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How An Israeli Studio Won The Heart And Business Of International Publishers An Unlikely Story And What You Can Learn From It
Guy Bendov - Side-kick Games • The go-to team for media & tech companies for cutting edge games since 2010 • Started as “Family Friendly Arcade games” developer • Shifted to F2P mid core games • And keeping our love to new platforms
Israel isn’t Known for Game Dev • No history of big game studios ,other than casino, to spawn talent from • Tech oriented teams, less professional art wise • Not a lot of funding channels • Game development education started 2008, still focused on small teams • Everyone is an entrepreneur (or publishing its own games) • Expensive
So in 2010 we decided to open a full service game development studio
Why Work with Publishers • Lead / Oversee production and marketing – Publishers have experienced teams that can help, advise and complete your team
• Lower financial risk – A publisher would fund all or part of the game dev – A publisher would finance marketing
But why would they work with you ?
What Publishers are Looking For • Publishers do not look for a “jack of all trades”. They look for specialty shops who are best at X • Publishers look to invest in games that will be top grossing games
How can I make them trust me with their resources ?
1 Position Yourself • Team’s DNA – – – – –
Genre / Audience Visual style “Character” (Humor / Serious / Hard core / casual ) Market orientation (West / East) Games Business model (F2P, Ads, Premium, Service )
You will be “type-cast’ed”
2 Show Yourself • Demos and Concepts – Including documentation – Ship a few demos, show that you are real
• Be where the publishers are hanging out – Shows and conferences
• Be there for long time or use an agent who can
It takes Side-kick over a year to close a new production
3 Timing is Everything • Understand the publishers business cycle – When decisions are being make
• Be there for the opportunity – You’ll never know when they will need someone like you
Rovio’s Case • 2013 - Finally making connection at Rovio, Rovio has a team to work with 3rd parties • 2014 – A few meetings in conferences lead to a meeting at Rovio HQ. Showing 3 game concepts and showing F2P capabilities. All concepts are politely rejected. BUT Rovio gives us a prototype to build, loosely based on a game we have done before. They like the prototype ! • 2015 – Working together on a new game
Trust and Motivation • Publishers rely on great teams for their next revenue stream • Position yourself as a trustworthy, professional partner • Keep innovating and creating • Focus on what you are best at and love. • Stay there for a long time to be recognized • Make sure your network remembers you for when the time is right
Thank you Guy Bendov Guy at Sidekick.co.il www.sidekick.co.il