作者：Jason Della Rocca

如果你有兴趣学习融资的知识，那么我要告诉你，现在的资源都很贵了。不是游戏相关的资源本身，因为我们大多人并不是处于忙着想“我需要钱做这个”这种最成功的行业前沿。你只需要几本书就可以入门了，如Guy Kawasaki的《Art of the Start》或Brad Feld和Jason Mendelson《Venture Deals》。

然后，要认识到拿别人钱的最好时机永远不会出现！别人给你钱总是有附加条件的（无论多么优惠），如果你不是确实需要，最好不要接受。然而，拿别人钱的最好时机恰恰是你不太需要钱的时候（这样你就不会因为太迫切而接受不公平的条款）。

也就是说，我们要了解一下让你做出正确选择的几个核心因素。第一个关键因素是决定你是否需要融资来做项目或经营工作室。很大程度上，资金来源和如何获得资金是分离的。

如果你要融资一个项目，那么你很可能要拿明天的收益换今天的支票。绝大多数这些项目导向的融资方案不需要出售股票，也就是说你不必为了融资而放弃公司的所有权（即股票或股东权益）。

然而，如果你要融资的是一个公司，那么就与上述情况相反了——你要出售股票换钱。现在，这些股票的价值部分取决于游戏的未来收益潜力，但也与其他资产有关，如人才、过去的游戏IP、内部技术，等等。

你怎么知道要选择哪种方案？如果你只是想做一款好游戏，那就选择项目融资吧。如果你是想成立一家某种类型的公司或者创造某种工作室文化，那么你最好选择融资公司。让我们分别简要地看看这两条路及其相应的几个选择。

Angel Investor(from networkingstar.com)

项目融资选择

选择有很多，有些是显而易见的，有些取决于你生活的地方。正如上述的所说的，大部分选择要求你拿未来的收益换今天的钱。

全职/过去的工作收入：许多游戏开发者晚上也是开发者。或者准确地说，他们白天在公司做AAA游戏，晚上在家做独立项目。或者，白天的工作完全是另一个行业。关键是，他们需要定期工资（或者以前的奖金或解雇补偿金）来资助现在的独立项目。

信用卡：取决于项目的规模，你可以透支你的信用卡。如果可以，不建议你这么做。

朋友和家人：你舅舅好像存了不少钱，是吧？

富人支助：我们不太经常听到这种受文艺复兴启发的方法，但确实存在某些富人慷慨解囊帮助他们看好的设计者的案例。这些富人通常定期为设计师提供一笔钱，以便他们支付生活费，这样设计师就可以专注于他们的工作（不必浪费时间做白天的工作）。

比赛奖金：越来越多大会和比赛以现金作为奖励，如独立游戏节和“Create Something Unreal”比赛。这些奖金一般不太多，但仍然有帮助（特别是如果你的信用卡超期了）。

众筹：随着Kickstarter和Indiegogo这种大众融资网站的出现，直接向粉丝求赞助的融资方法越来越可行。但是，如果你的名字不是Tim Schafer（游戏邦注：他是《肉体世界》和《野兽传奇》的开发者），那么你就要意识到发起一场成功的运动和满足所有粉丝的期待是一件非常费时间的事，你不要抱有太大希望。这个方法的另一个优点是，你不必把收益拿出来瓜分（除了游戏发布时赠送一千件T恤衫需要成本）。额外好处：在众筹的过程中也顺便市场营销了。

发行商：游戏开发者的金主，仍然是融资项目的一个选择。但并非适用于所有人和情况。

政府项目：各个国家都有不同的项目和奖励来扶持本国的游戏产业。然而出人意料的是，这些项目的资金并不多，因为政府一般不是项目的“第一金主”。许多项目是以减税/退税方式或提供配给资金的方式得到优惠的（游戏邦注：如，你自己筹集25%的预算并准备好经销协议，政府提供剩下的75%的预算）。

上述还不够详尽，因为没有罗列出所有选择。但有些融资方法并不实用，除非你的工作室成立比较久了，有一些名气了。另外，你有必要注意，即使你只是用以上方法融资一个项目，大多数情况下你仍然需要有一个正规的工作室或公司来接收资金和/或申请项目和/或签署协议。

公司融资选择

说到公司融资，其实就是说风险投资（VC）。正如前面所说的，融资项目与融资公司的区别是，后者是出售公司的股票换资金。在专业投资的领域，风投商主要看重的是你的公司的商业规模，这样他们才能估计在3-5年内获得比较好的回报。

