How to Craft the Perfect Pitch / Nathan Sölbrandt ( Xsolla)
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•8 views
Struggling with how to pitch your game? The Xsolla Funding Club has evaluated thousands of pitches. In this talk, we will demonstrate how to build a deck that avoids the most common mistakes, clearly articulates your vision, and gives your team the best chance of getting funded.
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to How to Craft the Perfect Pitch / Nathan Sölbrandt ( Xsolla)
Similar to How to Craft the Perfect Pitch / Nathan Sölbrandt ( Xsolla) (20)
More from DevGAMM Conference
More from DevGAMM Conference (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
How to Craft the Perfect Pitch / Nathan Sölbrandt ( Xsolla)
- 1. June 2023 HOW TO CRAFT THE “PERFECT” PITCH NATHAN SÖLBRANDT BD Manager - Indies
- 2. AGENDA 1 2 3 4 WHAT DO YOU WANT? UNDERSTANDING INVESTORS THE PITCH HOW XSOLLA CAN HELP
- 4. MONEY, GELD, PENGE, NAUDA, PIENADZE ● What are your ambitions? ○ An IP universe? ○ Multiple unconnected games? ● Do you want to manage people? ● Do you always want to build games? ● Do you want to build Web3 F2P MMO game and exit in 18 months? WHAT WILL MONEY ALLOW YOU TO DO?
- 5. YOUR VISION ● Build great premium Indie games that fuse Baltic mythology with brutal survival & crafting gameplay… ● And we need € to get it done WE WANT TO…
- 7. NUMBER OF GAMES RELEASED ON STEAM 2004 -2021 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 0 37 39 95 148 188 350 336 329 414 551 10,000 7,500 5,000 2,500 2,679 4,466 8,137 7,841 9,609 10,696 Source 1 Source: Steam Spy © Statista 2022 1,631 6,251
- 8. WHO IS THE AUDIENCE (FOR YOUR PITCH)? NOT REDDIT USER R/BATTLEAXE47564 THE INVESTOR! YOU ARE NOT PERSUADING THE PUBLISHER TO PLAY YOUR GAME YOUR ARE PERSUADING THEM THAT AN AUDIENCE WILL PLAY YOUR GAME
- 9. INVESTORS ARE ALL DIFFERENT TEND TO FOCUS ON THE SPACE THEY UNDERSTAND 1 YOU CAN HAVE A GREAT GAME… 2 WITH A MODEL THAT SUITS THEIR PORTFOLIO 3 THAT IS A TERRIBLE INVESTMENT (FOR THEM!) 4 INVESTORS…
- 10. WHY WILL THEY INVEST? (TWO KEY CRITERIA) THEY UNDERSTAND THE AUDIENCE FOR THE GAME YOU ARE PITCHING THEY BELIEVE YOU CAN DELIVER WHAT YOU ARE PITCHING &
- 11. VENTURE CAPITAL (VC) PUBLISHER BOTH WANT PROFITABLE INVESTMENT ● Looking for a growth business ● Minimum return of 5x - 10x, typically looking for 20x -100x ● Primarily invest in equity (percent ownership of company) ● Long-term relationship ● Revenue Share ● Help with Marketing, Localization, QA & Distribution ● Sometimes there are hybrid deals (Equity + Project Finance) ● Relationship for this project 3 2 1 TWO MOST COMMON INVESTORS
- 12. FINANCE IS YOUR NUTRITION ● It depends… ● A Sumo wrestler and a ballet dancer are both athletes… WHAT IS THE BEST DIET?
- 13. THE PITCH
- 14. THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PITCH …Convince the Publisher/Investor to have another conversation The art is what to include to capture their attention The Pitch
- 15. THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PITCH …CONVINCE THE PUBLISHER/INVESTOR TO HAVE ANOTHER CONVERSATION THE ART IS WHAT TO INCLUDE TO CAPTURE THEIR ATTENTION The Pitch
- 16. GENERAL TIPS FOR YOUR PITCH The Pitch WHAT DO YOU WANT? UNDERSTANDING INVESTORS THE PITCH
- 17. SLIDES YOU NEED The Pitch INTRO/ELEVATOR PITCH KEY FEATURES/USPS POSITIONING/MARKET FIT COMPARABLE TITLES/REVENUE 1 2 WHAT IS THE BEST DIET? 3 4 TRACTION GAME DETAILS TEAM & CREDENTIALS END & CONTACT INFO 5 6 7 8
- 18. INTRO & ELEVATOR PITCH The Pitch ONE SENTENCE SET THE MOOD WHAT TO INCLUDE:
- 19. KEY FEATURES & USPs The Pitch CORE GAME LOOP WHAT MAKES THIS GAME DIFFERENT? USPS ARE DIFFICULT WHAT TO INCLUDE:
- 20. POSITIONING & MARKET FIT The Pitch WHERE DOES YOUR GAME FIT IN THE MARKET? WHAT TO INCLUDE: WHO WILL ENJOY THIS GAME? WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING NOW? WHY WILL THEY MOVE?
- 21. TRACTION & PROGRESS The Pitch AWARDS, GRANTS SOCIALS, DISCORD, PLAYTEST FEEDBACK ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING WHAT TO INCLUDE:
- 22. COMPARABLE TITLES & SALES The Pitch WHAT ARE GAMES SIMILAR TO YOUR TITLE? WHAT WERE THE SALES? WHAT TO INCLUDE:
- 23. GAME DETAILS The Pitch GENRE PLATFORM(S) ENGIN WHAT TO INCLUDE: INVESTMENT TO DATE MONETIZATION MODEL RELEASE DATE
- 24. BUDGET WHAT TO INCLUDE: 60% 20% 10% 5% 5% Total Projected Cost: $300,000 Investment Required: $270,000 Development: $180,000 QA: $15,000 Localization: $15,000 Porting: $30,000 Marketing/PR: $60,000
- 25. TEAM & CREDENTIALS The Pitch WHO YOU ARE WHAT TO INCLUDE: AS A STUDIO AND/OR INDIVIDUALLY WHY ARE YOU THE BEST TEAM TO DO THIS NOW? WHAT HAVE YOU WORKED ON BEFORE?
