Hi everyone, this is my first post here, Ive read alot here but still wanted to get some advice on my plans. Im hoping to get alot of replies. Please, if you something positive to offer, fire something off. Ive got about 16 years exp developing in the console industry. Released alot of games for multiple platforms, multiple studios, working primarily as an artist/designer for the majority of those years. Recently my latest studio started working on Mobile projects. I submitted a pitch and management selected it as one of the studios projects to be made for this new year. Now for the last year or so, Ive wanted to do mobile games on my own. Well atleast start a company of my own and work with friends who range from coders to artists, and all have alot of exp, and have worked at some triple A studios themselves. The belief is there, the confidence to make something fun is there and the backing of exp is also there. Yet im hesistant to start. In my age group, people i know have high salaries, have kids, and have little interest to take what they call risks. I on the other hand believe its worth a shot, and have several game pitches ready to go. It looks like ill have to start on my own, meaning sell pitches. My pitches i should say are videos that fully resemble 3rd person gameplay. People cannot tell its not real game footage. Everything shown can be made. But its not a real demo. For me to get enough leverage to pay some of these devs, I simply need funding. Yet how do I go about and ask for it from publishers without the backing of previous mobile games done in my new startup company. And im nervous that these videos will not be enough. But everyones got to start somewhere right? Can this work as a starting point? Lets assume these pitches are strong and well executed. Can this scenario be enough for some places to take a risk? Can I approach solid publishers as a sole developer with the understanding that if funded, yes i could assemble a team quickly. Or will they look at an artist without a programmer as a first take, a bad situation? Ive already thought about crowd funding, and its not a place where i want to start at. I want to learn from the exp with a mobile publisher who is doing well. Who will teach me/my company the dynamics of monetization, and has the reach and community to push out these new products into. Its such a overcrowded market these days to go alone and have confidence. What happens after as well? When it comes to talking about funding? WHat did people here do if they went through this process? Did you have to sell members that would join your team before they gave out funding? Any advice would be great. Rich
Sound like you possibly have better connections than anyone here which is the most likely way. I doubt anyone is willing to put up the amount of funding to create a mobile that you would be looking for to pay the salaries. Those that are could just hire the staff since all you are bringing to the table is an idea and promise of executing it. Then I assume you would also ask for a % of the profits on top of it (if there were any). I would advise trying to make a prototype rather than a video. Also it could be easier to release a couple of small quick casual games first.
Mobile game publishers are not like traditional publishers in anyway. The don't fund game development your ideas are worthless to them. They may offer an up front payment to take ownership of a completed or nearly completed game (10k ish) but they are never going to loan you money to develop a whole game. You could try kick starter where a good concept video might help get funding but unless your ideas are bold, exciting and exceptional you will get nothing The other option is just to team up with one programmer. If you can do all the art work. Although I would never advice a programmer to take a percentage share deal as the game won't make any money. You may have to pay them upfront. Finally you could learn unity and just do it yourself. It's not rocket science, well unless your game is about rocket science.
Yeah, the general best practice for mobile at this stage is to stay as lean as possible. Jumping out of the gate with multiple full-time employees and an ambitious game project would be more risk than is probably wise, I would think, and as ThreeCubes said, isn't going to be something a mobile publisher would be willing to fund unless the game was at a near-complete stage. There have been multiple stories of AAA devs breaking off to do mobile, and the result is mixed, some successes, maybe, but a lot of duds, too, or at least just financially unsuccessful. So finding a way to do it starting out on your spare time with a small project may be your best bet, either on your own or with maybe one or two close friends, who are all willing to do it unpaid for the time being. Alternatively, many indie outfits these days are focusing more on a cross-platform approach, which means you don't have to hang your hat on mobile. Don't know your game ideas, but if it's 3D third-person, you might want to think about going that route. If that's the case, you might have an easier time recruiting people and publishers (although I guess I don't know much about cross-platform publishers), and you would certainly have a better shot with crowd-funding. Even all that said, you ought to give programming something in Unity yourself a shot. I was not a programmer, but I am picking it up pretty quickly. That way you can approach people with a prototype instead of a video mock-up.
I've been in the industry for the last 18 years like you, but the last 6 on my own as an indie dev. My advice is keep your day job, and if you really want to do something start extremely small with a tiny project that you and your friends can complete on your spare time. You think it is hard to make $ as an indie mobile company? Think twice it is extremely hard. So, if you have families and rent to pay, it is suicidal. I know countless of my friends whom made the jump (talented AAA industry veteran) ruins their saving and went back to work for the man. Yes, you might read here and there some truly amazing success story but the true is that for most devs won't make back their investment. So, this is why you should think twice before selling the jewelry and re-mortgaging your house. Anyway, there is already 1000's of games released each week on mobile store, we don't need your one we have already enough competition. JC
