“Forged Factories” Distribution and Marketing Plan

1. “Forged Factories” Distribution and Marketing Plan
Project and Portfolio V
April 14th, 2019
Benjamina Rogers, Gary Baugh, Hunter Crabtree, Marcela Celma Flores, Joseph Holton

2. Executive Summary
Our company Light way Studios helps indie companies flourish against AAA game companies,
other music artist and other top companies. We are a distribution company who offers advice to
help our clients gain population. As for our client now Dead way Studios we are help promoting
their up incoming game Forged Factories and hopes to get their product on steam on release. Our
project is a distribution strategy for forged factories is help create a social media presence as well
as help establish their own website to create a establish and running database for them. The main
hook line for Forged Factories “As you try to escape the planet you must fight the savage beasts
that wander the surface and battle against the harsh weather conditions that can strike at any
moment. It will be up the you to survive and escape from the planet using the tools offered by the
crew members.” The ROI is calculated with precision by our Sales Manager Marcela Flores.
Although Forged Factories is in the indie game tag is due to its their first game. Even though it's
their first game they are in the RTS category of video games that has a hardcore following of
gamers making it a high percentage of success. Some of their competitors in the gaming industry
such as Xcomm, They are Billions have done outstanding and are very successful. They are
Billions was a indie game as well and

3. II. Company Information
Light Way Studios is a startup company filled with a group of like minded individuals
who are almost college graduates looking to expand the company into the spotlight by helping
indie companies and self starters get their projects out on the frontline. The representatives for
Light Way Studios is composed of five members who are all students studying Entertainment
Business at Full Sail University. Benjamina Rogers who is our Target Market and Marketing
expert. Gary Baugh who is our Publishing and data analysis. Hunter Crabtree who is our expert
in video game marketing as well as website creation. Marcela Celma Flores and Joseph Holton
are our experts who work on gathering information about the companies and compare and
contrast ideas. Our future path we hope to work for is PC Indie Game companies who are
looking to get their work out their and are struggling to do it alone. Light Way Studios strives
and hopes to work with more indie made companies in the near future. In order to ensure these
are not just ideas we are looking to create a social media presence and start to gather more clients
and create a reputation on being one of the top rated promoters for indie level companies.
III. Project Information
Creators: Lacey Sigman, Jeremy Dinlocker, Mason Goehring and Jordan Schaller
Title: Forged Factories
Media: PC game
Genre: Real time Strategy (RTS).
Hooks
- “They supposed crashing was the worst part”
- “You can fight the weather”
- “All you can do is fight”
- “Only the strong will survive”
Logline
As you try to escape the planet you must fight the savage beasts that wander the surface and
battle against the harsh weather conditions that can strike at any moment. It will be up the you to
survive and escape from the planet using the tools offered by the crew members.
Premise

4. In Forged Factories, you control 3 crew members of a ship that crash landed on a wild planet
called Xoria. while you try to find a way to leave the planet, you must fend off the savage beasts
that roam the surface and battle against the harsh weather conditions that can strike at any
moment. It’s up to you to survive the onslaught long enough to escape from the planet using your
array of tools offered by the crew members. (DeadSeaStudios, 2019)
Competitors
They are Billions
Command and Conquer
Halo Wars
IV. Distribution and Marketing Goals
This plan will accomplish many things such as building connections that will bring
awareness to the game and the games production studio, securing an appropriate ROI, secure
additional funding for future projects and narrow down target markets. Many of these aspirations
will go beyond this initial year’s investment and require additional funding outside of the
original budget. Through this plan we will also gain a better understanding of the company as a
whole and basic project information.
The games target audience is the group of individuals that are most likely to
download/buy the game. This is something that should be narrowed down as early in
developmental process as possible, it starts with the creation of the game. One reason this is done
as early as possible is so that design choices can be made that appeal to this target market and
ultimately increase the chance of success.
Bringing awareness to Forged factories is our primary goal. The plan will also bring
attention to the production studio the game is created by. Creating the game is actually the first
step in the process. After the game is created you then need to discover a way to let the masses
know your game exists. This can come in the form of social media promotions, posts on
forums/message boards, and the use of an aggregator. It is beneficial for the production studio to
focus on free or low costs avenues for promotion.
Posts on forums and message boards should be utilized, forums are good for letting
people know about your project and it helps start valuable discussions. Moreover, the costs of
posting to forums is non-existent. Another reason why this is so valuable is because the
production studio will be capable of receiving opinions and feedback in certain areas that may
need improvement. Moreover, forums are a good place to politely ask your target market to tell
others about the game.

