作者：Daniel Ström

Guru Games是一家来自瑞典Skövde的小型工作室。我们是名为瑞典Game Arena的游戏集团的一份子，并且是从两年前开始我们的游戏开发之旅。最近我们在Steam上发行了自己的第一款游戏《Magnetic: Cage Closed》。下周这款游戏便会出现在Xbox One。然而在接近游戏发行以前，我们已经花了1年的时间在不同活动上面向不同发行商去宣传这款游戏。自从去年12月份起，在经过一系列讨论后，我们便与Gambitious Digital Entertainment共同致力于这款游戏的开发。我们从《Magnetic》的宣传中学到了许多，并且我们也将这些经验教训运用于新游戏《Medusa’s Labyrinth》的开发中，而这也是我们在几周前参加科隆国际游戏展的原因：为了我们的下一款游戏找到一个发行与投资伙伴。

对于科隆国际游戏展上的游戏宣传之后的思考

今年我们与其他邻近的独立开发者一起参加了科隆国际游戏展，并且我们联合在一起开设了专门的瑞典Game Arena展位。这是一个大型的活动，并且像往常那样非常热闹，但是在回家以后，我们必须花些时间去思考自己在哪方面做得好而哪方面做得不好以及该如何继续向前发展。科隆国际游戏展提供给我们许多值得思考的东西，而我们最先意识到的便是我们的宣传得到了多少赞扬以及我们所遇到的发行商的态度。他们中几乎所有人都在评价着同样的内容，所以我们很容易想象得到他们在与其他开发者会面时的场景。而在询问了一圈人后，我们发现几乎很少有开发者能够花费足够的时间进行宣传，而那些人甚至很难回答发行商们所询问的有关财政问题，市场营销策略以及竞争等问题。

似乎许多在与发行商交谈的独立开发者都只拥有一个自己想要尝试的游戏理念或原型。我们也是如此。拥有一个游戏原型总是好事，你应该提到自己较早便拥有了这样的原型，但如果你想要得到发行商的认可你便需要呈现出更多东西，特别是当你希望得到对方的投资时。以下我将分析我们是如何在科隆国际游戏展和Game Connectio之前为《Medusa’s Labyrinth》组织宣传，以及我们如何实现与发行商的共鸣。

让人印象深刻

在宣传一款游戏时，你的工作并不是让别人砸钱给你并在合同上签字。你的工作应该是做到让人印象深刻并让与你交谈的人记得你的优点，并且你不需要给予对方你的名片，因为他们根本不会记得这是谁给的。在请求别人给予自己几十万资金的同时还表现得很有趣并不是件容易的事。你希望留给别人足够认真的印象，但同时你也不希望容易被遗忘或让别人觉得你很无聊。我们采取了两种方法去解决这一问题：

1.在宣传会议上我们总是尝试去扮演两个角色。一个角色是较为严肃的商人，另一个角色便是在对方感到无聊的时候负责调动气氛。

2.在展示的时候我们会使用一些小玩笑。我们也已经在一些比较不重要的会议上测试过这些内容的反响力。当然了，你的第一次宣传往往不可能做到最完美，但是随着不断尝试你一定会做得越来越好。

举个例子来说吧，今年春天当我们前往旧金山参加Game Connection和GDC时我们对许多以美国小镇为背景的恐怖游戏做出了评价，并开玩笑道：“我们不知道美国小镇有什么好可怕的，但是出于某种原因许多恐怖游戏都很爱使用这一背景。”通常情况下对方可能会轻声笑笑或者说：“我就是来自一个小城镇，跟你说，那真的是一个很可怕的地方。”发行商可能也会觉得这很有趣并不自觉地笑了起来。所以这样的玩笑仍然会出现在我们的宣传中，而我可能在2天时间里就会讲20至25次这样的玩笑。

也许我可能过度专注于乐趣的部分，但是关于宣传最重要的一点还是你应该留给对方正面且持久的印象。比起穿好看的衣服或列出详细的预算，让对方笑出来可能能够帮助你走的更远。

关于《Medusa’s Labyrinth》的宣传分析

以下是我们会在宣传中提到的内容：

medusa’s(from gamasutra)