除非你真的打算建立一家真正的公司并且把它经营壮大，否则你最好不要选择融资公司。但是，如果你仍然有那种创业精神，那么我就告诉你几个主要选择：

朋友、家人和傻瓜：与前面一样，你让你的富舅舅出钱，不同的是，这一次他得到了你的公司的股票，他可能会出席董事会。好吧，也许你舅舅也不是什么专业投资人，但他仍然想得到股东权益。

企业孵化工场：有不少针对游戏业的企业孵化工场（如加拿大的Execution Labs、爱沙尼亚的GameFounders）。更传统的项目如Y-Combinator和TechStars已经开始支助游戏开发团队了，但还是比较少见。这些项目通常用资金、导师制/指导和合作协议等交换你的公司的股东权益。

天使投资人：这些是喜欢投资的有钱人。他们通常是比较好的资金来源，因为他们往往喜欢帮助创业者。但是，要遇到“天使”是非常困难。

创业风险投资商：有些风投公司专门找刚刚起步的小工作室投资，因为他们认为这些潜力股有可能成为又一个Twitter或Supercell。他们通常享有最多股东权益和董事席位，对你的公司发展施加压力最大。他们可能对你的公司的成功起到非常大的作用。

除了上述，还有其他公司融资方法如中期风投（只有你的公司年收益达到500万美元以上时，才有这种风投商会关注你）、债务融资、兼并/收购或公开销售证券。但如果你已经有了这些高级方案，那么你就不必阅读这些了！

最后，给你一个严重警告，在VC界，现在投资游戏并不被看好。 Zynga的急转直下以及行业并购活动/首次公开募股的速度放缓，使投资商对游戏行业的信心受损，很大程度上，他们仍然认为投资游戏风险太大、太难预测。但VC界的趋势总是在变化，而且变化得非常快。

匹配需求

本文只是对几种融资方案进行简要的介绍和解释。如果要具体介绍各种方案，恐怕要写成一大本书，但愿本文能给读者以启发，作为进一步研究的起点。关键是理解你自己的需求是什么、为了获得资金你愿意拿什么作为交换。在没有通盘考虑优势和劣势的情况下冒然采用一种或几种融资方案，事后你必然会后悔自己“走错路”。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

A Brief Introduction to Project and Studio Financing Options for Indies

by Jason Della Rocca

Right off the bat, I’m going to admit that there are more exhaustive resources out there if you are interested in learning more about funding. Not game related resources per se, as collectively we’ve not been the most successful industry at figuring out the “I need money to do this” piece of the puzzle. A few good books should get you started, like Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start, or Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. In fact stuff written by Feld is always insightful, or follow the posts at TechCrunch and VentureBeat.

Next, realize that the best time to take someone else’s money is never! There are always strings attached (no matter how favorable), and it’s ideal not to take it if you don’t absolutely need it. However, note that the next best time to take someone else’s money is when you don’t need it (and thus are less desperate and less likely to accept unfair terms).

That said, let’s dive into to a few core elements that should set you on the right path. The first major factor is determining if you are trying to finance a single project or fund your studio. The sources of money–and how you approach them–are largely separate.

If you are trying to finance a project, you are most likely trading future sales potential (i.e., revenue share) in exchange for getting a fat check today. The vast majority of these project-oriented options are non-dilutive, meaning you do not have to give up any ownership in your company (i.e., shares or equity) for the funds.

However, if you are trying to finance your company, many of the funding options are dilutive in that you are selling shares in exchange for money. Now, the value of those shares is partially based on the future revenue potential of your games, but also factors other assets like key talent, past game IP, internal tech, etc.

How do you know which path to take? If you have a singular focus on the amazing game you absolutely must get made, then you will probably chase down project financing options. If instead you have a vision for the style of company you want to create, and the studio culture you want to build, and the types of projects that fit that vision, you’ll likely chase down company financing options. Let’s look briefly at each path and several options.

Project Funding Options

Many options exist, some more obvious than others. And some depend on where you might live in the world. As noted above, with most of these you are trading your future sales to get money now.

Day Job / Past Job: Many developers moonlight as, well, developers. Or more likely, they are AAA by day and indie by night. Or, the day job is in an entirely different industry altogether. Point is, the regular paycheck (or past bonus checks, or severance package) is funding current development efforts.

