We managed to get into contact with just one, and they had nice things to say but nothing of substance. I mean who knows maybe that's somebodies brother or something. Not much to go on. Will try to find some more.
Some of the names check out as legit dudes with long ties to the industry... but I dunno there is definitely some funny business in the company history -- previous names it went under as well.
I dunno how much of this is just business as usual in the games biz though. The problem with contracts is... they don't really mean anything cause it ain't like we got money to sue. And its international... so, really hesitant to hand over basically anything of value without some demonstrated capability to pay.
Is there any reason a publisher would need source code? I don't see why. I see no reason we should need to deliver anything beyond a working build? If the contract is to deliver a switch port?
They ask for a bunch of keys. I figure, if you got interest in investing in a game, show some good faith and buy a few copies. Leave a review. Is that not normal? Unreasonable? Is it weird they ask? Or am I overly defensive?
the fact that the company has changed names at least once is a bit of a red flag.
giving a couple keys to interested business partners is a pretty standard thing, I wouldn't expect a potential partner to give me some nickle and dime money, I would just give them as many copies as they want to test out the game, same for marketing indie or small games, give thousands of copies away to influencers and hopefully get some good coverage, if not outright pay youtubers to cover your game etc. but thats a whole different topic.
if they are porting the game, chances are they need source code as different hardware will need to be taken into account, things like UI icons etc will need to be changed and recompiled into a build specific for that platform as well as if they are going to be the ones handling localization. I would assume most publishers want source code just incase the dev studio packs up and closes after the initial launch and refuses to provide future support, atleast they can have external or internal teams work on their investment.
I would reach out to some former employees of the company via linkedin and just kinda casually ask if it was a good experience etc.
if something feels sketch, it probably is, I would let them know you are having your lawyer/attorney go over any potential contracts etc, not in a dick way but let them know you have legal council, which you should definitely have if you are going to be doing a business deal.
tldr: sniff around for info from former employees, and get actual legal advice from a good lawyer.
For lawyers, will any contract lawyer do? Or do you prefer somebody with specific industry experience?
For the porting, we would be doing it ourselves, that's the only thing. I guess it makes sense about protection against us quitting early, but that also makes it possible for them to effectively steal our game too. And ain't shit we could really do about that, so it makes me leery, especially given the companies history.
we sent out maybe a hundred... would you say that's waaaay too few? I suppose it kind of depends on the game. In our case, its a linear turn-based strategy game. Very niche, and a more antiquated game design in that it's one-and-done experience.
I would say in your case thousands would maybe be overkill, but 500 wouldn't really be a shocking number. If you are giving them away with the hopes people might cover your game. In those cases like that you have to go with volume, because maybe 1 in 10 might cover it if all they got was a free copy. brands do this all the time, shotgun blasting free product to social media folks and celebs in hopes they will tweet about it or post a pic on IG with the product.
or you could specifically pay smaller tier youtubers/twitch streamers, and give away less copies overall but pay out of pocket to guarantee a certain level of coverage on their channels. but if you have no marketing budget, you kinda gotta go the 1 in 10/20 method. when starting out its more about getting visibility and building a fan base and brand than profit for small studios. indie studios 2nd and 3rd game tend to be where they can start to make cashflow, unless it's a runaway success like super meat boy or astroneer etc.
It's all about how comfortable you are with risk. would you rather make 20k a year consistently off launching a small indie games or make zero dollars for 3 years because you are reinvesting whatever money comes in to build a huge fanbase, so when you launch the 2nd or 3rd game you make a couple hundred thousand in a month when you release to an established audience. I would take option 2 any day of the week, but you need some form of financial runway for that. This is why most serious indie devs say that starting and successfully launching a game for under a million dollars these days is extremely hard. shovel knight devs talk about that here.
in terms of lawyers, I would imagine most contract lawyers would be good enough, as well as you should be able to get the publisher to clearly communicate why they need the source code long before handing it over. But the idea of them stealing your game and releasing it after you already have released it and it's documented you guys made it, have all the source assets etc would be pretty ridiculous and could instantly be disproved in court. I HIGHLY doubt stealing your stuff is in their intention, maybe giving you a bad business deal with some contract BS yea, but outright jacking your game, probably not.
yeah i feel the same way about viewing the business as a thing you build slowly over time. You have to build a reputation for quality content, make new friends, keep the old, etc.
Replies
giving a couple keys to interested business partners is a pretty standard thing, I wouldn't expect a potential partner to give me some nickle and dime money, I would just give them as many copies as they want to test out the game, same for marketing indie or small games, give thousands of copies away to influencers and hopefully get some good coverage, if not outright pay youtubers to cover your game etc. but thats a whole different topic.
if they are porting the game, chances are they need source code as different hardware will need to be taken into account, things like UI icons etc will need to be changed and recompiled into a build specific for that platform as well as if they are going to be the ones handling localization. I would assume most publishers want source code just incase the dev studio packs up and closes after the initial launch and refuses to provide future support, atleast they can have external or internal teams work on their investment.
I would reach out to some former employees of the company via linkedin and just kinda casually ask if it was a good experience etc.
if something feels sketch, it probably is, I would let them know you are having your lawyer/attorney go over any potential contracts etc, not in a dick way but let them know you have legal council, which you should definitely have if you are going to be doing a business deal.
tldr: sniff around for info from former employees, and get actual legal advice from a good lawyer.
or you could specifically pay smaller tier youtubers/twitch streamers, and give away less copies overall but pay out of pocket to guarantee a certain level of coverage on their channels. but if you have no marketing budget, you kinda gotta go the 1 in 10/20 method. when starting out its more about getting visibility and building a fan base and brand than profit for small studios. indie studios 2nd and 3rd game tend to be where they can start to make cashflow, unless it's a runaway success like super meat boy or astroneer etc.
It's all about how comfortable you are with risk. would you rather make 20k a year consistently off launching a small indie games or make zero dollars for 3 years because you are reinvesting whatever money comes in to build a huge fanbase, so when you launch the 2nd or 3rd game you make a couple hundred thousand in a month when you release to an established audience. I would take option 2 any day of the week, but you need some form of financial runway for that. This is why most serious indie devs say that starting and successfully launching a game for under a million dollars these days is extremely hard. shovel knight devs talk about that here.
in terms of lawyers, I would imagine most contract lawyers would be good enough, as well as you should be able to get the publisher to clearly communicate why they need the source code long before handing it over. But the idea of them stealing your game and releasing it after you already have released it and it's documented you guys made it, have all the source assets etc would be pretty ridiculous and could instantly be disproved in court. I HIGHLY doubt stealing your stuff is in their intention, maybe giving you a bad business deal with some contract BS yea, but outright jacking your game, probably not.