"I'm a Lead Designer and Programmer at a start up game development company in eastern Canada. Start up is always a little freaky and scary, to say the least. One of the things we're focusing on right now is the "Getting a publisher" phase, and that sure isn't an easy task. Any ideas/suggestions there would always be appreciated."

Submitted by: Ashley Matheson

Answered by: Gabe Newell (co-founder, Valve Software)

"Ashley,

"Valve was started in August of 1996, so we can certainly relate to the anxiety and excitement you have being a startup. Specifically on the issue of getting a publisher, I would suggest that one thing to think about is the 90/10 rule that dominates the gaming world. 90% of games lose money or barely break even. 90% of new developers go out of business. The key thing you have to convince a publisher is that you stand a good chance of being in the other 10%. This isn't easy, and you have to sell the publisher on your company just as much as you have to sell them on the game. The publishers aren't looking to help you, they aren't trying to give you a break, they are trying to figure out how to make money in a risky business.

"Publishers see hundreds of proprosals and developers a year, and you'd be surprised at the kinds of things that give a publisher confidence (or lack thereof) in a developer. They will react to you on a personal basis -- are you smart, articulate, charismaatic, and would you be interesting for them to work with on a day to day basis. They will want to know if you understand the business and publishing side of games. They will react to you based on how you answer the phone (yes, really). They'll react as much to the presentation of a game idea as to the content of the game idea. And so on. Simply asserting things about yourself (we will build a great game, we will work hard) doesn't count for much of anything with publishers -- they want to see some concrete evidence of these things. Detailed specifications and a working prototype beat hand-waving and promises every time."

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