The early funding game: warm up your cold start

The early funding game: warm up your cold start

16.10.2023 November 15th, 2023

There are many ways to be an Entrepreneur, to each their own. However there is one key element that every single one that I have met so far share in common, from beginner to billionaire: an unwavering inner flame to push through regardless of failures and adversity.

So while you might still be wondering about your own path in the industry, here are some tips to get warmed up and push through. You, your creativity, your ideas, your drive are the core of our interest. So we thought to bring a bit of content to give you an insight on some of the best practices to secure early stage funding, as well as later stage investments.

Here is a list that Julia Kenny, Head of content strategy over at Headup Games was kind enough to bring together. She made the list with the hope to make sure all game developers know about these diverse entities that provide early stage funding. She hopes the list will be most useful to anyone out there trying to get started in the industry, or in need of that extra nudge to get the train on the tracks. You are not alone, check them out.

Here is the list from Alan GameDev, with an insane amount of links to find Investors, Publishers, QA, Porting and much more (Thanks Anthony Martinho for complementing the article with it).

Here is some direct input from the extremely seasoned game industry veteran Yves Le Yaouanq, Chief Content Officer over at Focus Entertainment :

  • When to start pitching a publisher, investors or first party :
    • Contacting : it’s never too early. Use onsite events to create first connection & exchange with Publishers, and tease your game even if you don’t have a fully fleshed out pitchdeck yet.
    • Pitching : …but wait for your pitchdeck to be finalized before sharing it.
  • Which genres to avoid (PC f2p? MOBAs, MMOs?)
    • Related to each publisher’s portfolio & expertise…Inform yourself before contacting a specific publisher, especially if they are specialized in specific games.
    • BUT… present a coherence between your game’s genre/scope and budget (ie. a Point & Click for 30M€, or an MMO for 50k€….)
  • What to avoid when interacting with a Publisher/Investor/First party (E.g. being open minded to criticism, accepting evaluation phases can be lengthy, some deals take months to be signed etc)
    • Behave properly…. Publishers are not only signing games, but people/studios, with a potential for relationship that length for years. So be a nice human being.
    • Demonstrate that you know the market and genre in which your game is : present relevant comparable competitors (ie. Don’t put only “Hades” if your game has roguelite mechanics, don’t put only Elden Ring if your game has melee combats, …), don’t put too old examples of similar success (market is dynamic and evolving so successes from 10 years ago aren’t necessarily comparable today), don’t compare to 30 years old existing IPs (ie. I’m making an RPG, Baldur Gate’s 3 sold millions so our game will do millions too), …
    • Don’t start with Lore slides : we want to know about the game/gameplay proposal first, before knowing about the old Decimus wizard who lost his parents 1200 years ago.

Here is another set of ressources Anthony Martinho from Playdigious thought useful to add :

As a conlusion on my end, for Game Seer, as having wrapped up my 10th and 11th investments this month (still under NDA) with my 12th lining up before end of the year, I would say that all the points here above are absolutely valid. They come from obviously experienced professionals that have navigated publishing and investments for many years. However, one big factor that influences us all is the human factor. As Game Seer deploys private investments, it is first and foremost a matter of human contact. When I interact with fellow publishers and investors, we also comment general attitude, ability to accept criticism & most importantly ability to work in team. Do not neglect these aspects, as they will unconsciously have a strong influence on us and our willingless to evangelize your project.

These are the best links and tips Julia, Yves and myself could come up with to help out.

We hope it will help you out there, who ever you might be!

 

 

Bertrand

About Bertrand