Credit Cards: Depending on the scale of the project, you can max out your credit card(s). Not advisable if you can help it.

Friends & Family: Uncle Bert has a lot of money saved up, doesn’t he???

Patronage: We don’t hear of this Renaissance inspired approach often, but there are a few examples where a wealthy individual funds the work of a preferred game designer. This often is done in the form of a modest stipend to cover living expenses so the designer can focus on their craft (and not waste time with a day job, for example).

Festivals and Contest Prizes: More and more events are popping up with cash prizes, the IGF being the most well-known festival, perhaps with Create Something Unreal the best known contest. These prizes are usually relatively small, but can certainly help (especially if your credit card is overdue).

Crowdfunding: With the rise of Kickstarter and Indiegogo, going directly to your fans for funding is ever more viable. Just be sure to manage expectations if your name is not Tim Schafer, and realize that creating a successful campaign and fulfilling all the rewards is a huge time suck. Added benefits of this approach is that the funds are both non-dilutive and you don’t have to share revenue (well except the cost of shipping out a thousand t-shirts). Added bonus: market validation of your IP is built into the process.

Publishers: The original piggy bank for game developers, and still a viable option to getting your game funded.

Your mileage may vary.

Government Programs: Countries the world over have different programs and incentives to support and foster game development in their region. Contrary to popular belief, very few such programs just hand over a bag of money, as the government is rarely the “first dollar” into a project. Many programs take the form of post-spend tax breaks/refunds, or grant oriented matching funds (e.g., you scrounge up 25% of the budget and proof of a distribution agreement, and they’ll provide the remaining 75% of the budget).

This list is not exhaustive, as other options exist. But some are simply not viable unless you are a much larger or established studio (e.g., film style bonding, line of credit from a bank). Also, it is important to note that even though the emphasis is on funding a specific project, with most of the above options you will still need to have a company in place to receive the funds and/or apply for programs and/or sign contracts.

Company Financing Options

Once we turn to the company oriented options, we really move into the world of venture funding. As noted, the key distinction here is that you are selling shares in your company for funds. This is the world of (mostly) professional investing, and they are primarily interested in seeing you scale your business and hence make them a handsome return in 3-5 years’ time.

Unless you are looking to build a real company with a vision towards growth, it is best you stay away from this path. But, if that doesn’t squash your entrepreneurial spirit, the main options to get started with are:

Friends, Family, & Fools: Like above, you are tapping rich Uncle Bert for funds, except this time he is getting shares in your company and may want to be invited to board meetings. Okay, so maybe Uncle Bert isn’t really a professional investor, but he’ll still want equity.

Incubators/Accelerators: There are a handful of incubators and accelerators that cater specifically to the games industry (e.g., Execution Labs in Canada, GameFounders in Estonia). More traditional programs like Y-Combinator and TechStars have taken on game teams, but it is rare. These programs often exchange a small chunk of funding, mentorship/coaching, and access to key partner contacts in exchange for some equity in your company.

Angel Investors: Wealthy individuals who invest and like to get their hands dirty. They are often a good source of funds as their terms are more entrepreneur friendly and they often like to help out. But, they are notoriously hard to find and meet with.

Seed and Early-Stage Venture Capitalists: There are VC firms that specifically target early-stage investments in the hopes that your company will blow up and become the next Twitter or Supercell. They usually take the most equity and often require a board seat, and provide the most pressure to grow your business. They also have the potential to open the most doors and have a big impact on the success of your studio.

There are still other options to explore like growth-stage VCs (only relevant if you are already generating $5 million+ in annual revenue), or fancy approaches like debt financing, mergers/acquisitions, or public offerings. But if you are ready for those advanced options, you wouldn’t be reading this!

Finally, it is important to warn that there is currently a general distaste for games related investments in the venture world. The downward spiral of Zynga and slowdown of M&A activity/IPO’s has not helped build confidence within investor communities, who still largely see games as too risky and unpredictable. But trends shift all the time in the VC world, and often very quickly.

Match Your Needs

This was only a brief look at financing options and different aspects to consider. Exploring each option could fill a book of advice and information, so hopefully this is just helpful in opening your eyes to what’s out there and will provide a launching point for your own deeper research. Big picture, the key is to understand what your needs are and what you are willing to give up in exchange for funds. Just grabbing at whatever money you can without thoughtful consideration of the pros and cons will surely end up on the “what went wrong” side of your post-mortem.(source:gamasutra)