How to publish a mobile game, and not make my mistakes
Hi, Habr!
I want to share my story of launching a mobile game. This is a story about collaboration with the publisher, in which I want to tell about the pitfalls that await the indie developer while working with the latter.
The history of my game began in 2015 - I moved to Unity and got carried away 3d, the result was my first (second, which is not a shame to show) game: Out of Brakes - a runner in which a player must move away from obstacles on a typewriter, the speed of which is constantly grows:
')
The work took almost a year. Then there was a short run of torment: I decided that I had written a cool game (Crossy Road killer and all that) that I didn’t need a publisher, and that the game was snapped up like hotcakes as soon as it appeared in the AppStore ... Well, that was a good experience: self-launch can be compared with throwing stones into the stormy ocean, hoping to see circles on the water. This experience has become very important, and taught us to think more realistically: we often hear about success stories, and it seems to us that we can easily repeat them, losing sight of the many details and difficulties that those very successful developers faced, focusing on one thing - on success.
So, wiping away tears and analyzing the situation, I realized 3 things:
Taking into account all of the above, the game was developed Blocky Racing:
Two people already worked on Blocky Racing, the game was based on the ideas and graphics of Out of Brakes - this allowed focusing on the gameplay and developing a runner in full-fledged races with tracks, opponents and leveling cars. When the development was complete, we started looking for a publisher.
And here he is, an indie developer triumph: after a heap of sent press releases, negotiations and refusals, the publisher is found, the contract is signed, the game is running and even received a feature in the AppStore - there is no limit to joy. But as it turned out, there was a huge fly in the ointment ahead of us.
The first problem we faced was the slow work with the publisher: the contract was signed in November 2016, and we only started the game in January 2018 - of course, a number of changes were made to the game, but the overall rhythm of the improvements left much to be desired - I think the moment should be taken into account by all developers - in our case a whole year passed between signing and launching!
A few words about the publisher itself: the publisher NexxStudio , specializes in casual games, registered in Malaysia. As far as I can tell, the company consists of one person, named Ken Neth Wong.
After launching the game (January 2018), the pace of work accelerated: work on the bugs, work on the new version, new game modes, and so on.
We were looking forward to when 2 months have passed since the launch, and the publisher will send us the first income / expense report, and we will be able to receive our first check. And here the most interesting began: the publisher began to delay with reports. At first he wrote that data on advertising networks had not yet been collected, then that he was at a game conference and he had no time, then that he was busy launching another game, etc. etc. At the same time, work on the patches was actively continued: “strike while the iron is hot,” said the publisher ... we woke up only in August 2018 - it came to the realization that they were fooling us. It became clear that we need help.
We found a lawyer who read the contract and was horrified: there was not a single clause in the contract protecting the rights of the developer, and vice versa: the publisher’s rights were 100% protected, and the obligations and conditions for non-compliance by the publisher were either not very accurate or absent altogether.
In this situation, the lawyer advised not to make “sharp movements”, but to try to reach an agreement. The pace of work began to decline: the publisher fed us breakfasts on reports, we fed it with promises of new content. At the same time, the publisher received a notification from the developers of another mobile game in which it was said that the name Blocky Racing intersects with the name of their game Blocky Racer and violates their rights, and that we must remove the game from the store or rename it.
Work began on a new patch: we changed the name from Blocky Racing to Blocks Racing, and the publisher assured us that he was about to calculate all the income, send us all the reports and pay all the money, and gave us an advance payment of $ 4k. Having hung our ears, we gave out a patch, after which the publisher has been in touch with us for some time, and in December 2018 even wrote, quote:
Of course, a week passed, a month - no action was taken by the publisher, and he stopped contacting us.
Several lessons can be learned from this story:
So, more than a year has passed since the launch of the game. The game has not been updated for a long time, the monthly income fell to $ 1.5k per month.
There was a period of apathy, when it seemed to me that I needed to put up with defeat, and move on: to do what I loved, to make new games, and to take the publisher more seriously the next time. The total income from the game, based on data from App Annie, is approximately $ 50k. This is not the order of numbers, which is to go to court.
But, at some point, it came to the realization that this is MY game, MY intellectual work, and MY time spent, and it is worth fighting for.
I want to achieve the following:
To date, the action strategy developed by a lawyer is as follows:
The first 2 points of the plan have already been fulfilled and have not brought results. I do not know if the game is worth the candle, I don’t know if I have enough money to lead the court in the United States. And even if the court will oblige the publisher to pay me money - how it can affect the publisher from Malaysia - I also do not know.
I am convinced of one thing: the worst thing that can be is inaction. I hope that the article will attract the attention of developers like me. I ask you to help spread this information. I think this experience will be useful to everyone. Thanks for attention!
I want to share my story of launching a mobile game. This is a story about collaboration with the publisher, in which I want to tell about the pitfalls that await the indie developer while working with the latter.
The history of my game began in 2015 - I moved to Unity and got carried away 3d, the result was my first (second, which is not a shame to show) game: Out of Brakes - a runner in which a player must move away from obstacles on a typewriter, the speed of which is constantly grows:
')
The work took almost a year. Then there was a short run of torment: I decided that I had written a cool game (Crossy Road killer and all that) that I didn’t need a publisher, and that the game was snapped up like hotcakes as soon as it appeared in the AppStore ... Well, that was a good experience: self-launch can be compared with throwing stones into the stormy ocean, hoping to see circles on the water. This experience has become very important, and taught us to think more realistically: we often hear about success stories, and it seems to us that we can easily repeat them, losing sight of the many details and difficulties that those very successful developers faced, focusing on one thing - on success.