幻灯片1：视觉冲击

我们会使用这样的图片去吸引他们的注意并呈现一句能够告诉他们游戏概念的内容。就像我们在展示图片的时候我会说：“《Medusa’s Labyrinth》是一款以古希腊为背景的第一人称恐怖游戏。我们选择了2000多年前的故事和神话并以游戏这一现代媒介去重新呈现它们。”

幻灯片2：提供更多图像去传达游戏类型

因为仍然专注于销售游戏概念，所以我们将提供一些有关游戏环境的例子，如寺庙和墓穴，并且我们也会提到恐怖与潜行这两者元素的特殊结合。

幻灯片3：游戏玩法

再一次地，我们不会在这里提供许多细节，我们将专注于玩家体验和行动。能够让玩家找到自己的游戏风格的沉浸感，脆弱性和能力也能够与发行商实现共鸣，所以这也是我们想要传达的内容。提供如何在游戏中呈现这些内容的简短例子非常重要，而如果你不这么做的话发行商们也会主动问你。

幻灯片4：类型和定位

这可能是在科隆国际展上最能与发行商形成共鸣的幻灯片，也是许多开发者所遗漏的内容：呈现出竞争意识与理解。发行商们总是希望清楚你是否了解其它类似的游戏，并是否已经采取方法去赢得竞争。

幻灯片5：目标用户

谁会购买你的游戏？有多少人会购买你的游戏？其它类似的游戏卖的好吗？这些问题都很微妙，并且具有推测性，但是你需要做的只是告诉发行商们你还有进行相关研究，而不只是沉迷于游戏机制中，你也思考过自己的游戏能够赚多少钱以及能够从哪些人身上赚到钱。

幻灯片6：类型的流行度

我们使用了这一幻灯片去解释并呈现那些在YouTuber间最受欢迎的恐怖游戏。这也是之前幻灯片的延伸内容：即主张不仅你的游戏很优秀，同时它也拥有一定的市场份额。加之所有人都喜欢免费的市场营销，所以YouTuber总是很受发行商们的欢迎。

幻灯片7：资金和开发时间

现在发行商们已经知道你的游戏有多优秀以及市场有多成熟，而我们也将进一步研究我们到达这里所需要的成本。我们同时也陈述了我们目前的进度，创造了什么内容以及在展会结束后我们可以带给对方什么（游戏邦注：包括可游戏的内容，视频，高概念文件，预算估算，市场营销计划等等）。

幻灯片8：我们自己的销售研究

这是我们所尝试的全新内容，并且它也发挥了很好的作用。在我们前往科隆国际展的前一周，我们在瑞典的Narcon大会上首次面向公众展示了我们的可游戏演示版本。大概有400个人玩了我们的游戏，而我们也询问了他们以下问题：“你是否会购买这款游戏？你最喜欢其中哪些内容？你认为最终游戏价值多少钱？”如果你是在进行一项科学研究的话400个人是远远不够的，但这些调查对象却能够提供给所有发行商想要看到的内容：数字。通常情况下发行商的工作便是选择看起来有趣的项目并在自己的公司内部进行宣传。而了解在这400个人中有多少人愿意支付40美元以上的钱去购买游戏则是非常重要的信息，如果你能减轻发行商的工作负担的话他们便会更喜欢你。

幻灯片9：团队

我们习惯一开始先介绍我们的团队，而在经过一系列展示后你会发现那些在听你进行游戏宣传的人都是一些没有耐心的听众。所以你应该先从最有趣的内容开始，一旦对方被你的内容所吸引，他们便会继续听你说完所有内容。而这一幻灯片同样也能够帮助他们进行公司内部的宣传。这张幻灯片将呈现出我们作为一家工作室的过往记录，我们所获得的任何奖项以及一切能够证明我们是一支一流开发团队的信息。

幻灯片10：结论

最后一张幻灯片便是我们的总结。到现在为止一些听众可能已经忘记你的游戏内容，所以在提及数字和研究之前提醒他们你之前所阐述的内容是有必要的。对于《Medusa》的宣传，我们是这么进行总结的：

“总之我们很荣幸能够迎着这股流行的恐怖游戏浪潮前进。我们的游戏拥有一个独特的虚构背景，并巧妙地结合了潜行元素与恐怖元素，而最重要的是，这里有着玩家在其它游戏中从未看过的内容。”

