Games and Toys Not All Fun and Games

Games and Toys: Not All Fun and Games Tom Sloper

Who Is Tom Sloper And Why Should I Listen To Him? Expertise in Video Games & Computer Games (25 years) Experience in Toys & Board Games (five years +/-)

Video Games & Computer Games Game Designer: 15 unique released titles Producer: 79 unique released titles Employers: Western Tech. , Sega, Atari, Activision Clients: Yahoo!, Sennari, Mastiff, Four Winds, Flying Fishworks, Bonus Mobile, Tik. Games, Goodsol, ATGames Conventions: GDC, CES, E 3, TGS, KGC, MGS, SIGGRAPH

Toys & Board Games Employers: Western Tech. , Rudell Design Independent projects (unpublished): Space War, Reversible Puppet, Dice Games Collection Almost-acquisition tale Conventions: Toy Fair, TGIF, ASD/AMD, Hong Kong Toy & Game Show

Inventing Toys/Games The Nutshell The Easy & Fun Part - The Idea Also Pretty Easy (And Fun) - The Prototype or Demo (video/computer games not a solo endeavor) Also Kinda Easy (But Not Fun) - Protecting the IP (Copyright, Patent) Not Too Awfully Hard (Still Not Much Fun) Manufacturing Details, Business Plans, Research The Really Hard Part - Getting Published or Distributed

Part I. Electronic Entertainment Not Hollywood – Not Silicon Valley – “Siliwood” Not a solo endeavor – it takes teamwork Forget the Hollywood model It ain't like the music industry or the publishing biz either Ideas from outside the industry are a very hard sell! We hear all the time about somebody’s cousin or grandma sending a script to Hollywood and becoming rich overnight. . . That doesn’t happen in games.

Platforms & Audiences: Important First Consideration Young Kids - PC, Edutainment Handhelds Tween Boys - Videogame Consoles, DS, Game Boy, PC Teen-Young Adult Males - Videogame Consoles, PC, Mobile Adults (female/male) - DS, Game Boy, Mobile, PC (especially online)

Genres & Audiences Edutainment - Kids (#2 genre on PC) Action - Tweens, Teens, YA Males (#1 genre on consoles) Shooters - Males (#3 genre on PC) RPGs - Teen-Adult, male/female Strategy - Adults, Males (#1 genre on PC) Casual – Adult female/male (possibly included in strategy category) Sports - Males (#2 genre on consoles)

Some Stats 1 in 3 Americans who use PCs play online games. 2 in 3 online PC gamers are female. Females over 40 spend the most time playing online games. Ad revenue outstrips actual sales of online games. PC games presently 15% of market, but: Casual games expected to outstrip hardcore game revenues by 2011.

First Step – Document It Concept – “Elevator Pitch” in writing Treatment – Don't forget the competitive analysis! – And the team bio. Full GDD (Game Design Document) – Not needed until there's funding and a team

Next – Business Plan, Team Building You probably think I skipped some steps there. . . Well. . . The harsh truth is: Publishers aren't interested in paper designs from amateurs. – Some will consider, but likelihood of success extremely low. – Is Grisham here? Coppola? The guy who created CSI? – Those guys have a shot with a paper design. So the only way to make a video game is to build a team and make it yourself.

Costs: “It Depends” Triple-A hardcore videogame titles cost in the tens of millions. Average PS 2 game: $8 M, 40 people, 1½-2 years. Casual online PC games are much cheaper to develop: $30 k-$200 k. 1 -4 people, 6 -12 months. Massively Multiplayer Online Games can cost $100 M to create, then involve ongoing support costs.

Need to have a team in place before you can pitch game to a publisher. Need to have funding in place before you can build a team. Need to have a business plan before you can get funding. Key part of business plan: industry contacts to build a solid experienced team. Upshot: you probably can't get funding if you're not an industry vet. I hope you're wealthy! If you're not wealthy, and if you're young, get into the industry. Then work it from the inside.

Venture Capital SBA Bank loan Angels Video Game Investor Conference – June 21, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco – Pitch directly to VCs – www. srinstitute. com/cx 599

SUCCESS RATE: Based on WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU BRING to the Pitch Meeting Complete Game 2/3 Complete Game 1/3 Complete Game Small interactive demo Animation only Paper only Verbal presentation Idea in your head Professional Game But Not In Game Industry Game Developer Professional 10% 7% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% 9% 6% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% 0% Industry Not In Industry; Not Professional 8% 5% 3% 2% 1% 0% 0% 0% 7% 4% 2% 1% 0% 0%

Once You Have a Team One concept isn't enough. One demo isn't enough. Hoping to get one idea published isn't a good enough business plan. Develop several demos, but seek entrylevel development work: – Ports – Localizations – Find a niche

Start networking like crazy: – GDC – Austin – E 3 Get an agent or rep if you can. – I’m not an agent; I’m not a rep. – Start with Gamasutra (Companies tab). And make those pitches. – Not just one pitch. – Not just one demo. – Don’t start with your #1 choice publisher.