So, wiping away tears and analyzing the situation, I realized 3 things:
- one is not a warrior in the field: making a game of one person, trying yourself in different roles is fun, but not too productive
- you need a publisher: he can objectively evaluate the game, give advice on how to improve it, as well as build a marketing campaign and increase the chance of fichering in the AppStore / Google Play
- you need to continue making games, staying within the framework of the chosen genre and existing developments: it reduces development time and produces results much faster, thereby reducing risks
Taking into account all of the above, the game was developed Blocky Racing:
Two people already worked on Blocky Racing, the game was based on the ideas and graphics of Out of Brakes - this allowed focusing on the gameplay and developing a runner in full-fledged races with tracks, opponents and leveling cars. When the development was complete, we started looking for a publisher.
And here he is, an indie developer triumph: after a heap of sent press releases, negotiations and refusals, the publisher is found, the contract is signed, the game is running and even received a feature in the AppStore - there is no limit to joy. But as it turned out, there was a huge fly in the ointment ahead of us.
The first problem we faced was the slow work with the publisher: the contract was signed in November 2016, and we only started the game in January 2018 - of course, a number of changes were made to the game, but the overall rhythm of the improvements left much to be desired - I think the moment should be taken into account by all developers - in our case a whole year passed between signing and launching!
A few words about the publisher itself: the publisher NexxStudio , specializes in casual games, registered in Malaysia. As far as I can tell, the company consists of one person, named Ken Neth Wong.
After launching the game (January 2018), the pace of work accelerated: work on the bugs, work on the new version, new game modes, and so on.
We were looking forward to when 2 months have passed since the launch, and the publisher will send us the first income / expense report, and we will be able to receive our first check. And here the most interesting began: the publisher began to delay with reports. At first he wrote that data on advertising networks had not yet been collected, then that he was at a game conference and he had no time, then that he was busy launching another game, etc. etc. At the same time, work on the patches was actively continued: “strike while the iron is hot,” said the publisher ... we woke up only in August 2018 - it came to the realization that they were fooling us. It became clear that we need help.
We found a lawyer who read the contract and was horrified: there was not a single clause in the contract protecting the rights of the developer, and vice versa: the publisher’s rights were 100% protected, and the obligations and conditions for non-compliance by the publisher were either not very accurate or absent altogether.
In this situation, the lawyer advised not to make “sharp movements”, but to try to reach an agreement. The pace of work began to decline: the publisher fed us breakfasts on reports, we fed it with promises of new content. At the same time, the publisher received a notification from the developers of another mobile game in which it was said that the name Blocky Racing intersects with the name of their game Blocky Racer and violates their rights, and that we must remove the game from the store or rename it.
Work began on a new patch: we changed the name from Blocky Racing to Blocks Racing, and the publisher assured us that he was about to calculate all the income, send us all the reports and pay all the money, and gave us an advance payment of $ 4k. Having hung our ears, we gave out a patch, after which the publisher has been in touch with us for some time, and in December 2018 even wrote, quote:
I've missed the deadline. Can you give me one more weekend to address it? Otherwise, you will be able to republish it. hope that's a fair self declared ultimatum
Of course, a week passed, a month - no action was taken by the publisher, and he stopped contacting us.
Several lessons can be learned from this story:
- Drawing up a contract with a lawyer is necessary - it will help to avoid many problems
- It is advisable to discuss the improvements that need to be added to the game before launch, and fix the launch dates in the contract - during an oral discussion, the publisher promised us that we would start in 2-3 months, but in reality a whole year had passed, most of which was waiting connections
- Respond faster, do not work “by inertia”, if you suspect that there is a problem - do not sit back
- You shouldn't think that everyone abroad works according to their honor and conscience - there is a child everywhere (most likely, you never think so, but the author of the article naively assumed that the IT business is deprived of this disadvantage)
So, more than a year has passed since the launch of the game. The game has not been updated for a long time, the monthly income fell to $ 1.5k per month.
There was a period of apathy, when it seemed to me that I needed to put up with defeat, and move on: to do what I loved, to make new games, and to take the publisher more seriously the next time. The total income from the game, based on data from App Annie, is approximately $ 50k. This is not the order of numbers, which is to go to court.
But, at some point, it came to the realization that this is MY game, MY intellectual work, and MY time spent, and it is worth fighting for.
I want to achieve the following:
- To the publisher removed the game from the stores and stopped earning money at my expense
- To the publisher paid the income that belongs to us by right
- To convey to the public the consequences of my collaboration with NexxStudio and Mr. Ken Neth Wong
To date, the action strategy developed by a lawyer is as follows:
- Send a complaint letter to the publisher: we notify him that he is grossly violating the contract, and if he does not fulfill his obligations within a month, we will terminate the contract unilaterally
- If the publisher ignores the claim, terminate the contract and notify the publisher about it.
- The contract is drafted in such a way that all disputes must be resolved in the USA by the California Court. In this case, we need the help of jur. US companies that can act on our behalf and negotiate with the publisher, and in the extreme case - take the case to court.
The first 2 points of the plan have already been fulfilled and have not brought results. I do not know if the game is worth the candle, I don’t know if I have enough money to lead the court in the United States. And even if the court will oblige the publisher to pay me money - how it can affect the publisher from Malaysia - I also do not know.
I am convinced of one thing: the worst thing that can be is inaction. I hope that the article will attract the attention of developers like me. I ask you to help spread this information. I think this experience will be useful to everyone. Thanks for attention!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/446980/
All Articles