宣传会

你总是有很多想要传达的内容，但是通常情况下你只有30分钟的时间，有时候可能更短。我们所进行过的最快的宣传会只用了3分钟，因为那时候我们迟到太久了而接下去还有其他人在等待宣传。虽然在那之后两周我们还是收到了咨询邮件，但这并不是我们最出色的宣传。

我们认为准备15分钟的宣传内容最合适。在每张幻灯片的演示过程中你们都会遭遇各种打断，所以你应该留出一定的时间与听众讨论你所宣传的内容，而不是一个劲地在那进行演说并等待听众的鼓掌。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to Pitch Your Game to Publishers

by Daniel Str?m

Guru Games is a small studio from Sk?vde, Sweden. We are a part of a game-collective called Sweden Game Arena and started our journey on the winding path of game development about two years ago. We recently launched our first game Magnetic: Cage Closed on Steam. The game will also be out on the Xbox One next week. Before even coming close to a launch however, we spent about a year pitching the game to different publishers at various events. Since December we are working together with Gambitious Digital Entertainment on the game, after a series of negotiations. We learned a lot from pitching Magnetic, and we have used those lessons while working on Medusa’s Labyrinth, which was the reason we went to Gamescom a few weeks back: to find a publishing and funding partner for our next big title.

Post-GamesCom pitch contemplations

This year we attended Gamescom together with other neighboring indies, joint together by and at the Sweden Game Arena booth. The event itself is huge and it was chaos, as usual, but after getting back home, it’s really important to take some time and reflect over what went well, what did not and how to move forward. Gamescom gave us a lot of things to think about, but one of the first things we realized was how many compliments we got on our pitch and how tired the publishers we met seemed to be. Almost all of them commented on the same things too, so that got us thinking about how their other meetings must have been. After asking around a little it seems clear that very few developers have spent enough time on their pitch, and those that had still had trouble answering the publisher’s questions regarding financial matters, marketing strategy, competition etc.

It seems that many indies who talk to publishers only have an idea or a prototype of a game that they themselves want to play. We did that too. Having a prototype is always great, and you should mention that you have one early on, but you need more if you want to get a publishing deal, especially if you are asking for money. Below we are going to break down how we at Guru structured our pitch for Medusa’s Labyrinth before Gamescom and Game Connection, and what we have found to resonate well with publishers.

Be memorable

Your job when pitching a game is not to get someone to throw money at your feet and sign a contract there on the spot at the show. Your job is being memorable enough that the person you talked to will actually remember you in a positive light, and not throwing away your business card because they can’t remember who gave it to them. Being funny while also asking someone for half a million dollars or more is not an easy thing to pull off. You want to give the impression of being serious, but at the same time you do not want to be forgettable and boring. We at Guru tackle this problem in two different ways:

1.We always try to be two people in a pitch meeting. One that can take-on the more serious business role and talk numbers, while the other is ready to jump-in and liven things up if he/she sees that whoever is listening is, in fact, not listening anymore.

2.We have some small jokes planned and planted into the presentation. These are tested in a less important meeting to gauge the reactions, and just like everything else with the pitch gets iterated on based on results. The first time you run through a pitch it is not going to be perfect, so edit as you go.

As an example of this, when we went to San Francisco for Game Connection & GDC this spring we commented on that so many horror games are set in small-town America, and jokingly said “We are not sure what is so scary about small-town America, but for some reason horror games use them very frequently.” Surprisingly often that generated either a chuckle or an “Well, I am from a small town and let me tell you, it’s one scary place.” The publishers felt happy, everyone smiled and we moved on with the presentation. So that joke stayed in the pitch, and I told it maybe 20-25 times in two days.

Maybe I am focusing too much on the funny part, but the most important thing about a pitch is that you leave them with a positive and lasting impression. Making someone chuckle will get you further down that road than wearing a nice suit or having a detailed budget.

Medusa’s Labyrinth pitch, dissected

Alright time to break this down in more detail. Here is a list of things we say during a pitch, in the order of appearance:

You can see our entire pitch here, you can follow along if you want .

