some kind of executive summary, high concept, budget, production schedule and a studio profile and samples of previous work before I can even consider a proposal. Beyond that, the developer should use their best judgment in providing details and giving a strong overview of the proposed project. One important thing to consider is that with all the proposals publisher-level producers see, they will tend to skim over content that is very dense like big blocks of text. Make sure to make good use of section headers, bullet points, feature lists and other attention grabbers so they can move your proposal into the "consider it" pile rather than passing it over. This is especially important to consider with an unsolicited proposal or when working with a publisher that you have no previous relationship with.

George Question: With regard to the production schedule, does the publisher need to know, to the letter, the exact plan of action?

Jason Answer: The publisher will often want to know the exact plan of action, but this will vary based on the size of the publisher, the workload of the producer and the scope of the project. For a AAA title that a publisher is making a huge investment in, they will almost certainly want to see a detailed project plan and full profiles of the leadership team, if not the entire development staff. For smaller projects they may settle for a milestone schedule and a list of requirements to be met at each one, but a good producer is always going to be asking questions about what is currently being worked on, what bottlenecks might be slowing down the work, etc. Studios all have different working conditions and best practices, so transparency with the project plan is helpful for publishers who want to make sure they are getting the most out of their investment.

George Question: With regard to game design, will a demo of the game plus a list of features provide ample information to the publisher or is supplementary information (e.g. detailed design document) needed?

Jason Answer: A demo of the game and a list of features is helpful, but any publisher of significant size is going to expect the delivery of a design document before you reach a first playable stage. Just like with a project plan, how can the publisher know you have a plan for design and are executing it properly if they don't have any idea what the plan is. Most production schedules will include a completed GDD as one of the first milestones and will tie a payment to the delivery. They will also often expect an updated GDD delivered with each subsequent milestone delivery so that the producer on the publisher's side can track changes as the game is developed.

George Question: Does the request of a signed NDA hinder the process, either in terms of time or trust?

Jason Answer: An NDA can add a day or so to the process of getting a proposal submitted, but is an absolutely essential part of the process that protects both the developer and the publisher. I have standing NDAs in place with my clients and the development studios I regularly do business with and it certainly doesn't hurt the business relationships.

--------------------------------------
The content of this article is a result of research I’ve done for my new business column in the IGDA newsletter. For more “expert answers,” you should check the IGDA newsletter page and archive section.