5. Moreover, social media promotions should also be considered. It is in my opinion that
when it comes to spreading the word, there are few tools more powerful today than social media.
One reason for this is because it is a free and said to be an easy way of gaining a following
surrounding the game. It is also recommended that pages and accounts be specifically created for
this game. Twitch is also great if you want to set up a live streaming session where you can
answer questions and talk directly to people interested in your project.
In this plan, an aggregator will be recommended. An aggregator is defined as being a
website or program that collects related items of content and displays them or links to them. An
aggregator often times acts as a middle man between the game developer and retailers. Often
times they deal exclusively with the distribution and promotion of the product. The use of an
aggregator is important to build recognition of the game.
Social media plays a big role in the success of many businesses, by the end of the first
year the goal is to have a large social media engagement, to build trust and emotional
connections among the players. Establishing one on one connection thought social media or any
other platform can create loyal customers for the game, the company and future projects, and it is
essential for marketing and promotion. It can benefit by reducing the cost of marketing for future
games or game updates if the social media engagement is larger.
V. Target Market
Primary Target Market
Demographics
Age: 24 - 28
Geography: Orlando, FL at first, then to other major cities
Gender: Male
Work 9 - 5 job or go to school
Psychographics
Interests: RTS games, PC & strategy games
Values: freedom, physical relaxation, mental challenge
casual gamers

6. sufficient time to play outside of work or school
Research shows that games with a faster pace, tend to amass a younger audience than
games that take time and more strategy or thought process (Yee, Revisiting the Strategy). This
makes since, as younger people have more energy and are less likely to focus on a single game
for too long. We see this even in the genre of just strategy games, whereas games like League of
Legends are played by people people as young as high school, but game that takes much more
time and strategy like Europa Universalis have a median age of 26 (Yee, Game Audience).
This is why we are focusing on men ages 24 - 28, because research shows that PC based
strategy games such as this game are played predominantly by men. So much so, as a 98% male
player base again with the game Europa Universalis (Yee, Game Audience). These men are
based predominantly in Orlando, Florida, and are either in school or working a 9 - 5 job so they
have time in the evenings to casually play. We are planning to focus mainly on Orlando at first
as well to build some traction and a follower base with the game.
Secondary Target Market
Demographics
Age: 18 - 24
Geography: Orlando, FL at first, then to other major cities
Gender: Male
Work 9 - 5 job or go to school
Psychographics
Interests: RTS games, PC & strategy games
Values: freedom, physical relaxation, mental challenge
casual gamers
sufficient time to play outside of work or school
As with the primary target market, the psychographics and most of the demographics are
the same. The only thing that is being changed is the age. The reason for this goes back to the
research we found that stated that slower paced games have a generally older audience (Yee,
Revisiting the Strategy). However, this doesn’t mean that younger people won’t play the game.
This is why we want to partially advertise to a slightly younger age demographic that will still
appreciate the strategy aspect