Slide 1: Critical Artware Hit

BOOM! Splash art. We used this picture to capture their attention and give that one sentence that hooks them on the concept of the game. For GamesCom it was a lot more about Louise fantastic art than anything I said, but as we showed this picture I said: “Medusa’s Labyrinth is mythological first person horror game, set in ancient Greece. We take stories and legends that has stayed with us for over 2000 years and give them new life in a modern medium: A game.”

Slide 2: Apply More Art to lure out the genre

Still focusing on selling the concept we give a few examples about the environments in the game, such as temples and catacombs and briefly touch on the fact that we have a unique combination of horror and stealth, something rare in the genre.

Slide 3: Gameplay Time!

Again, not going into great detail, here we focus on player experience and action. Immersion, vulnerability and the ability for the players to find their own playstyle has resonated well with publishers and so it is what we have boiled it down to. Giving very short examples of how this will manifest in the game is crucial, but if you don’t you will get questions on it.

Slide 4: Genre and positioning

This is probably the slide that resonated most with publishers during Gamescom and something that many developers lack: showing an awareness and understanding of the competition. They want and need to know that you know about other similar titles, and have taken steps to stand out in the crowd.

Slide 5: Target audience

Who will buy your game? How many? How well (or poorly) has similar games sold (preferable the same games that you showed on the previous slide). This can be a bit tricky and is always speculative, but just showing that you have done your research tells them that you are not only thinking about your cool mechanics, but have an idea about how your game will actually make money, and whom it will make that money from.

Slide 6: Genre popularity

We used this slide to explain/show how popular horror games are amongst YouTubers. This is basically a continuation of the previous slides: an affirmation that not only is your game great, but so is the market segment that you want a piece off. Plus everyone loves a bit of free marketing, so YouTubers are popular amongst publishers.

Slide 7: Funding and development time.

Now that they know how great the game will be and how ripe the market is, we dive into how much it will cost to get us there. We also state how far we have come, what material has already been created and what we can send them after the show (That playable I mentioned earlier, a video, high concept document, budget calculations, marketing plan, whatever you have prepared).

Slide 8: Our Own Sales Research

This was something new we tried, and it worked wonders. The week before we went to Gamescom, we showed our playable demo to the public for the first time at a Swedish Convention called N?rcon. About 400 people or so played our game and we asked all of them a series of questions afterwards. “Would you buy this game? What did you like most? At what price point would you think the finished game was worth paying for?” 400 people is not a lot if you are doing scientific research but that still gives you something all publishers want: numbers. Their job, most of the time, is to pick-up projects that seem interesting and then pitch that internally at their own company. To do so, having numbers on how many of those 400 who would be willing to pay $40 or more is gold, and if you make their job easier they will like you a lot more.

Slide 9: The team

We used to begin with presenting our team, but after a few shows you realize that people who have been listening to game pitches all day are not very patient listeners. Get to the juicy stuff first and, once they are hooked, follow up with research. This slide is also to help them pitch internally. It shows our track record as a studio, any awards we might have won and anything else that makes us sound as a stellar development team.

Slide 10: Conclusion

The last slide is our wrap up. By now some listeners may have forgotten all about the game, and reminding them of what you said about it before you focused on numbers and research is a good idea. For Medusa we conclude the pitch with the following statement:

“In conclusion we have an opportunity to ride the horror wave that is going through games right now. We have a unique, mythological setting, an exciting combination of stealth and horror and most importantly: Something these players have never seen before.”

The pitch meetings

Phew! That is a lot to go through, and you have about 20 minutes to do so, probably less. The fastest pitch-meeting we had was probably 3 minutes, we were late as hell and they had another person waiting. We still got an email back two weeks later requesting more material so it can be done, but it was not our best pitch.

We do recommend at least 15 minutes of material. You will get interrupted almost every slide, so prepare yourself to have a conversation about what you are pitching, not giving a speech and waiting for applause.

***

We would like to go into more detail and also talk about how to prepare before a show like Gamescom, but we would like your feedback first. How do you prepare? Tips are welcomed! And if you have any insights or experience you would like to share on the subject, just let us know. We hope that one day we all get funded, and for the right reasons. It just really sucks that great games are being dismissed because of poor presentations, which we have seen happen more than once, which is why we wrote this piece. (Special thanks to Laura Bularca at Sweden Game Arena and Vernon Vrolijk at Gambitious for your editing expertise and wise council)（source：Gamasutra）