How to Pitch to Publishers

As we round out the year and approach a new tradeshow season, this is a good time to do a refresh on pitching guidelines for your game. GDC recently posted Brian Upton’s talk “30 Things I Hate About Your Game Pitch” on its YouTube channel. As game designer for Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon and former senior game designer at Sony Santa Monica, he’s been in the industry for over twenty years and has seen several hundred pitches. His talk has been making the rounds on social media, and our biz dev team was in general agreement with his advice. Some notable pointers he gives:

• All information should answer two questions: Is the game worth making? Can this team make it?
• Know Your Game
  • Pitch the creative vision and game you want to make; don’t waste time asking the publisher what game they want
  • Understand the scope: how many hours of gameplay, number of levels, characters, etc. and how much time, funding, and staff you’ll need to develop the game
  • Articulate the hook (the unique selling points of your game) and the game’s pillars (the features that support your hook)
  • Identify big risks for your team and how you’ll mitigate them
  • Know the moment-to-moment experiences for the player and be able to talk about what the player will be doing in the game
• Focus on Quality and Unique Features
  • Go beyond simply stating a genre to explain how your game is different from others
  • Use one or two pieces of high quality art that set the tone instead of lots of low quality art
  • Have a prototype that goes beyond showing common gameplay and demonstrates the unique features of your game
  • Showcase your writing with one dramatic scene that can convey the quality of the story
• Avoid Time-Wasters
  • Pitching a game that’s a clone of a popular game
  • Lengthy backstory and monetization system descriptions since most consumers purchase games without knowing such details
  • Explanations of common game mechanics and systems, like inventory management
  • Shoehorning the hottest tech like VR/AR if it doesn’t make sense for your game
  • Polishing the art for a prototype when the game mechanics are broken
  • Asking the publisher to find the license or intellectual property for your game
• Be Prepared
  • Plan for 30-minute pitch meetings at a tradeshow
  • Have at least a tablet or laptop ready with your pitch (don’t use your phone even if it’s a mobile game)
  • Bring a headset (not earbuds) if sound is important as you could be pitching in a noisy location
  • Know who you’re meeting with, e.g., don’t pitch a mobile game to a console publisher
• Be Friendly and Agreeable
  • Demonstrate your passion and be enthusiastic
  • Show the publisher you’re someone they’d like to work with since game development can be expensive, risky and stressful for all parties involved
  • Don’t trash other companies and people as it’s a small industry
  • Don’t assume or be offended if the publisher doesn’t know your prior games
  • Be flattered if the publisher has questions (it shows interest) and be ready to go off script

Be sure to check out the video for Brian’s full list of pointers and examples. Additionally, DDM has compiled best practices for creating your game pitch and studio overview decks, check them out here.