Pitching Game Ideas to Companies

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Spoonweaver
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Pitching Game Ideas to Companies

Post by Spoonweaver »

I'd like this to be a long post detailing the ins and outs of pitching game ideas to companies.
But it's not...

Instead it's a general question thread about pitching game ideas to companies.
I'm sure everyone here has a ton of game ideas, it's likely the reason you're all here. Let's face it, we don't personally have the time, resources, and in some cases the talent or know how to make all those great games we have in our head. So pitching them to someone that does seems like a no brainer.

Anyways, I have a few ideas I was thinking of possibly pitching to a few of these open pitch companies and was wondering if anyone here had any experience or just general knowledge or thoughts in the matter.


One company that caught my eye was adult swim games.
http://www.adultswim.com/games/pitch/
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Post by TMC »

I wasn't sure what kind of pitch you were talking about, but in the case of Adult Swim it seems that they will either fund development of game, or just publish it, with an advance. So basically, Adult Swim is a quite traditional game publisher like Brøderbund?
I'm amused that their agreement begins with "Ladies and Gentlemen: I am submitting to you certain material herewith..."

Seems like you might have been talking about just giving away ideas. Aren't they a dime a dozen? Do companies actually invite or accept them? Despite which, you'd have to sign away all your rights to the idea, or else they couldn't consider it.
Last edited by TMC on Sun May 14, 2017 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

Well as far as signing away right, it's different for each company. That also goes for ideas. Each company handles random ideas differently.

I've seen a few companies basically turn it into a contest where the winner gets what amounts to around 500 bucks in stuff or less and gains all the rights and such for the game and all other games submitted. Clearly those would be the worse case scenarios for game ideas.

In the case of Adult Swim, calling them a game publisher seems more accurate. They do seem to simply want to publish your game and not make it themselves.

I guess the question then would be, is it better to go to a publisher like Adult swim or kickstarter? What value would adult swim add that kickstarter funds couldn't and what would adult swim's cut of the profits be, they don't seem to openly mention it.

In any case, they mention that they look for previous game titles submitters have developed which leads me to think that some of us on here may have an edge in submitting to them.
But who knows.
I figured I'd bring it up though as it's an interesting topic I think
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Post by Rogissidor »

Adult Swim has a certain kind of audience, so getting into the game publishing business is an interesting and relevant way of engaging their demographic. I was kind of surprised to see them pick up Project Rainworld, not sure it fits their tone. They have clout with the 20-something crowd so they're smart to do it, it's pretty much free money.

No developer wants to make your game for you. It's easier than ever to self-publish. That said, I'd like to see modern digital equivalents of Working Designs and Atlus. A digital publisher can be a sort of curator and get your game in front of a particular audience. That's the scenario where I see developers getting funding or assistance, because a publisher-curator has a vested interest in producing content for their audience.
Last edited by Rogissidor on Mon May 15, 2017 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Gizmog »

Best general advice:

1) Document everything.

2) Trust no one.

EDIT:

3) Make sure to read the fine print! The Penny Arcade boys once infamously almost signed over 97% of their money, FOREVER, to who seemed like a good comic publisher at the time. Other guys weren't so lucky! Whatever you do, don't sign away your whole future for the sake of one game.
Last edited by Gizmog on Tue May 16, 2017 12:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by TMC »

There's actually an ex-OHR user who runs a small games and comic publisher and developer, MADSOFT Games. It too bad, they don't seem to be very active anymore, but he's the best person to ask around here. See the last discussion. He said they took only around a ~15% cut and invest in the games. Have a look, there's plenty of information there and on the site.

Publishers can do a number of different things: funding, QA/helping you with the game, advertising, putting it in front of an existing audience, and distribution. Different developers will want different things so I guess you have to ask.

But really, any company that accepts game pitches is going to need to protect themselves whether they use the idea or not. 90% of the Adult Swim agreement is making sure them looking at a pitch doesn't give you a leg to stand on if you try to sue them later. In particular if you submit something that isn't copyrightable (eg an "idea" rather than a work) then they owe you nothing if they take it. I think there's nothing wrong with that; these aren't patents.
Basically you'd have to email them and ask about the process, because there's no real information on the website.

Since Adult Swim strongly associate their name with the games and spend money on advertising it, I imagine that their cut would be higher than a publisher like Steam. What's Steam at these days?
Last edited by TMC on Thu May 18, 2017 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by The Wobbler »

Steam takes 30% and Adult Swim publishes through Steam. I'm genuinely surprised to see any company have a "pitch us your idea" section, it's a potential legal mess.
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Post by TMC »

But are there any? That accept ideas for their own development, rather than (possibly unfinished) games that you want them to fund or publish. I haven't looked, but I haven't heard of any, aside from the crappy competition Spoon mentioned.

Well, of course there are developers that take suggestions on their forums, that's not what I mean.
Last edited by TMC on Fri May 19, 2017 4:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
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