Business of Game Design: Funding & Self-Publishing Dr. Lewis Pulsipher Pulsiphergames.com Copyright 2013 Lewis Pulsipher

August 8, 2015 Note about the slides  Slides are provided primarily for those who want detailed notes later, not as an accompaniment to the talk  Consequently, they are “wordy”  Available at  Or just go to pulsipher.net (not.com) or pulsiphergames.com and look for teaching material

Who am I  Designed my own games while a teenager  Began playing commercial wargames in 1963  Played the original Atari 2600 and have played some PC games heavily, but rarely play any video games these days; never owned a game console  My favorite game is “the game design game”

Who am I  Designer of several commercially- published board wargames (most recently January 11), more games to come  Active designer of board and card games (playtesters solicited!)  Book “Game Design: How to create video and tabletop games, start to finish”, McFarland (booth at GenCon)  Wikipedia: Lewis Pulsipher; Britannia (board game); Archomental

Some of my games

We’re talking about business, not about game design  But if you want to make money, you have to know the business  It’s hard to find a publisher these days –Many have in-house staff, others are self-publishers  As a last resort, you may want to fund and publish your game yourself –But then you become a publisher, not a game designer!

Reality Check  Almost no one makes a living designing (or selling) games  Most who do, work for a game company, not freelance  Publishing is risky – but that’s why publishers make a lot more from a successful game than the designer  Many publishers began as self-publishers –Including Fantasy Flight (once they got out of the comic distribution business)

Reality Check 2

OK, How much do you make if you do find a publisher?  In my experience, royalties are a percentage of the publisher’s actual revenue –5% is most common, range 4-8%  Publisher sells to distributor at 40% of list price or less; distributor sells to retailer for 10% more  Internet sales are becoming significant— then publisher makes 100%  Shipping costs may be subtracted from revenue

Royalty example  $40 list game, 5% of $16 = 80 cents  Per 1,000 copies, $800  $20 game, $400 per thousand  Wargame typical print run is <= 2,000  “Euro” games might go up to 10,000  Most games sell poorly after first six months, most are not reprinted  German “Game of the Year” might sell 250,000 or more, after award  It’s a hit-driven industry. How many hits a year, compared with hundreds of games published?

What about the biggies?  In general, the really big companies have staff to design their games  Many will not even accept outside submissions  Virtually all will require you sign a statement relieving them of all liabilities  At least one only works through agents  In USA, Hasbro owns all the traditional boardgame publishers such as Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Avalon Hill

Publishing alternatives  All these methods require considerable knowledge to put game together in correct format, to hire artists/editors  Spend the money to self-publish traditionally –Expensive –Risky –Requires constant attention  Use a third party to help self-publish traditionally –Fulfillment companies –GameSalute no longer offers their more extensive service  Self-publish through POD –TheGameCrafter.com and others –Requires virtually no funding  PDF/desktop publishing/Print n Play –Requires virtually no funding  “P500” – preorders –Generally only established publishers  “Ransom”/crowdfunding model—kickstarter.com, Indiegogo

Distribution methods  Traditional distribution/aggregator –You get only 33%-40% of list price  Internet distribution through your own Web site –You get 100% of list, but will your target market buy this way –Not mass-market, for example  Online PDF distribution sites such as RPGnow  Thegamecrafter.com or other POD  Sell at conventions  Give it away and hope for a deal with a traditional publisher

Funding  Self-funded –I’ve heard of people taking a second mortgage  Friend/family funded  Publisher funded –But then we’re not in self-publishing any more  “Ransom”/crowdfunding model

“Ransom”/crowdfunding  Ransom: If I get $X I’ll give this away to everyone –Originally for fiction  Crowdfunding –Kickstarter –Indiegogo and others

Kickstarter  Even traditional publishers use Kickstarter –For them it’s a “gauge the enthusiasm” and pre-order system  Costs nothing to try it –Well, except for your time  KS (and Amazon) take a chunk of the successful funds

Indiegogo  Much newer than KS but may be available where KS is not  Big difference: if a project is partially funded, you get the partial funds (KS: no money changes hands)  Not as well known/frequented as KS

Creating the Look of the Game  Hiring artists, unless you are one  Hiring for editing and layout, unless you’re good at it

Creating files to be printed  Requires both understanding and computer-technical skill  Some programs are free, the best cost a lot of $$$$  Time-consuming to learn

Using traditional publishing methods  Finding a suitable printer, arranging for shipping, arranging to house inventory (unless you have a BIG house…)  Sales, shipping, promoting, customer support –“Discoverability” is a big problem now – people won’t buy your game if they don’t know anything about it  Fulfillment house can take care of storing inventory, perhaps even of customer support

Online resources  Boardgamegeek.com (along with sister sites for RPGs and video games)  Sloperama.com – good advice about getting into the video game industry  Board game designer’s forum  GameCareerGuide.com (video games)

Questions? Comments?