Why an Indie Developer Would Need a Publisher? (White Nights Conference Prague 2017) The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

1. February 13 and 14,
2017
Conference

2. VP Publishing at Anuman Interactive
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Alain MILLY
amilly@anuman.com

3. What is an Indie Dev / Indie Studio ?
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- A group of people, usually friends or students, who work extra-time on
their first game,
- A small studio who works on their game while doing in parallel some
work for hire (W4H) projects ,
- A bigger studio who makes a living developping games for publisher
and has some owned IP/Games
- A studio who develops games and publish them on its own but still
considers himself as Indie…

4. What is not a publisher ?
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A Bank
A Sponsor
A Thief
An Alchemist
A Magician
Publisher will not give you money without
guarantee, on your good face,
Reminder : Banks loan only to the rich
Publisher has its own needs (catalog, line up)
and dna gaming,
Publisher will not rob your IP, and will
make royalties report and you will have a
better chance to get paid,
Crap is still crap,
Lead will not be transformed in gold…
No magic stick to transform your game in a hit
Publisher will do its best…

5. Money is not everything
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« Tell me what you need and I will learn you how to live without »
Coluche, French humorist
PublisherPublisher
MarketingMarketing
Sales
Management
Sales
Management
Production
help
Production
help
FundingFundingPublisherPublisher
BucksBucks
CashCash
More
money
More
money
MoneyMoney

6. Expertise : A publisher knows its market
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Has already sold a lot of games…
Can advise you : what to do and what not to do,
Can propose other markets you have not thought
of
Has already tried and failed (stores, partners…)
Legal Support

7. Expertise : a Publisher knows its market
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Knows its clients and has good
relationships with them
Knows all major online stores and has
opened accounts on them
Can handle promotions : bundle, daily sales,
winter sales…

8. Benefits : Marketing and Public Relations
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Marketing
and PR
Marketing
and PR
ExpertiseExpertise
NetworkNetwork
Teasers
Trailers
Teasers
Trailers
Trade
shows
Events
Trade
shows
Events
Trade
Marketing
Trade
Marketing
Community
management
Community
management
StatisticsStatistics
Player
acquisition
Player
acquisition

9. QA, TCR, CRT, PEGI… and other acronyms
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Support providedSupport provided
ProductionProduction QA ExpertiseQA Expertise
Best practicesBest practices
RatingsRatingsRetail
Manufacturing
Retail
Manufacturing
SalesSales
ReportingReporting
NegotiationNegotiation
PaymentPayment

10. Benefits: Sales Channels
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- More than 100 stores through direct or indirect Content Management System
(CMS)
Singtel, PSN, Xbox Live, Opera, Samsung, Orange, Fingerprint, Apple, Yandex,
Steam, Google Play…
Big Fish Games, GOG, Bundlestars, Humble Bundle,
Indie Gala, Iwin, Fireflower…
- +1000 stores with agregators (Playwing, Plug In Digital, Nexway,…)

11. Visibility
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12. Games released on Steam by year
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Source : Steamspy

13. Conclusion
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- Consider the Publisher as a partner that will help you to grow
- The Publisher will
- save time for you (accounts already opened),
- Raise your reputation (marketing/PR),
- Raise sales and reduce risk (tell your banker that you are supported by a
Publisher),
- It will let you focus on developping…
See the publisher as the craftman of your success
You are an architect who design games and developpers are building walls.
We are the guys who will do the paintings (production team) and design the
interior (marketing team ) and finally sale the house (salesteam).
We will try to bring you to the next level

14. Conclusion : You’re not alone ! Join us !
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