7. VI. Distribution
Plan A: Finding a Large Distributor or Publisher
The three companies that would work best with our project based on their body of work
distributed are: Numantian Games, Westwood Studios, and Ensemble Studios. These companies
are actually the studios that develop the three games we considered as competitors. The reason
for this is that they produce the same style of games, so once the game gains a following one of
the these companies make consider buying it from our clients to further develop.
Our methods for gaining awareness for our client’s game were discussed briefly in our
Distribution and Marketing Goals section. First off, we are going to use an aggregator to
provide the game to customers. This aggregator will be Steam, which is the most popular PC
gaming platform in the world, as well as selling the game on Amazon Gamelift through a code
usable on Steam.
Social media will be a very important part of the promotion and distribution plan. We
will start a Facebook page and Instagram account for the game, and run small paid ads to our
target audience through both social medias. The bio on both accounts will contain a link to the
project’s website. We will frequently post pictures of development, and show how the game is
progressing, as well as announce the games release. These posts will include pictures of
characters, land layout and items, game quotes, and videos of gameplay. We will also post event
dates such as the release of the game, and finishing certain stages of production, as well as
developer info. Finally, we will create a Twitter account for customer support, game updates,
long videos of gameplay, concepts, and progress.
The last thing we will be doing is posting on forums that are connected to the gaming
industry, such as the IGN forum, the We are Billions forum, and even the FMX forum. The goal
of these posts is to direct people who players similar games to our clients game’s website, social
media account, or Steam account where they can download the game.
On another note, the developers should create a trailer video to advertise the game and its
concept, and post this on YouTube or Steam. This will actually be required for the upload
process on Steam.
For starting out with our client’s game, we have decided that E3 is too large of an event
to get the game into within our time slot. Instead, we submit the game to the FMX conference, a
globally influential conference dedicated to the art, technology and business of the animation,
visual effects, games and immersive media industries and communities. At the FMX Forum,
hardware and software vendors demonstrate their innovations at the Marketplace, companies
look for creative talent at the Recruiting Hub, and universities present their projects at the School
Campus (Games Industry Events).
Plan B: Self Distribution Plan

8. Bricks and Mortar Outlets
Within the local area of Orlando, Florida there are two main brick and mortar stores that
work with local indie video game companies to help promote their products. Hudson Video
Games and Gamer inc Online. These Brick and Mortar stores according to their websites
encourage indie based companies to put there games through there store as they offer a 10%
more payout from bigger name companies including “Gamestop” or “Walmart”. The target
market for their companies are spot on for Forged Factories Target Market. Hudson Video
Games also host tournaments and showcases for new games, or to the general public making it
good exposure and take advantage of the audience these companies have established to jump
start your playerbase. This also allows for your game to be beta tested if needed or to set up a
public stream to allow people to watch and and answers questions through the live stream as well
as tweet at you to answers Q/A live. Gamers inc according to their website page
(facebook.com/gamersinc) “We always have new, unique items coming into the store....So
what are you waiting for?” This is an exact quote from their page referencing they always
have new and undiscovered masterpieces that are non AAA development making it
another great choice for hard copy release.
Aggregator
The Aggregator suggested for Forged Factories is Steam. After Research of all
types of Video Game Aggregators Steam out beats all of them by a landslide. Steam has
been around the longest out of all their competition and has a amazing wide variety of
indie publishers on their platform. Steam has its own sectionfor indie development
games called Steam Workshop. Steam workshops allows people to use already made
games and create mods and scripts for already released games, or use their tools in order
to create or publish their own creations through the website. According to (steam
statistics.com) over 125 million users use steam allowing for many eyes to see Forged
Factories as well as having it promoted throughout Steams web page on new releases and
indie titled tags. Since Forged Factories is going to be released only on PC Steam gives
extra benefits for choosing their platform. While doing research on Stream content
contracts Steam will take 20% of total sales and while decrease for the amount of copies
sold up to 50 million. Since Steam is very indie driven platform they love and are willing
to work with games such as Forged Factories on their website for a small platform fee.
Project Website

