New gaming company?

[Johnny Spleen]

Hi all,
My question is along a similar line as TC's but with a different slant. I would like to start a company. I have one game almost finished (in final playtesting stages and writing) and another two games in the wings. I have many expansion ideas ready and good ideas for the future. So what are my first couple of steps? For those of you who have already started, what are the priorities?
Thanks for any help
Johnny Spleen

[Misguided]

Please elaborate. What sort of game (RPG, CCG, Minis, etc)? What genre? What would be your goal in starting a company? What do you hope to get out of this long term? There are people around who would probably be happy to try and help, but give us something to go on.

[Johnny Spleen]

Well its an RPG. Its futuristic but not SciFi. I am hoping to distribute as widely as possible and move the game as far to mainstream as I can as quickly as I can. I would like to make this a viable profession. I understand its not an easy field to have financial success, but without that as a goal, I doubt I would get close.
Thanks,
Johnny

[Misguided]

Ok, that helps a lot. All of the following is pretty general, but I hope it is a start.

First thing I'll say is this: get as much advice as you can from as many people as you can. Get to Origins and/or GenCon or the closest equivalent in your area and talk to people. Take everything with a grain of salt, though. If you talk to industry pros, many of them will tell you to quit now/ take your money to Vegas, etc. Heck, that may be good advice, I don't know. If you get easily discouraged this may not be the best field to investigate.

Learn as much as you can about all aspects of the industry before you try and actually print anything. Ask other people about their mistakes. Try to avoid making them yourself. You don't want to figure out how you could have saved yourselves thousands of dollars AFTER you've already gone to print.

Read Sandy's Soapbox column here at RPG.net...good advice to get you started there.

As to your specific game...
What is it? What is it most similar to? How is it different? Why would a customer be interested in buying it instead of <previous answer>? Describe what makes your game unique in three words.

What system are you using? If you are not using an established system (e.g. d20), why not? Do you have good reasons for using something different? Be prepared to defend that decision, if so.

Talk to retailers. Discuss your plans. If they all say "I'm not interested/I can't sell this/etc. then you may need to go back to the drawing board.

I could go on like this at length... In the final analysis, though, I'm just one other yutz trying to get started who has accomplished nothing. Don't take my word for it.

Some of these questions are hard, but if you're serious about this, you need to start thinking about them right now. None of this is meant to be remotely discouraging. If it is, take a deep breath and really think about this before you proceed.

[LMPjr007]

<<Hi all,
My question is along a similar line as TC's but with a different slant. I would like to start a company. I have one game almost finished (in final playtesting stages and writing) and another two games in the wings. I have many expansion ideas ready and good ideas for the future. So what are my first couple of steps? For those of you who have already started, what are the priorities?
Thanks for any help
Johnny Spleen>>

Here is the most important thing I have learned in starting an RPG: Have at least the first 3 products done and ready to go to print before you announce yourself. The biggest killer in the RPG market is game systems that come out with no support them at all. Just think to yourself how many companies go under for that reason?

[DarnFunGames]

Read This. (http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=31&i=1053&t=1053&v=f)

[wizardattic]

Originally posted by LMPjr007
[B
Here is the most important thing I have learned in starting an RPG: Have at least the first 3 products done and ready to go to print before you announce yourself. The biggest killer in the RPG market is game systems that come out with no support them at all. Just think to yourself how many companies go under for that reason? [/B]

The vast majority of RPGs cease production because their core product is neither unique or compelling. I know of no companies that have gone under from lack of support. The lack of support is almost always the symptom of a poor-selling game, not a cause.

For a little more on other lessons...

http://www.wizards-attic.com/Starting.html

[Misguided]

have you updated that page, Eric? I don't remember there being so much info. I'll make sure to refer people there from now on.