- 27. XSOLLA FUNDING CLUB The Pitch Join for no-cost Matchmaking with qualified investors and publishers
- 28. XSOLLA PITCH DECK TEMPLATE n.solbrandt@xsolla.com Free Pitch Deck Template
- 29. QUESTIONS?
- 30. THANK YOU NATHAN SÖLBRANDT BD Manager Indies
Editor's Notes
- I have put “Perfect” in commas here, as it will is almost impossible to define what “Perfect” is. This is the thing you will most learn when pitching, is that everyone is looking for something slightly different.
- The reason you are here is because you are looking for Money. What is important to remember is that nobody gets in to gaming to raise money. The money allows you to do the things you want. It allows you to work in this great industry. The first step is to build a compelling vision for your studio. What is it you want to be?
- This is the step that needs to occur before you go looking for money. Money for the sake of money will end in failure.
- Another title for this might be “How to think like an investor”, This is what I most see wrong with pitching. Developers pitching to players, rather than investors. This is the most important aspect of your pitch. How do you make it obvious from an Publishers perspective. Fundamental misunderstanding - don’t put a lot of thought in to a Publisher and/or investor
- What an Investor sees when you pitch your game To you, your game is the one game, to the investor it is 0.00009% of the market. 90% of Indie Games make less than $10,000 - What is the average steam amount. What are you doing to not be one of those games? Update to include 2023 figures - https://www.statista.com/statistics/552623/number-games-released-steam/ - 10963 in 2022 What is an investor thinking when they see your game? If you played every game that was released on Steam in 2021, in 2022. Straight through. No sleep, not eating, no talking to anyone, not anything, just sat there in a science experiment, sponsored by Steam, you would play each game for 49 minutes.
- A bad game will always be a bad investment. Unfortunately a good game is not always a good investment - space is too crowded, no incentive for players to change You are not trying to persuade reddit user BattleAxe47564
- Different investors are looking for different investments. This means genre, monetization model, team, distribution channels etc etc. This is before we even consider platforms… Candy crush and Valheim are both “games” Do your homework. Make sure you understand who are talking to. Tailor your pitch to the individuals. You can never know too little.
- These are the two key areas investors perceive risk. Everything you can do to give them confidence that you can do these things will help. Who is the audience for your game? What are they currently playing and why would they shift?
- Everyone wants a profit Profit and traction is validation from the market. Especially in games! This isn’t true of all industries… gambling,
- When you know what you want to achieve, you need to match your ambitions with the appropriate financing. You need to know who is the best fit The ballet dancer and the sumo wrestler are unlikely to be successful if they suddenly swap diets 3 months before the tournament. This is crucially important. The wrong money is often worse than no money. Trust me on this, I am failed start-up founder!!!
- You need to ensure that you bring your own style to the pitch. I am going to tell you one thing and you will take this pitch to the next Publisher and they will tell you something completely different. It is a challenge. Knowing when to pivot, when not to pivot! Keep all of this mind when you build your pitch.
- Very rarely will an investor invest the first time you meet. They will be intrigued by the pitch and then want to know more. They need to build confidence over time that the pitch (the idea) is something that you can execute on. They are constantly looking to reduce their risk.
- Very rarely will an investor invest the first time you meet. They will be intrigued by the pitch and then want to know more. They need to build confidence over time that the pitch (the idea) is something that you can execute on. They are constantly looking to reduce their risk.
- The entire pitch deck should be a demonstration of the art of the game. The theme of the game, the emotion of the game. If you can communicate ideas with graphics, do it. The less your write, the better. This is not the place to include 15 slides on the lore.
- We have a pitch deck template that we can share with you as well, I will provide a link to this at the end of the talk.
- Hellblade and Last of Us meets Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons X meets Y with Z mechanics
- One way to think about USPs is “Would the opposite be a USP for a different game?” If the answer is “No” then you don’t have a USP. For example - “Engaging & Immersive Lore” - Nobody is pitching “”Boring and Forgettable Lore” “slow-paced hardcore survival game” - “fast-paced casual match 3 game” - Credit: Rami Ismail
- The investor wants to see where in the market this game will fit
- The investor wants to see where in the market this game will fit
- Make sure you include realistic titles! Don’t put Elden Ring here when you budget is $500k Try to mimic revenue forecasts - Best case, moderate, breakeven steamdb.com
- GENRE: PLATFORMS: DEVELOPMENT START DATE: TARGET RELEASE DATE: AMOUNT ALREADY INVESTED: AMOUNT REQUESTED: TOTAL BUDGET (development only): BUSINESS MODEL: (Premium, F2p, Other) ENGINE: IF SELF PUBLISHING, MARKETING SPEND/AMOUNT REQUESTED: PROPOSED SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE:
- Breakdown is arbitrary and just a reference point. Do you also have live-ops in your game? What other considerations do you need to account for?
- Validation? Why are you best placed to ship the game?
- Remind them that its not actually a fund, its a matchmaking service Mention that we can share the feedback from the playtest with the developers. Discuss that we use this open doors.
- Feel free to email me and I can send it over.
- Thank you!