9. “Forgedfactories.com” is an excellent domain name as it is the game's title and is un used by the
public domain. If a website for the game was to be created it would be for showcasing videos
and updates for Forged Factories. The homepage would be an opening trailer for the game and
Game art in the background to have users who first go onto the website not having to search
youtube or the website just to find gameplay making it easier for the user to get attracted to the
game. For the tabs on the Website would be a contact info to email the Social Media manager or
the Customer Service manager for anyone who has questions or feedback. Another Tab would
include all social media links as well as live recent post for customers who aren't able to access
their social media pages at that time read and follow what's going on and stay up to date. The last
Tab on the website would be to buy founder pack editions This Tab would bring you to the
multiple different game packs to help support Forged Factories. Since it would be accepting
payment we would use a Third-Party Merchandiser. The Reasons for suggesting this is it's easier
to have them handle all transactions and take a small fee for doing so. The Third Party suggest to
go for would be Leaders Merchandise service. After doing research they are one of the best in
the business and have cheep service fees.
Customer Relationship Management Systems
As mentioned above for a Website suggested to be created if we are taking a look at how data
would be collected would be through google analytics as well as surveys through social media.
As for interacting with customers and potential customers social media is going to be the key.
Every Mainstream social media site including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube and
our website. Facebook would be used to post Bug Fixes, Hotfixes or information about Forged
Factories. Facebook was chosen for this site as it is the easiest to post long post as well as getting
through more people when it comes to data. Twitter and Instagram is going to be used when it
comes to Customer Service, Q/A’s, or interactions with fans. These sites were chosen due to our
target market and according to twitter and instagram sites target market are very similar to
Forged Factories target market making it where most customers would be. When it comes to
customer complaints there are multiple ways to reach the developers and managers of social
media sites in order to ensure the best customer service. There is a part on the website that allows
submission on game feedback allowing it to be anonymous or not making users feel comfortable
with being honest. Social media sites DM’s suggest to be open at all times allowing for people to
ask or feel free to start a chat with any of the developers.
VII. Sales Projections
Price and Sales Projections

10. Sales Projection
PC Based RTS Price Projected
Sales
Projected Revenue
Retail
Online $5.99 120 $718.80
Wholesale
Cybertron Video Games $3.99 90 $359.10
Think Geek $3.99 90 $359.10
Royal Empire Gaming $3.99 90 $359.10
Projected total Net Sales Revenue $1,796.10
Return on Investments (ROI)
According to the research made after calculating the total budget, which added a total of
1520 USD after adding the total cost of the marketing campaign, production cost and
distribution cost, and our total revenue will be 276 USD in the first year. According to the
calculations made. Forged Factories’ ROI is 18.16% with a low-end ROI of 6.38 % based
on a profit of 1,617 USD, and a high-end ROI of 27.96% based on a profit of 1945 UDS.
Budget

11. BUDGET
Tactics Specifics Frequency Amount Annual cost
Professional Assistance
Creators No payment 0 $ -
Designers No payment 0 $ -
Festivals One-time cost
Indi Cade 1 $ 80.00
Merchandise One-time cost
Printed Shirts $6 per shirt 20 $ 120.00
Pins $0.50 per pin 100 $ 50.00
Bookmarks $0.20 per bookmark 100 $ 20.00
Media Advertising One-time cost
Instagram $0.50 per click 500 $ 250.00
Twitter $0.50 per click 500 $ 250.00
YouTube $10 per click 60 $ 600.00
Printed Media One-time cost
Flyers $0.10 per flyer 500 $ 50.00
Manufacturing One-time cost
Cards $0.20 per card 600 $ 100.00
Total
$ 1,520.00
VIII. Marketing
When trying to differentiate yourself from the competition as an indie game developer, a
little more effort is required to separate your game from the masses. Although marketing and
promotion prices can vary from affordable to expensive, there are many steps that can be taken
to push your product out while still staying within the $1,500 budget that was set.
Marketing Tools
The following marketing tools will be utilized to promote “Forged Factories.” First, a
website will be created to act as a home base for the game. It will feature an extended overview
of the game, screenshots of gameplay, and relevant links. There will be a blog page featured on
the website to keep the audience up to date on the development of the game, along with industry
news. Aside from the blog page, there will be a media page to house all of the images, video, and
other creative content. Next, social media will play a significant role in the promotion of “Forged
Fantasies”. According to an article written by Brent Barnhart, “social media for gamers is

