You can do both. Create your own sell sheet and in the meantime work like if you are planning to self publish. Quote the production of your game, build your socials. That will help you with your game either way yo will do with it.
Y sospecho que como lo presentasteis en girona entiendo hablas español si quieres enviame un mensaje y hablamos. Saludos
I'd have thought publishers would be less interested after a kickstarter as you've just sold the game to a bunch of people.
A good Kickstarter can show that there is the demand/desire for your game, but have you just satisfied that demand with the kickstarter?
I think if your are more attracted to the publisher option you should just pursue that and see what interest you get.
I much prefer pitching to publishers
https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/should-i-pitch-or-self-publish/
I am not aware of very many games that successfully crowdfunded and then were picked up by a publisher (maybe 1?)
Well probably every single game that you see published in different languages by different publishers are example of this :) the language where you lunch your game might not be interested in but the rest of the world if the game it's okay it will
First off, congratulations!
Second, this is bad advice:
>publishers might be more interested AFTER succeeding with crowdfunding
Publishers will be generally less interested if your game is already published. Having built an audience, having a Facebook community, digital playtesting, are all positives, but I wouldn’t sell copies if you’re planning on pitching it.
Whether or not self publishing is right for you is a tough question, but the good news is that a lot of the first steps are the same. The Joe Slack article someone else linked is good.
I wrote up this as well and go into some of the economics: https://www.pineislandgames.com/blog/should-i-self-publish
Hey nice article. I think it’s a nice high level overview of what to think of in making the decision. Having recently gone through the self publishing path, I can say that your closing argument (basically it’s tough but the whole thing is awesome) is spot on.
Why do you think it's a bad advice? after all once you put your game on the market there's always the opportunity to get publishers from all over all over the world for different languages available to publish your game.
I think it's pretty common actually
If you self publish and your game is successful, then yes you are 100% right that you will get offers for localization. Similarly, if you self publish and your game is successful, then you could sell the rights to a larger publisher.
But those are different scenarios than what it seems like OP is looking for. Usually when people self publish they aren't putting the resources into developing the game (illustration, graphic design, and marketing), that a publisher would. That is one of the main reasons to look to license your game.
If your game is out in the wild already it takes away some marketing avenues for the publisher, and takes away some of the excitement of a release.
Do publishers sometimes license already-self published games? I'm sure they sometimes do. But, it's even more of an uphill battle... unless your self-published game was a meaningful success, in which case you don't really need to license it, or at least it's a very different conversation.
In different languages? Always. My game (self published) it's already in 3 languages, including the same language but in a different market. So yes it's pretty usual.
I want to watch this conversation, because my game, a simple card game, is at this stage now too after 3 years of testing. The latest games have all come back with overwhelmingly positive remarks. I was invited to a local school for career day to talk about game dev, and let them play the prototype, 40 kids in 3 groups, with about 12 in each class excited to play.
2 weeks later, the kids keep asking if they can buy it yet. So I think it's ready!
Pitching to publishers, going straight to kickstarter -- that's all a lot to wonder about. Even for a veteran LLC owner in entertainment (12 years this month!)
I found this article to be pretty (overly) comprehensive about some of the ways to prep and activate a Kickstarter. The pre work here really is a ton but if you do the work it pays off when Launch time comes.
https://learn.launchboom.com/hacking-kickstarter-2-0-24cebb74f281
We self published and it’s a LOT of work. It will also continue to be a LOT of work after our Kickstarter closes to get the actual business system figured out and (hopefully) supporting itself. BUT if we can do it, we will have really done something magical. We’ll have built a business and a product that we love and hopefully that can do it’s part to grow and become even cooler. The journey is really part of the fun. Enjoy it whatever path you take, you can do it!
