Publishing advice?

[super_e]

Hi Guys,

First of all, I would like to commend the moderators for this very informative msgboards. I have been an independent developer for the past 3 years doing handheld games and recently decided to try the PC casual game market. I have an upcoming game and I would like to release it through a publisher. I stumbled upon these forums while searching for publishers. However, the first publisher I have talked to (which I can't disclose) mentioned that they will get 75% and I will get 25% of the profits for a non-exclusive publishing deal, which is really far from handheld software publishing/sales. Because of this, the ff. questions suddenly came up to me.

1. What is the average publishing/developer profit shares for a casual game on the PC?

2. Is 25% profit for the developer the industry standard? Can I expect more from a different publisher?

3. Can you recommend publishers who are into games like Zuma, Jewel Quest or Rocketmania? My game is somewhere along these genre.

4. What's the least number of copies you sold per month and what's your highest? I know this is a sensitive question so its okay if you don't want to share these info. I would just like to get a picture of how much will I be able to generate if I were to grab that 75/25 deal. :)

5. How much does realarcade.com offer for publishing a game? (if its forbidden to disclose these kind of info here, its okay)

Thanks in advance!

Erick
http://www.esoftinteractive.com/

[Jack Norton]

However, the first publisher I have talked to (which I can't disclose) mentioned that they will get 75% and I will get 25% of the profits for a non-exclusive publishing deal, which is really far from handheld software publishing/sales.
Welcome to Pc World :)
I think that will be hard for you to find better rates than those using a publisher, unless you have a very good background of successful titles, etc etc.
I think the highest they offered me was 45%, but not for a casual game. For my casual games the highest was 35%. (sorry, no names :))
About how much money you'll make it depends on lot of factor so no previsions can be made. I know few people who make lot of money with casual games on big portals like BFG or real ... mostly earn not much ;)

[Morphecy]

25-35% is pretty normal rate. One hint: ask for some money in advance - if you get 25% then you could take few thousands of $$$ paid in advance and if you get 35% then a bit less.

Asking for advance money will tell you which publishers are reliable and which are not.

P.S. also check out Sales Figures: http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=218

[Jack Norton]

I think he meant ONLINE publishers, not retail ones. As far as I know online one rarely give advance payments...

[cliffski]

I'd say screw the publisher, sell it yourself for 6 months first. then you know if its a dud or a hit, and can make a more informed choice. Publishers of small games dont care how long they have been on sale. Starship tycoon was on sale for 5 years before it got a retail deal (albeit it undera different name).

[Jack Norton]

Starship tycoon was on sale for 5 years before it got a retail deal
You mean a decent retail deal perhaps? :)

[andyb]

What kind of places do you advertise, paid or free, your sites to get the visitors to it? Do you get a lot of visitors from search engines, or word of mouth, or other sites (indie listing sites, etc)?

cheers,
Andy.

[Morphecy]

@Andy: check out this thread: http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=161

[super_e]

Thank you for your replies guys. Yes I was referring to online publishers for the meantime. Retail can come soon if I have established something in this market. I'm currently more inclined to release through a publisher so that I can concentrate on more cool games. If you know or can recommend a cool publisher, please do let me know. I have read the other threads from the forums and found some info but I felt that I needed more choices.

If you had a game similar to Zuma (casual action-puzzle game with similar quality), would you go for an exclusive publishing deal or a non-exclusive one?

Unfortunately, I can't return the favor to anyone since its my first time in the PC shareware market. But if ever anyone of you need some tips on going wireless or developing/porting for handhelds, drop me an email and I might be able to help you.

Thanks again!

[Morphecy]

www.alawar.com - online publisher, you might even get an advance payment there. Haven't deal with them personally but I have heard others saying good about them.

Good luck with your game.

[Jack Norton]

If I had a game with the QUALITY and GAMEPLAY of Zuma (not just "similar) would be absolutely folly to accept an exclusive deal unless they offer at least 50% royalty and are a BIG publisher :)

[BongPig]

GarageGames offer a great royalty.
http://www.garagegames.com/pg/publishing.php

You can get 60%+ from them on an exclusive deal, less on a non-exclusive.
Plus they are good people in my opinion. Some of the nicest, most upfront people ive worked with.

Also Reflexive offer good rates. Much better than the 25% at least. I cant say exatly but better.

[andyb]

Thanks for the link Morphecy :)

[Applewood]

Hey Erick - what you doin in this grown-ups world ? ;)

[super_e]

Thank you for the tips again guys! So far, based from my research, garagegames has the highest percentage and they are indeed developer-friendly. I'm still getting in touch with other publishers. I'm looking actually for a publisher not with the highest rate but also someone who can provide wide exposure. :) Has anyone tried idigicon lately btw? They seem to be down.

Paul: Nice to hear from you mate! Yeah I wanted to try the PC casual game market this time after ~3 years of doing handheld games. :) Wanna work on a joint project again? ;)

[Applewood]

Probably do yeah. Bit busy with paid work at the moment but we could knock up some bonzer pc stuff in next to no time. Got a real good idea for an Indie game too. Get in touch offline ?

Great to 'see' you again mate.... :)