Financial
Personal Funding
This has its perks like not being in debt to anyone or a bank but this can be a really dangerous act to a plan because bankruptcy can be the downfall to the project. Although this method has high risks success has been found. A indie game developer and programmer called Jonathan Blow has found success and critical praise for his video games which he funds himself. His first game Braid (2008) released on the Xbox 360 has a young protagonist searching for a princess in a strange world where you can manipulate time. The mise en scene storytelling earned Jonathan game an award in "innovation to games design" from the independent games festival. He funded this game for 3 years until release, recorded by a video game magazine by 2015 Braids total revenue was 6 million. Jonathan Blow used this money to fund his next game "The Witness (2016)". The Witness is a 3D puzzle game released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 it includes 650 unique puzzles and beautiful graphics. The game earn praise for its difficulty and epiphany. Within a week of the game's release it sold 6 million copies bypassing Jonathan first game Braid.
This method made Jonathan Blow one of the most successful and influential indie video game developers of all time. In my opinion this isn't the best method for me at this time as i am a college student with student funding so it would be impossible to fund myself but this method is something I'll keep in mind for the future.
Crowd funding
One of the most well-known and used crowdfunding sites is Kick starter this lets to present your ideas online to the public, by doing this the public can send you donations towards your games. 3,775 games have been funded on this site, generating over 80 million with the games having a 34% success rate. Even though this website helps you get the funding for your games kick starter will take 5% of total funds. Today more indie developers can make their games because of crowd funding this has changed to video game Industry for the better because more creative and original games will be produce. The big publishers will see this as a great advantage because they have the opportunity to a partnerships with these indie developers so sell their game, this is a win/win for both parties as the indie developer doesn't need to spend money on marketing for their game and the publisher can sell more games and make a profit as they didn't fund the project. An example is GameStop retailer, this company has launched its own indie publisher called "GamesTrust", because of this move they've already made a profit of 9.4 million since April. They also offer the Indie developer a budget between 0-15 million if needed to fund the project. In the future this will be the best method of funding my project if i chose to become a Independent game developer.
The video game industry there are many trends a trend is the movement in which something is changing or developing. This happens a lot in video games in the past it was the WII console this allowed users to move and interact with the screen playing games, the WII sold over 100 million copies worldwide but this console didn't last long with its successor the WII U only selling 5.3 million units. Now 2016 is seeing its next major trends in the form of Virtual Reality. The most popular of the VR headsets is the PlayStation VR (Project Morpheus) this has had a lot of media in the recent year mainly suggesting it will be the new move for consoles and console games. The PlayStation VR in its first week in Japan sole over 50,000 thousand units. The retailer GameStop has sold all thousands PlayStation VR units as the product is in high demand. Sony Interactive Entertainments Jim Ryan has revealed that PlayStation make a profit on every unit sold since its October launch. In my opinion game developers will not see this as the next step but more of a new adventure and adventures don't last long, with only a few games on the VR we could see the same happening to VR as it did to the WII but the difference between these two companies is one (SONY) making the best games console to run your high graphics and multiplayer games, where as (NINTENDO) are innovators who specialist in making new consoles especially handhelds, Nintendo also specialist in Industry Trends with all there consoles becoming a trend and selling over 100 million units. They do this by using a clever trick of combining marketing and industry. Robin Williams isn't a name that goes to mind when thinking of video games, but he was a huge gamers even calling his daughter Zelda after Nintendo's popular game character. In this video we see Robin and His daughter playing Nintendo DS and with the approval of this great comedian in my opinion had parents buying this console for children because if Robin Williams approves then they can compared to the more violent and aggressive marketing of EA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fBKjjgkMHM
To conclude VR from my point of view will do well in this Industry but they are biting more then they can chew being a contender in Nintendo's market where they have succeeded for years with there winning formula with one mistake in the WII and WII U. PlayStation VR will not be able to survive with Nintendo's innovative methods because of their lack of game developers proceeding to make VR games. The VR will fall like the WII because of the lack of attention it will get be Game Designers.