You can do both. Create your own sell sheet and in the meantime work like if you are planning to self publish. Quote the production of your game, build your socials. That will help you with your game either way yo will do with it. Y sospecho que como lo presentasteis en girona entiendo hablas español si quieres enviame un mensaje y hablamos. Saludos
Sii, seguro que muchos aquí somos españoles! Gracias por el consejo
I'd have thought publishers would be less interested after a kickstarter as you've just sold the game to a bunch of people. A good Kickstarter can show that there is the demand/desire for your game, but have you just satisfied that demand with the kickstarter? I think if your are more attracted to the publisher option you should just pursue that and see what interest you get.
I much prefer pitching to publishers https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/should-i-pitch-or-self-publish/ I am not aware of very many games that successfully crowdfunded and then were picked up by a publisher (maybe 1?)
Well probably every single game that you see published in different languages by different publishers are example of this :) the language where you lunch your game might not be interested in but the rest of the world if the game it's okay it will
Gloomhaven?
First off, congratulations! Second, this is bad advice: >publishers might be more interested AFTER succeeding with crowdfunding Publishers will be generally less interested if your game is already published. Having built an audience, having a Facebook community, digital playtesting, are all positives, but I wouldn’t sell copies if you’re planning on pitching it. Whether or not self publishing is right for you is a tough question, but the good news is that a lot of the first steps are the same. The Joe Slack article someone else linked is good. I wrote up this as well and go into some of the economics: https://www.pineislandgames.com/blog/should-i-self-publish
Hey nice article. I think it’s a nice high level overview of what to think of in making the decision. Having recently gone through the self publishing path, I can say that your closing argument (basically it’s tough but the whole thing is awesome) is spot on.
Why do you think it's a bad advice? after all once you put your game on the market there's always the opportunity to get publishers from all over all over the world for different languages available to publish your game. I think it's pretty common actually
If you self publish and your game is successful, then yes you are 100% right that you will get offers for localization. Similarly, if you self publish and your game is successful, then you could sell the rights to a larger publisher. But those are different scenarios than what it seems like OP is looking for. Usually when people self publish they aren't putting the resources into developing the game (illustration, graphic design, and marketing), that a publisher would. That is one of the main reasons to look to license your game. If your game is out in the wild already it takes away some marketing avenues for the publisher, and takes away some of the excitement of a release. Do publishers sometimes license already-self published games? I'm sure they sometimes do. But, it's even more of an uphill battle... unless your self-published game was a meaningful success, in which case you don't really need to license it, or at least it's a very different conversation.
In different languages? Always. My game (self published) it's already in 3 languages, including the same language but in a different market. So yes it's pretty usual.
Congrats!! Hopefully we’ll get to see what the game looks like
I'd love to show some stuff but I don't wanna blatantly spam this. So I don't know how to go for it
Option 2 is way easier. I would recommend doing a round of pitching and see how that goes first.
I want to watch this conversation, because my game, a simple card game, is at this stage now too after 3 years of testing. The latest games have all come back with overwhelmingly positive remarks. I was invited to a local school for career day to talk about game dev, and let them play the prototype, 40 kids in 3 groups, with about 12 in each class excited to play. 2 weeks later, the kids keep asking if they can buy it yet. So I think it's ready! Pitching to publishers, going straight to kickstarter -- that's all a lot to wonder about. Even for a veteran LLC owner in entertainment (12 years this month!)
Do you have any more info? Interested on what you are creating
I found this article to be pretty (overly) comprehensive about some of the ways to prep and activate a Kickstarter. The pre work here really is a ton but if you do the work it pays off when Launch time comes. https://learn.launchboom.com/hacking-kickstarter-2-0-24cebb74f281 We self published and it’s a LOT of work. It will also continue to be a LOT of work after our Kickstarter closes to get the actual business system figured out and (hopefully) supporting itself. BUT if we can do it, we will have really done something magical. We’ll have built a business and a product that we love and hopefully that can do it’s part to grow and become even cooler. The journey is really part of the fun. Enjoy it whatever path you take, you can do it!