Why are non-developers making top browser online games?
Continuing the cycle of my articles on browser-based online games, I wrote an article in which I would try to uncover the topic of the difficulty of entering the online game market for a young development team, with the eyes of these developers, on the one hand, they are not afraid to push their colleagues, and on the other hand let publishers think and investors on what tests they put on young online game development teams. ( Yuri Borunov , director of a young company IgroStroy )
The online gaming market has now changed dramatically compared with 2004, major players appeared on it, such as IT Territory, Astrum Online Entertainement, TimeZero, GDTeam, Media World (from RBC), in general, everyone who grew up in 2004-2005 , as well as the rest, with money that has realized the potential of this market. Though earlier they did not do games at all, but large companies opened divisions that are now engaged in online games.
But the market is still growing 100% per year. The glut has not yet happened, but the saturation is in full swing.
')
Students, having gathered together, are no longer able to produce a competitive product without the help of senior colleagues - publishers and producers, and of course without investors who would invest not a lot of money in the first stages.
When we started to make our game " World of Gladiators: Revolution ", and this was at the end of 2004, we did not know anything about it, we were so young that we were not even able to find out anything. But we were moved by the enthusiasm and love of the players, then it was still possible :) During this time, we experienced 5 times the theft of our game, 2 times we were thrown with servers, 1 time we were thrown by a partner, 2 times in the game there was a forced full respawn of players 3 times in the game the engine corresponded, 6 times the game was forced to change its address.
For the first 2 years we could work “for world peace”, that is, there was no payment for the game. There were special cases of selling something there. I remember how I ran to the bank with enthusiasm in order to receive $ 20 from the client through the money transfer system, and then I went to the bookstore and bought technical literature for all the money there.
We conducted a study of our online world and poked it to the desires. Meanwhile, there were games on the market: Territory, Fight Club, GanjaWars, Neverlands. Games of that time almost didn’t require graphic designers at all; programmers with knowledge of perl / php, html and js could do them, the interfaces were extremely primitive. Advertising of the games was mainly based on referral systems, that is, the players themselves attracted new inhabitants to the online world. It was a wonderful time for those who had no money, but there was a desire, and a magical time for those who had money and the right thoughts.
Now all those who then had money and the right thoughts raised the market to a new level. Now in the games, more than half of the state is occupied by artists, designers, 3D modelers, flashers ... From here, the output is with a beautiful graphical interface, now it is "LEGEND: Legacy of Dragons", "Three Kingdoms", "Heroes of Redemption", these games are ahead of the market, they have increased bar quality at times.
Now it’s almost impossible for a student without money to enter the online gaming market. We need a team (minimum: programmer, designer, 3D modeler, flasher, game designer), we need money for the team, we need partners for advertising, we need a clear understanding of the online games market from the team leader, as well as experience in business development, management and marketing , not bad yet legal paranoia.
I will try to explain the situation for those who managed to make their game and want to enter the market with it, but they do not have their own money. This situation is closest to me.
1. Understand how competitive your game is . (The appearance of the LEGEND made us change the design of the game, release a new version, otherwise we would have remained in 2004).
2. It will be determined who will be engaged in advertising:
a) Publisher .
Well, not a bad choice, people who know, moreover, they don’t need money for a front, but are ready to make advertising at a percentage of the profits.
Everything seems to be good, but if you do not read the contract, you simply donate your game to the publisher. In my practice, I was faced with the fact that I was forced to sign an exclusive licensing agreement for the full transfer of rights to the game, and it is very difficult to force the lawyer of the publisher to remake the agreement for you. And it is not clear why for simple advertising for the right to make a profit, you need to transfer the right to play to the publisher.
I have been spending on this for a month now, and it seems like it’s just not interesting for them to make such a bargain. I sit and think, why, why? And the publisher of the A-class.
Bill Gates rightly says: “Life is not fair, get used to it.”
b) do the promotion itself .
In this case, you or someone from your team should have at least an experience of advertising on the Internet.
And should have money. How to find them? This is a very long and confusing story:
1) take a bank loan (you need remarkable self-confidence on the verge of paranoia, because when it comes to a young team, then most likely they have no experience in marketing, or even if there is, it is not significant.)
2) to find an investor with money . On my way I encountered 2 problems:
- not a profile investor poorly versed in online business, and especially in games, in order to convince him to invest he needs talent, experience and perseverance.
- the investor wants a stake in the company, and not less than 51%, which he will immediately say.
+ An investor needs a team, but the investor does not think: where did the entrepreneur with the idea of ​​money for the team, why would he then come to you?
Why does an investor need a team from us, if I show how much money we make, how much it will be, if he invests N-dollars and proves that having received this money, I can build a team.
3) independently earn money on the project and gradually invest it in advertising. (Both easy and difficult at the same time, easy because you don’t need to look for money, it’s difficult because the game may not bring enough money, and in order to bring it you need to invest in refinement).
3. Act and not be afraid of anything.
As Lesha said, the “teacher” of Yevgeny Chichvarkin: “If 99 out of 100 times are sent, then your business is on the verge of profitability.”
Now the online gaming market requires developers experience and money. Publishers are of little interest to young developers, thereby forcing them to independently master the market, bumping into all possible stones.
No one, neither the publishers (although this is their job), nor the investors (although this is their money) gives a chance to a novice development studio. It remains to be hoping for our own strength: look for money from relatives, wipe mats at the entrance to banks, learn to make money on their own projects and, by trial and error, scramble to the top, laying out everything.
I wonder if there will be a person / company, will there come a time when they will invest money in the business ideas of online games and not demand a ready-made team, but give people a CHANCE? hardly anyone knows maybe.