12. primarily focused around Twitter and YouTube” (Barnhart, 2018). Twitter could be utilized to
interact with the target audience to build an emotional connection between the audience and the
game. By providing updates on the development of the game, hot takes on industry news, and
holding Q&A sessions with your followers, Twitter could serve as the perfect platform to reach
your targeted audience. On the contrary, YouTube has become gaming content central especially
since gamers can repurpose their streams from Twitch and upload them to YouTube. According
to Barnhart, “the platform’s dedicated gaming section boasts nearly 80 million subscribers as of
September 2018 and represents some of Youtube’s most-viewed content” (Barnhart, 2018).
Streaming live gameplay could increase the anticipation for the release of the game because it is
giving the audience something to look forward to. Behind the scenes videos, highlights, and
preview clips are other examples of the type of content that could be included on the YouTube
page.
The next marketing tool that will be utilized to promote “Forged Factories” will be
trailers. Although this comes later on when the game is fully developed and ready to be released,
this is one of the most important things to create excitement for your game. Each unique and
significant element of the game should be covered throughout the trailer. In addition to trailers,
the next marketing tool that will be used to promote the product will be an press kit. A press kit
is a package of promotional material that is provided to the press to brief them about you a
product, service, or candidate. This could help inform the press about your game and could lead
to write ups on blog sites for indie gamers such as indiegamerchick.com. Lastly, gaming booths
is the last marketing tool that will be utilized to promote the game. Although gaming booths can
turn out to be very expensive, there are some conventions with cheaper registration fees.
IndieCade is the international festival of independent games. For a flat fee of $80 you can submit
your game and you are accepted, this will garner in more attention for the video game. In
addition to the gaming booths, having merch available for people to purchase could help
generate revenue for the game and also start to build brand recognition.
Promotion
Pre-Release (May through August)
Strategy
The pre-release strategy for “Forged Factories” will consist of building
anticipation for the game. This will be executed by utilizing the game’s social
media to post updates, engage in discussions with the game’s audience, posting
behind the scenes content of the developers actually working on the game. Later
on when the game is in its final stages of development when the release date is
approaching, releasing trailers could contribute to the competition.
Tactics
May 1st-May 10th: Create Twitter profile for game and begin generating
followers.

13. May 11th-May 20th: Begin posting screenshots and behind the scenes content of
the developers working on the game.
May 21st-May 31st: Create five minute video for YouTube to show the process of
creating the game.
June 1st: Reveal the main character via Twitter.
June 2nd: Create and upload the process of creating the main character while also
providing his/her backstory.
July 10-July 20th: Send out press kit.
Release (September)
Strategy
The release strategy for selling the game once it has been released is to offer
exclusive content when you purchase the game on the day of its release. This
could include downloadable content that is only available the first day. With this
type of exclusive deal, it will urge customers to want to purchase the game the
first day it is released because they probably will not have the chance to.
Tactics
September 1st: Offer downloadable content from the games website the day the
game is released.
September 1st: Give the audience a discounted code to exclusive game merch.
September 1st: Live stream of the countdown of the game premiere.
September 1st: Live gameplay streamed on Twitch.
September 1st: Q&A session held on Twitter for any questions and concerns.
Post Release(October through December)
Strategy
For the post release strategy, this is when the gaming booths will come into play.
If accepted into the gaming festivales, “Forged Factories” will have its own booth
where new players can come see and play the game hands on before buying it. If
they like it, they will be able to purchase the game at the booth, along with
exclusive content.
Tactics
October 1st: Submit the game to IndieCade.
October 10th-October 21st: Introduce more in-game downloadable content.
November 27th-30th: Offer black friday deal for discounted merch with game.
December 1st: Get popular gamer to stream the game on Twitch

14. V. References
Deadseastudios, A. (2019, March 13). Synopsis. Retrieved from
https://gamecoding561837219.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/synopsis/
Yee, N. (2015, September 4). Game Audience Profiles. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from
https://quanticfoundry.com/2015/09/04/game-audience-profiles/
Yee, N. (2016, March 23). Revisiting the Strategy Genre Map: Age, Audience Homogeneity, and
The Lasso Effect. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from
https://quanticfoundry.com/2016/03/23/revisiting-the-strategy-genre-map/
Gamers Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/pg/GamersIncOrlando/about/?ref=page_internal
Hudson's Video Games. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hudsonsvideogames.com/buy-sell-
trade.php
The ultimate guide to social media for gamers. (2018, September 25). Retrieved from
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-gamers/
THE BEST 10 Video Game Stores in Orlando, FL - Last Updated May 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved
from https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=videogamestores&find_loc=Orlando
Instagram Ads Cost in 2019 – Complete Up-to-date Guide. (2019, March 28). Retrieved from
https://karolakarlson.com/instagram-ads-cost-and-bidding/