At Game Republic events, there are always opportunities to pitch your game either formally with meetings and demos, or whilst networking. At our Game Republic Careers Conference on 18th June, we will be hosting a pitching room so students can perfect their pitch by gaining industry feedback. The event forms part of our 2025 programme supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Xsolla.
Soon many of our members will be heading to Develop in Brighton and possibly to devcom too where they will be hoping to have a perfect pitch. Earlier this year we hosted a webinar with experts from Johnston Carmichael and the UK Games Fund on how to deliver the perfect pitch – Scott MacArthur, Callum Purdie and Colin MacDonald shared some fantastic insights and tips so we have summarised them in this useful feature for game developers looking to pitch their game.
How to attract attention for a one-page pitch document
Get your best key artwork that represents the game and have the image be something that looks exciting and something that looks different. Include what the game features are; the platforms; time skills; and budgets. Outline your vision and explain why your company and your team should be backed by the publisher. Also demonstrate any early traction you have got. That is often powerful to get across. What should go into the one pager should also be part of your 2-3 minute elevator pitch e.g. vision, game, team, opportunity and early traction. Having that elevator pitch ready to go and touching on all these points is vital as you never know who you might bump into at events like Develop.
Typical mistakes to avoid when pitching
If you get rejected by a publisher, you must act professionally. There may be cases where there’s a reason to go back if you think there has been an injustice, but generally, explain to the publisher that perhaps in the future there could be another opportunity. Ask the publisher for constructive feedback on what you can improve on in your pitch.
Another mistake is not speaking about your revenue and generating profits in a pitch. So, never be afraid to speak about the commercial aspects of your business and how your game project becomes a sustainable business.
If you’re pitching to a platform holder, make sure that the controllers are the correct for the platform holder. That is a common one. Also, if you’re emailing companies, do not just do a generic email, make each one personal to the publisher.
How to follow-up after a pitch
It varies massively on who you’re pitching to, but the main thing is, if it’s a partner that does feel a great fit, just find ways to keep in contact regularly. Even if there’s not a clear outcome from an initial pitch, just keep them updated on progress, you could use a simple CRM system for example.
Advice for studios working on their first title
If you only have expenditures and no income streams, how do you demonstrate financial trustworthiness? Show that you’re tracking the costs as accurately as possible and and the spending is reasonable, business related and not excessive. Having all that information as complete as possible is important, as you’re not hiding anything. That will build trustworthiness between you and the investor.
The best way of ensuring you’re meeting due diligence requirements
If you get to the point with investors that you’re reaching diligence, you’ll be notified of what they’re planning on doing and whether that is just financial or if it’s separately taxed or legal. Just prepare as early as possible, get everything together. Have a shared drive or one area where you’re putting all the relevant information. Write a checklist early on to cover all the areas you need to. The investor should provide an information request list ahead of time, So, you’ll get the time to prepare exactly what they are asking for. If the information is not available in the business, we report that back to the investor. A lot of the investors understand some of the companies are very early stage and they might not have information available and and don’t have those processes in place yet. So, just being honest about what information you do and do not have if it comes to that.
What are the signals that publishers are not really interest in signing your game
I would always be wary of any publisher that wants you to work specifically on something for them, if they are asking for something in a game without funding it. For example, if they want to see a prototype or if they want to see multiplayer that is more understandable. They maybe shouldn’t have input into the game before they’re committing to it. The the main thing is to speak to other developers; this is one of the reasons why events are so important. Try and improve your network as much as possible also keep getting out there and pitching to different publishers until you get that deal signed, as funding can suddenly be pulled from a game for a variety of reasons.
The webinars and events programme for Game Republic is supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Barclays Games and Creative. If you would be interested in attending Game Republic in-person and online events visit gamerepublic.net/join-us
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