A retailer like GameStop are on quick decline because of digital distribution but, to prevent them declining they have invested more into their trading system for example trading a game you don't play anymore and getting money for it or even valuable points which you can spend on a new game or console. Ultimately digital distribution will not decline unless a very popular game title was only available in physical form.
Sources:
https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/games?sort=most_funded
http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/gamestop-launches-indie-game-publisher-gametrust/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/11-video-game-trends-that-will-change-the-future-of-the-industry
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katetaylor/2013/08/06/6-top-crowdfunding-websites-which-one-is-right-for-your-project/#1115fdd665f8
Financing a video game can come in 3 steps but not all are easy ad they all have their financial issues. To get the financial funding for a project which you may nurture and invest lots of time and money into doesn't mean it will be a success so rule #1 always have an exit plan. Three contacts can help with this first is a Partnership Agreement. This contract is a basic list of questions that are the bridges to a partnership because in a venture that consists of more than one person, there must be a written agreement between these people to make a partnership.
Some of these questions include:
What can the partners bring to the partnership?
How are the profits and losses apportioned?
What is each partners ongoing contribution to the partnership?
What happens when the partnership dissolves?
There are many more questions depending on the partners field of work but this is a good starting point for any potential partnerships.
Next is the Work-For-Hire Agreement in a situation a partnership hires a contractor to create game assets like, art, music and programming. Without an agreement or an employer-employee relationship, the individual who created the assets could be entitled to be the owner of the copyright to that work. To continue this agreement will help avoid for any potential future claims for royalties from a contractor. Furthermore having the contractor sign the agreement that state the assets as "works-made-for-hire," and list all rights to employer will help you avoid these hazards.
Final we have the Licensing Agreement this is when a developer is working with intellectual property of another like, trademark or copyrighted characters. This very important to get the genuine licensing agreement in place. A verbal or handshake deal might not be enough. In a situation where the product is a big success the license agreement needs to be defined in detail. If this is not met then this could mean some costly lawsuits in the future as the licensor will try and get their cut of the profits.
These are the common problems in the video game industry but these contracts will help avoid this. Rule #2 contact or employ a game lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the business.
Some of these questions include:
What can the partners bring to the partnership?
How are the profits and losses apportioned?
What is each partners ongoing contribution to the partnership?
What happens when the partnership dissolves?
There are many more questions depending on the partners field of work but this is a good starting point for any potential partnerships.
Next is the Work-For-Hire Agreement in a situation a partnership hires a contractor to create game assets like, art, music and programming. Without an agreement or an employer-employee relationship, the individual who created the assets could be entitled to be the owner of the copyright to that work. To continue this agreement will help avoid for any potential future claims for royalties from a contractor. Furthermore having the contractor sign the agreement that state the assets as "works-made-for-hire," and list all rights to employer will help you avoid these hazards.
Final we have the Licensing Agreement this is when a developer is working with intellectual property of another like, trademark or copyrighted characters. This very important to get the genuine licensing agreement in place. A verbal or handshake deal might not be enough. In a situation where the product is a big success the license agreement needs to be defined in detail. If this is not met then this could mean some costly lawsuits in the future as the licensor will try and get their cut of the profits.
These are the common problems in the video game industry but these contracts will help avoid this. Rule #2 contact or employ a game lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the business.
Personal Funding
This has its perks like not being in debt to anyone or a bank but this can be a really dangerous act to a plan because bankruptcy can be the downfall to the project. Although this method has high risks success has been found. A indie game developer and programmer called Jonathan Blow has found success and critical praise for his video games which he funds himself. His first game Braid (2008) released on the Xbox 360 has a young protagonist searching for a princess in a strange world where you can manipulate time. The mise en scene storytelling earned Jonathan game an award in "innovation to games design" from the independent games festival. He funded this game for 3 years until release, recorded by a video game magazine by 2015 Braids total revenue was 6 million. Jonathan Blow used this money to fund his next game "The Witness (2016)". The Witness is a 3D puzzle game released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 it includes 650 unique puzzles and beautiful graphics. The game earn praise for its difficulty and epiphany. Within a week of the game's release it sold 6 million copies bypassing Jonathan first game Braid. This method made Jonathan Blow one of the most successful and influential indie video game developers of all time. In my opinion this isn't the best method for me at this time as i am a college student with student funding so it would be impossible to fund myself but this method is something I'll keep in mind for the future.