Go to publishers, not developers – Only reason to pitch to developers: you ignore my advice to build a team - you intend to "borrow" one, or get one to buy into your one game concept. – Publishers and what they do. . . – Developers and what they do. . . – Why pitching to developers doesn't work. . . Having multiple demos makes you and your team more attractive. . . Hope to get one of your team’s original concepts greenlit. . . But what you're really selling is your team's development skill. (At least, that’s what they’re more likely to buy. )

Publishing Options At A Glance Video game or large PC game (CD/DVD) 1. Get it published by an established big publisher 2. Become a publisher yourself 3. Get it distributed by an established bulk distributor Small PC game or web game 1. Get it hosted on an established game portal 2. Get it hosted on a downloads site 3. Host your downloadable or web game on your own site

Publishing Options (cont’d. ) MMOG 1. Get it published, hosted, and supported by an established big publisher 2. Publish, host, and support it yourself Mobile game 1. Get your mobile game published by a mobile publisher 2. Get your mobile game hosted online for folks to download 3. Offer it for sale on your own site

Typical Deal (Average PS 2 game) There is no such thing as a “typical” deal. Ignore this slide! Advance: $5 M Royalty: 15% of net sales Break-even: 1 M+ unit sales

Part II. Toys, Board Games DIY – You can invent it all by yourself. No team required, you don’t have to be in the industry. TGIF - a vital resource for inventors - mark it on your calendars! Sept. 7, in Orlando. www. tgifcon. com Your prototype doesn't have to be "final production quality" - unless you're going to manufacture and distribute it yourself. Card Games - really easy to prototype and make them look great, thanks to computers.

Should Go Without Saying Make your prototype. – Board games: see Sloperama. com FAQ 20. – Card games: see Sloperama. com FAQ 38. – Toys: hey, you’re the inventor. . . you figure it out. Test it on F&F (a great free resource!). Protect your IP. See Sloperama FAQ 39. – – Patent – www. uspto. gov. Trademark – ditto. Copyright – www. copyright. gov. Lawyers are a good thing.

Three Options 1. License to a manufacturer/publisher through an agent (I’m not an agent); 2. License to a manufacturer/publisher by yourself (“self-license”); 3. Self-manufacture, self-publish. (Do not deal with any of those invention companies who advertise on TV. )

What Are Your Priorities? Maximum profits? Creative control? Ease (less difficult)? Higher likelihood of success?

First Step Depends on the Option You Choose If going through an agent (recommended over self-licensing), first select a good agent (I'm not an agent). – Commission can vary from 25% to 60% of the royalty. Don’t pay an advance to an agent. – Sloperama. com, FAQ 20 – Discover. Games. com If self-licensing, carefully research publishers. Find a company whose product line is a good fit for your invention. – – – Typical royalty: 5% of net sales. Sloperama. com, FAQ 20 Discover. Games. com www. toy-tia. org Thomas. Net. com

Self-Manufacturing Get professional design help. Links on Discover. Games. com. Look in Yellow Pages too. Manufacturing & printing – See links on Discover. Games. com, Sloperama. com FAQ 20, Thomas. Net. com. – More units = lower per-unit cost. Usual first run: 5, 000. Where will you store them? Assemble them? Custom parts entail mold-making costs. Overseas cheaper than domestic. – Size & shape of product matters – go to the toy store, look at similar products on the shelves. – Keep costs a reasonable margin below 50% of SRP (retail = 2 x wholesale).

Self-Publishing – TRADE SHOWS American International TOY FAIR (NY, February) Chi. TAG (Chicago, November) ASD/AMD (Las Vegas, Aug. ; NY, Sept. ; L. A. , Oct. ) Essen Spiel Fair (Germany, October) Origins Int’l. Game Expo (Columbus, June) TGIF (Orlando, September) Protospiel (Ann Arbor, July) Comic Cons, Sci-Fi Cons, Puzzle Cons. . .

Paper Games Online self-pub options: – Get them hosted on an established paper games site (Google “paper games”); – Host them on your own website.

That Was The Long. This Is The Short. (I’m starting to wrap it up) You can cheaply DIY re toys and board games, but. . . –. . . video games require huge amounts of cash, large teams, and you have to be in the industry. – Nobody “dabbles” in video games; it’s a career, or nothing.

It's fun to design toys and games, and to playtest them, and see the delight on people's faces as they enjoy what you made. . . BUT. . .

Whether you’ve created an electronic game or a non-electronic game or toy. . . to get published & distributed is a lot of hard work. – Requires a completely different set of sales skills and business smarts. . . – Not just creativity and a sense of what's fun. Inventor hat Salesman/businessman hat. (Keep your Creative hat on always. ) Others have done it before – you can do it.

Final Parting Thought Even the experts can't predict what will, or what won't, become a hit. Yours might be the next big hit.

Resources / Links Discover. Games. com – great articles & links! Sloperama. com (articles #1, 2, 11, 13, 21, 35, 60, 62, 20, 38) Gamasutra - articles, news, companies list. . . Game. Dev. net - get diverse opinions and get really confused! IGDA. org - ditto! Board. Game. Design mailing list - ditto! Boardgame. Geek “So You Wanna Be A Game Designer” (Game. Spot. com – Google the title)

Questions? I'm sure I glossed over a lot of stuff, like "why" and "how much" and "how long. " Before you ask, the answers are "money, " "it depends, " and "it depends. " Now go ahead and ask anyway. . . (~_^)