Just curious if any of you smaller guys (i.e. 1-4 man shops) have had any dealings with publishers. I am just curious as to what your experiences have been, good or bad.
Using a publisher is a viable option. Overall, my biggest concern are their methods- which we do not have access to that information. There are publishers that purposely write bad reviews for other games. There are publishers that give rampant 5-star ratings to their own games. I don't want to be a part of that, even if it will make me a million dollars. My integrity is worth more than that. I'm not saying all Publishers practice this way, but it is getting increasingly difficult to determine exactly how these publishers operate behind the scene.
Through the OpenFeint guys... I've submitted my game Rummage to a few publishers in hopes that they might pick it up. Regardless of the split, I think if they increase exposure and sales, it'll be better then my current 3 -6 sales a day. I'm waiting to hear back.
If you wouldn't mind keeping us posted, I'd really appreciate it. It would be very interesting to hear if you get any feedback.
can you provide more information on this? what are the strategies in place, costs? i guess it is really more a marketing buzz concept than anything else - but it would be interesting to know how such a solution works.. (ie: how do they contact customers etc)
It is a one stop market place, however, publishers have advertising power (i.e. cash and clout). For instance all of the big publishers get their games featured on the blogs like TA, TUAW, Gizmodo, etc... And that usually goes hand in hand with them purchasing ads. Indies typically do not have the cash, and only occasionally have the clout. So, when I get done putting together what I consider a "awlsum" game, I will want to make sure it gets exposure. As Flickitty mentioned, there are some publishers out there that pull some seriously dirty tactics. They will pump up a game with dozens if not hundreds of 5 star ratings. They will also crap on the competition. It's actually a small price to pay to do such things. $.99 to $2.99 per positive or negative rating isn't that expensive to someone with cash. Ethically, it sucks ass. I too do not want to go the pump and dump route. Filtering out the good from the bad on a public forum would be nice. For instance, I was a victim of such a tactic with my game Craps University. Not fun. I was 2nd in overall casino apps. Then I got a flood of negative reviews. I have an idea of who did this, but no way to prove it. Sometimes people suck.
Then wouldn't the best option to be to go with a publisher that is a respectable organization? Don't discount the use of a publisher. We, at Pocket Monkey Games, act as a publisher for developers who are concerned with making a good game and don't want to stress about the many hours that go into marketing a game, such as creating and distributing press releases and responding to community inquiries. Yet we don't use any nefarious tactics. But that buying review tactic is pretty clever...
We've had extremely good luck going with a publisher. We're very happy with what Chillingo has done for us - in many ways. If you have a chance, I highly recommend that option.
Oh, I was only ranting about dirty tactics, I am definitely leaning towards talking to publishers for a particular game of mine that should be coming out in late spring.
I had considered contacting Chillingo, but I don't have any way of checking their record, in regard to HOW they promote. I am not willing to shit all over the developers on this board, just so that my game can make a ton of money. Is there any way to check into their methods or their record? Do they rampantly give negative reviews to other developers, and only promote their own titles? Do they have morals and ethics? Can they verify this?
Go ahead and contact Chillingo. Chris Byatte over at Chillingo is a great guy and very easy to chat with, so no reason not to speak with them about future dealings and exploring your options.
You should get in touch with them, tell them what you're concerned about, they'll clear up any questions you have. We've never seen them do anything like that.
Tom here, from Chillingo. Thanks for the vote of praise pocketmonkey and we are very impressed with the quality of ravensword as a game. If people havn't played it you should really check it out on the app store. Chillingo and Clickgamer have a very responsible outlook on how we publish our games. We have never voted down any opposition nor voted up our own apps. The quality of the games that we publish speak for itself. A good game gets good honest reviews and will rise to the top no matter what nefarious techniques maybe used to stop it. We would be happy to chat to you further and dispell any negative perceptions you mayhave. Please contact me directly at tom @ chillingo.com