[Guildofblades]

Lewis,

the vast majority of new potential customers talking to game retailers will likely hear a flat out "not interested, I couldn't sell this" from 9 out of 10 of those retailers even if it was a great game and good idea. 6 out of 10 game retailers only carry the leading game lines as is. Of the 4 of the 10 the delve into support ing a more diverse marketplace, many have the perception that there are too many product on the market; and their are. Looking to them fro a green light likely won't happen. Except perhaps in your case, as you've spent a great deal of time preparing for your initial release and seem to have done a whole ot right initially; includig forging relationships with some good retailers.

Yes, do talk to those retailers. Don't look for any of them to give you the inspiration to continue. Take in their advice and their comments and view them with the appropriate grain of salt. You can generally tell what a retailer's mind set is with regards to smaller companies and new companies by simply looking at their shelves. Gives you a persepctive to view their comments by. I would recommend that any new publisher join the Game Publishers Association thegpa.org as a first step to learning the business. Then do background checks on sales levels of the games similar to that which you want to produce. Where games failed, attempt to ascetain why. Realize that 80%+ of the time they will hae failed due to the business end and not some gaping hole in the game itself. But a great company can make a reasonable success of a bad game though utilizing their marketing and distribution infrastructure and front loading the pre release marketing budget. Small companies have a *shot* of succeeding with a good game, but there are a whole lot of ways to screw it up as well. Small companies have "zero" chance of succeeding with a bad game.

Eric, marketing support for a game IS important for a new game. Good games can fail easily without market support. Bad games can survive, for a time anyway, with it, though a bad game will utlimately fail in the long term.

For arguements sake, we'll assume its a good game (a big assumption BTW). Small companies have a challenging time getting the attention of retail shops and earning shelf space in the first place. We'll assume this new company has earned some of that retail space by having a good game and a good initial marketing approach.

The problem comes in where the lions share of retailers in the industry still do not have Point of Purchase software and a completely computerized invetory system. So when the good game sells the retailer thinks "cool, I'll have to re order that". Porblem is, a half week or a week later, when it comes time to place their regular restock order with their distributor, that good game from the obscure company has long since skipped his mind. As such he fails to re order it and it quickly becomes forgotten.

A month after the release of the first item, and a couple weeks after it sold out, the retailer is reading the solicitation information for the next item for that game. There is a chance the retailer will remember it was sold out and that he'll remember such when it comes time to place the next restock. But still only a chance. The retailer gets another reminder call when their distributor announces the game is available, and another one when the next product hits the solicitation process. Without those reminders, many (not all) retailers that don't operate with a computerized invetory system telling them what to restock, new games from obscure companies are often forgotten.

I don't care how good a game is, if its not on the shelf where it can be sold, very few people will ever discover the quality of the game. If a great games gets into very few peoples hands, there is a very real chance those few people won't be vocal enough to spread the word of that game and get other craving it. With no draw from the consumers and no reminders hitting the retailers, great game dies because it is never restocked and never given the chance to prove that it would sell again and again and again...

Now naturally, distributor solicitations aren't the only means to generate that "reminder", but small publishers promotional efforts can often be "lost in the noise". This and getting the retailer to regular restock an item remain problematic until the particular retailer has restocked the item eough times that it becomes a standard part of their systematice invetory check (whatever system that might be) used when its time to place those restock orders.

And then you have to remind your distributors to restock.....

[T.C.]

Hi there

I'm from the other posts about starting a business, and just wanted to add something.

There is something very important that will help. Don't just worry about retailers. If you want some major feedback, its all about the conventions. If there's anywhere where you want some "constructive criticism", try GenCon or Origins.

There's where you'll get some honest opinions on your games as well as getting some players involved. That's how many games are successful, letting the players know.

At least, its one of the ways I hope to be successful.

Thanks,

TC

[wizardattic]

Originally posted by Misguided
have you updated that page, Eric? I don't remember there being so much info. I'll make sure to refer people there from now on.

Yup. I try to update the publisher resources page whenever I get a spare microsecond. Unfortunately, none of my employees can really do anything with the web site, so everything has to go into my extremely long line of things to do.