Crowd funding
One of the most well-known and used crowdfunding sites is Kick starter this lets to present your ideas online to the public, by doing this the public can send you donations towards your games. 3,775 games have been funded on this site, generating over 80 million with the games having a 34% success rate. Even though this website helps you get the funding for your games kick starter will take 5% of total funds. Today more indie developers can make their games because of crowd funding this has changed to video game Industry for the better because more creative and original games will be produce. The big publishers will see this as a great advantage because they have the opportunity to a partnerships with these indie developers so sell their game, this is a win/win for both parties as the indie developer doesn't need to spend money on marketing for their game and the publisher can sell more games and make a profit as they didn't fund the project. An example is GameStop retailer, this company has launched its own indie publisher called "GamesTrust", because of this move they've already made a profit of 9.4 million since April. They also offer the Indie developer a budget between 0-15 million if needed to fund the project. In the future this will be the best method of funding my project if i chose to become a Independent game developer.
Industry Trends
The video game industry there are many trends a trend is the movement in which something is changing or developing. This happens a lot in video games in the past it was the WII console this allowed users to move and interact with the screen playing games, the WII sold over 100 million copies worldwide but this console didn't last long with its successor the WII U only selling 5.3 million units. Now 2016 is seeing its next major trends in the form of Virtual Reality. The most popular of the VR headsets is the PlayStation VR (Project Morpheus) this has had a lot of media in the recent year mainly suggesting it will be the new move for consoles and console games. The PlayStation VR in its first week in Japan sole over 50,000 thousand units. The retailer GameStop has sold all thousands PlayStation VR units as the product is in high demand. Sony Interactive Entertainments Jim Ryan has revealed that PlayStation make a profit on every unit sold since its October launch. In my opinion game developers will not see this as the next step but more of a new adventure and adventures don't last long, with only a few games on the VR we could see the same happening to VR as it did to the WII but the difference between these two companies is one (SONY) making the best games console to run your high graphics and multiplayer games, where as (NINTENDO) are innovators who specialist in making new consoles especially handhelds, Nintendo also specialist in Industry Trends with all there consoles becoming a trend and selling over 100 million units. They do this by using a clever trick of combining marketing and industry. Robin Williams isn't a name that goes to mind when thinking of video games, but he was a huge gamers even calling his daughter Zelda after Nintendo's popular game character. In this video we see Robin and His daughter playing Nintendo DS and with the approval of this great comedian in my opinion had parents buying this console for children because if Robin Williams approves then they can compared to the more violent and aggressive marketing of EA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fBKjjgkMHM
To conclude VR from my point of view will do well in this Industry but they are biting more then they can chew being a contender in Nintendo's market where they have succeeded for years with there winning formula with one mistake in the WII and WII U. PlayStation VR will not be able to survive with Nintendo's innovative methods because of their lack of game developers proceeding to make VR games. The VR will fall like the WII because of the lack of attention it will get be Game Designers.
Marketing Trends
Today it is much easier to buy a video game because of Digital Distribution now you can go online and simply push a few buttons and buy it. The Company Valve own Steam this is a website where you can buy games online for PC, in 2015 Valve reported they earn 3.5 billion in sales from steam so this is looking more like the future of selling video games.
Sources:
https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/games?sort=most_funded
http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/gamestop-launches-indie-game-publisher-gametrust/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/11-video-game-trends-that-will-change-the-future-of-the-industry
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katetaylor/2013/08/06/6-top-crowdfunding-websites-which-one-is-right-for-your-project/#1115fdd665f8
