Ami Langton - Global PR & Marketing Manager Ripstone

Our final guest lecture was held by Ami Langton, ex-Bizarre Creations PR assistant now working with a local independent game publisher. Her talk gave us a lot of insight into what a publisher can do for a developer and some of the legalities involved.

My last report will discuss the pros and cons of a publisher and whether or not a developer would benefit from working with them.

Why Gamble Your Own Money?

Starting a project is risky business, not only do you have to dedicate a lot of your time into it, the resources involved often become very pricey. Video game publishers are there to let the developer focus on creating the game, taking control of matters regarding licensing and public relations. Not only do they fund your project, but you can rely on their contacts to make your life easier and possibly increase the quality of the end result.

However, it isn't all money and no input. An increase in negative opinions of publishers (Unknown, 2013) has shown that they can have a negative impact on development. When investing in a game, you will want to have a say in what you want to be funding and ultimately you want a profit from it. This causes issues because there can be a divide between the developers and publishers - one side want to create a great experience, the other wants to profit from their investment.

On Gamasutra, an article (Campbell, 2011) shares what a game publisher actually does and expands on each of the ten points, this is a useful read and offers good argument to my last point. With points like; marketing, risk and retail it's easy to see why developers would choose to side with a publisher, after all you're gambling someone else's money.

In conclusion, I think that publishers are still needed in the industry, the pros definitely outweigh the cons - the assistance they can provide is well worth the need to please them with your project. However, if that means sacrificing what you truly believe in then maybe another option would be a better choice.

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References:

Unknown. (2013) We Need Better Video Game Publisher [Online]. Available from: <http://kotaku.com/we-need-better-video-game-publishers-472880781> [Accessed 9 May 2015].

Campbell, Colin. (2011) Opinion: Why Do Games Publishers Exist? [Online]. Available from: <http://gamasutra.com/view/news/125417/Opinion_Why_Do_Games_Publishers_Exist.php> [Accessed 9 May 2015].