When is a good time to talk to publishers?

[FokkoChan]

I just started my project and already have released assets and a WIP forumpost in lemma forums, a publisher talked to me saying that theyre interested in my project. I work with a partner and hes completely against with working in a publisher "so soon" since he'd rather wait for when the whole game is finished. We're planning in having a Kickstarter for this project but... I have 0 clue how to go about this :/ 

 

what do you guys think i should do ; - ;? hopefully i posted this in the correct place for it sorry if i didnt. i dont know where to put this ty if moved into the correct area ; w ; 

Edited March 1, 2017 by FokkoChan

[Ryechu]

If a publisher is interested in your work, keep in touch with them. Just because you're making connections doesn't mean they're set in stone. Don't wait until the game is finished and then sit on the finished game while you're waiting for things to happen. Getting a game published takes time, and sometimes, the sooner you can start figuring things out, the better.

My opinion is that your partner is being overly paranoid, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Selling the first game is incredibly stressful, but once it's finished, everything after that is a piece of cake.

(Source, I wrote Critical Hit - both links are NSFW)

[Narcosis]

10 hours ago, FokkoChan said:

I just started my project and already have released assets and a WIP forumpost in lemma forums, a publisher talked to me saying that theyre interested in my project. I work with a partner and hes completely against with working in a publisher "so soon" since he'd rather wait for when the whole game is finished. We're planning in having a Kickstarter for this project but... I have 0 clue how to go about this :/

what do you guys think i should do ; - ;? hopefully i posted this in the correct place for it sorry if i didnt. i dont know where to put this ty if moved into the correct area ; w ; 

Is it your first game, you're working on? Care to share the links, at least?

Your partner might not be entirely wrong about the whole situation.

Everything depends on the quality of work. If you already had made a name for yourself in the past, it's much easier to find publishers willing to work with you, otherwise you might be having a lot harder times at finding remotely anyone to support your work. Therefore - the higher production values, the more "professional" your work looks, the easier it is to hook in people. That aside, more valuable publishers will only chose games that will actually sell and typically don't bother with small fries or newbie studios.

If this is indeed your first game, I'd simply remain careful about hastily making "friends" in the dev world, especially within publishing circles. There's a lot of scamming involved. Work on your game, spread the word via devblog and social media/communities, keep people interested. Publishing and releasing a game is art in itself and most of it you'll have to learn yourself, if you want the best results.

If you're serious about being a game developer, I'd recommend at least skimming through related Gamasutra's article section. There's a lot to learn from and most of it is shared by professionals.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Narcosis

[FokkoChan]

4 hours ago, Narcosis said:

Is it your first game, you're working on? Care to share the links, at least?

Your partner might not be entirely wrong about the whole situation.

Everything depends on the quality of work. If you already had made a name for yourself in the past, it's much easier to find publishers willing to work with you, otherwise you might be having a lot harder times at finding remotely anyone to support your work. Therefore - the higher production values, the more "professional" your work looks, the easier it is to hook in people. That aside, more valuable publishers will only chose games that will actually sell and typically don't bother with small fries or newbie studios.

If this is indeed your first game, I'd simply remain careful about hastily making "friends" in the dev world, especially within publishing circles. There's a lot of scamming involved. Work on your game, spread the word via devblog and social media/communities, keep people interested. Publishing and releasing a game is art in itself and most of it you'll have to learn yourself, if you want the best results.

If you're serious about being a game developer, I'd recommend at least skimming through related Gamasutra's article section. There's a lot to learn from and most of it is shared by professionals.

Yes it is my first game (link), i dont mind that my partner is cautious but it bothers me that he wants to wait for the whole game to be finished. Thanks for the recommendation on the article uwu ill be reading it when i have the time, also i was thinking of spreading the word when we have more to it finished

[marmoon]

A publisher approaching you sounds like the best thing ever! I can understand why your partner is cautious - getting involved with the publisher too early on might influence the direction of your work. It could be good, it could be bad, who knows? An added person to the equation will most likely change the dynamics of your team.

A few questions:

1) Is the publisher well known? Can you find their website?

2) What are the publisher's previous works? Is it in line with what your team is writing?

3) What is the publisher offering? Downpayment? Contract? Royalties?