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Did That Publisher Just Ghost Me?
Publisher & Developer Relationships in the Modern Age
Mel Montañ o
Senior Business Development Manager

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ghost
transitive verb
informal: to abruptly cut off all contact with (someone, such as a former
romantic partner) by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, instant
messages, etc.
Added February 2017 to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

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What is this talk about?
● The Start
○ Meeting
● The Middle
○ Developing
○ Launching
● The End
○ Contract completed / Game cancelled
● The Sequel
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4.
Past Publisher - Developer Relationships
● Physical distribution focused
● Mostly one-sided deals
● IP control
● Unknown support
● Market driven and reactionary
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Modern Publisher - Developer Relationships
● Digital distribution focused
● More fair deals
● Own your own IP
● Potentially unknown support
● Market driven and reactionary
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6.
The Meet-Cute
● Mutual friends and developers
● Conferences
● Game-Dev meetups
○ Women In Gaming International
○ City/Region meetups
● Pub-Dev speed dating
● Pub-Dev matching sites
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7.
If You Are Hosting An Event
● Set your Code of Conduct and follow it
● Consider your audience
○ Location
○ Under 21 or non-drinkers
○ Provide non-alcoholic beverages
and snacks
● Avoid loud music
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8.
Attending an Event and Hosting a Booth
● Consider every interaction as new
● Include relevant information on your
business cards and flyers
● Tip: Take notes every meeting
● Stay hydrated, drink some water
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9.
At Events, Don’t Be That Person
● Be respectful
● Drink responsibly
○ Drink some water
● If you make mistakes, apologize.
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After Meeting
● 3 day rule after conferences
○ Unintentional ghosting
● Actionable subject line in your email
○ One email chain, don’t double dip
● Give context in the email
○ “We met at … Was wondering …”
● Don’t be scared to ask questions!
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What To Do When You Think You’ve Been Ghosted
● Around a week after the first message, a
polite follow up is welcomed
● Following messages cc: in additional
contact, give time frames
● Three emails and give a gap
○ Reach back out at the next event
● Staffing changes
● Remember regional holidays!
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Considering a Publishing Partner
● Look at their portfolio
● Talk to other developers
● Ask for information on previous titles
● Take your time, ask questions,
negotiate
● Consider a studio visit
○ Take into account pub/dev location
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Consider Your Dealbreakers
1. Revenue Advance
2. Revenue Split
3. Platforms for Release
4. Schedule
5. Development Support (Analytics, Porting, etc)
6. Day to day relationship
7. Physical / Digital Publishing
8. Marketing Expectations
9. Exclusivity
10. Termination Information
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Working With a Partner - The Day to Day
● Communicate
● Set up recurring calls and check-ins
● Specify monthly information and
reports are needed
● Set up shared folders for assets for
marketing and promotions
● This is a partnership, discuss and
mutually agree on decisions
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15.
Things Not To Do
● Assume anyone works in a specific
department when first meeting
● Lie or threaten
● Go into a meeting totally unprepared
○ Calling the company you’re talking to the wrong
name
● Rebound and duplicate game pitches
○ What about this? Or this?
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16.
It’s OK to Not Have a Publisher
● If you go it alone, work out how to fulfill
those things a publisher provides
○ Revenue Advance, Platform Relationships,
Analytics, Store Page Design, Ongoing sale
management, Marketing and User Acquisition,
Customer Support, QA, Roadmap and Event
Planning, Localization, Etc…
○ Some can be provided by other
service providers
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When Things Go Wrong
● Communicate!
● Stay calm, review your options
● Do a post-mortem with the developer /
publisher to work out what went right
and what could be improved
● Try not to ‘bad mouth’ other studios,
developers, and publishers, but do
share experiences
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When Things Go Right
● Celebrate together
● Mention your publisher please!
● Think about the next game
● Do a post-mortem with the developer /
publisher to work out what went right
and what could be improved
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Questions?
● I’ll be outside following the talk for
further questions
● The talk will be posted following the
conference
● Don’t forget to drink some water today
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Thank You
mel@kongregate.com
@melchiwi

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Relevant Articles
“Code of Conduct.” Open Source Bridge.
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