I call in the comments of young developers of online games shares their experience, and publishers / investors comment on the situation for their part.
The online gaming market has now changed dramatically compared with 2004, major players appeared on it, such as IT Territory, Astrum Online Entertainement, TimeZero, GDTeam, Media World (from RBC), in general, everyone who grew up in 2004-2005 , as well as the rest, with money that has realized the potential of this market. Though earlier they did not do games at all, but large companies opened divisions that are now engaged in online games.
But the market is still growing 100% per year. The glut has not yet happened, but the saturation is in full swing.
')
Students, having gathered together, are no longer able to produce a competitive product without the help of senior colleagues - publishers and producers, and of course without investors who would invest not a lot of money in the first stages.
When we started to make our game " World of Gladiators: Revolution ", and this was at the end of 2004, we did not know anything about it, we were so young that we were not even able to find out anything. But we were moved by the enthusiasm and love of the players, then it was still possible :) During this time, we experienced 5 times the theft of our game, 2 times we were thrown with servers, 1 time we were thrown by a partner, 2 times in the game there was a forced full respawn of players 3 times in the game the engine corresponded, 6 times the game was forced to change its address.
For the first 2 years we could work “for world peace”, that is, there was no payment for the game. There were special cases of selling something there. I remember how I ran to the bank with enthusiasm in order to receive $ 20 from the client through the money transfer system, and then I went to the bookstore and bought technical literature for all the money there.
We conducted a study of our online world and poked it to the desires. Meanwhile, there were games on the market: Territory, Fight Club, GanjaWars, Neverlands. Games of that time almost didn’t require graphic designers at all; programmers with knowledge of perl / php, html and js could do them, the interfaces were extremely primitive. Advertising of the games was mainly based on referral systems, that is, the players themselves attracted new inhabitants to the online world. It was a wonderful time for those who had no money, but there was a desire, and a magical time for those who had money and the right thoughts.
What has changed now?
Now all those who then had money and the right thoughts raised the market to a new level. Now in the games, more than half of the state is occupied by artists, designers, 3D modelers, flashers ... From here, the output is with a beautiful graphical interface, now it is "LEGEND: Legacy of Dragons", "Three Kingdoms", "Heroes of Redemption", these games are ahead of the market, they have increased bar quality at times.
Now it’s almost impossible for a student without money to enter the online gaming market. We need a team (minimum: programmer, designer, 3D modeler, flasher, game designer), we need money for the team, we need partners for advertising, we need a clear understanding of the online games market from the team leader, as well as experience in business development, management and marketing , not bad yet legal paranoia.
I will try to explain the situation for those who managed to make their game and want to enter the market with it, but they do not have their own money. This situation is closest to me.
And so immediately you need:
1. Understand how competitive your game is . (The appearance of the LEGEND made us change the design of the game, release a new version, otherwise we would have remained in 2004).
2. It will be determined who will be engaged in advertising:
a) Publisher .
Well, not a bad choice, people who know, moreover, they don’t need money for a front, but are ready to make advertising at a percentage of the profits.
Everything seems to be good, but if you do not read the contract, you simply donate your game to the publisher. In my practice, I was faced with the fact that I was forced to sign an exclusive licensing agreement for the full transfer of rights to the game, and it is very difficult to force the lawyer of the publisher to remake the agreement for you. And it is not clear why for simple advertising for the right to make a profit, you need to transfer the right to play to the publisher.
I have been spending on this for a month now, and it seems like it’s just not interesting for them to make such a bargain. I sit and think, why, why? And the publisher of the A-class.
Bill Gates rightly says: “Life is not fair, get used to it.”
b) do the promotion itself .
In this case, you or someone from your team should have at least an experience of advertising on the Internet.
And should have money. How to find them? This is a very long and confusing story:
1) take a bank loan (you need remarkable self-confidence on the verge of paranoia, because when it comes to a young team, then most likely they have no experience in marketing, or even if there is, it is not significant.)
2) to find an investor with money . On my way I encountered 2 problems:
- not a profile investor poorly versed in online business, and especially in games, in order to convince him to invest he needs talent, experience and perseverance.
- the investor wants a stake in the company, and not less than 51%, which he will immediately say.
+ An investor needs a team, but the investor does not think: where did the entrepreneur with the idea of ​​money for the team, why would he then come to you?
Why does an investor need a team from us, if I show how much money we make, how much it will be, if he invests N-dollars and proves that having received this money, I can build a team.
3) independently earn money on the project and gradually invest it in advertising. (Both easy and difficult at the same time, easy because you don’t need to look for money, it’s difficult because the game may not bring enough money, and in order to bring it you need to invest in refinement).
3. Act and not be afraid of anything.
As Lesha said, the “teacher” of Yevgeny Chichvarkin: “If 99 out of 100 times are sent, then your business is on the verge of profitability.”
Conclusion:
Now the online gaming market requires developers experience and money. Publishers are of little interest to young developers, thereby forcing them to independently master the market, bumping into all possible stones.
No one, neither the publishers (although this is their job), nor the investors (although this is their money) gives a chance to a novice development studio. It remains to be hoping for our own strength: look for money from relatives, wipe mats at the entrance to banks, learn to make money on their own projects and, by trial and error, scramble to the top, laying out everything.
I wonder if there will be a person / company, will there come a time when they will invest money in the business ideas of online games and not demand a ready-made team, but give people a CHANCE? hardly anyone knows maybe.
I call in the comments of young developers of online games shares their experience, and publishers / investors comment on the situation for their part.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/39193/
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