Philipp Karstaedt, META Games GmbH

Make the Most of Your Publisher!

(White Nights Conference Berlin 2019)
The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

Transcript

1. MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR PUBLISHER
2. Making the most of publishers ➢ Intro & Ground Rules ➢ Dancing with the devil Selecting your publisher and what to ask ➢ What to expect when expecting… ➢ The publisher lingo ➢ Ask your doctor… … if your publisher is right for you ➢ No choice == choice
3. Who am I? ➢ Publishing Experience ➢ Development Experience GM Europe Producer / Portfolio COO & Co-Founder
4. Ground Rules ➢ Experience mostly mobile, but applies to all platforms ➢ Presumes (some) commercial ambitions for your game
5. Dancing with the devil ➢ Does your publisher fit with… - Your Game itself - Genre of your game - Your Audience - Your team’s skills
6. What to expect… ➢ Overall checks - Right & Complete Skill Offers - Track record - Testimonials
7. What to expect… ➢ Acquisition - Marketing Test / Audience Testing - Competitor Intelligence - Platform Relations
8. What to expect… ➢ Retention - Live Ops Info / Integration - Game Design Help - Game Testing
9. What to expect… ➢ Monetization - Monetization Design - BI Tools - Insight & Experience
10. Speaking in Publisher Tongues ➢ Test, test, test ➢ KPI Orientation - Even if you are deep into it, accept some fundamental aspects of your game could change ➢ Accept their goals - Each pub has two main drivers a. Make a profit b. See their knowledge respected
11. Ask your doctor… ➢ F2F Contact ➢ Good feels? - Reach out to other devs ➢ Communication style - Never okay to force, to appeal to authority, to overawe
12. …if a publisher is right for you ➢ Get a good deal - Review the agreement with a lawyer - Push for changes - Simulate the implications
13. When not to chose… ➢ Alternatives - Self-Publishing? - Consider outsourcing LO functions - Consider UA funding options ➢ Be realistic! - With your skills, your time, your priorities
15. Audience 300M+ MOBA Fans* 80M+ in NA/EU Gameplay Principles $75M+ Revenue Last Year** 7 Years on the Market THE FIRST ESPORTS MANAGER GAME ON MOBILE Bringing together eSports fans and the most successful manager game on mobile *estimated on player and spectator numbers worldwide, all of them own a smartphone; ** https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/in-belgrade-yes-belgrade-an-unlikely-path-to-a-tech-hit
16. MOBA BATTLE ROYALE We don’t do mobile eSports, we do eSports-themed mobile games Allowing eSports fans to engage with games around their main passion TYCOON GAME + + + FPS ESPORTS MANAGER FOR FPS ADVENTURE & PLAYER CAREER SIMULATOR
17. The worlds first esports specific fund and company builder, with: ➢ €18m Seed Fund, invested into META seed round ➢ $125m Venture Fund, invested into META extended seed / Series A Additionally, we get… ➢ Best strategic partnerships ➢ Instantaneous knowledge sharing ➢ Leverage of shared marketing channels BITKRAFT Esports Ventures raises a $125M USD venture capital fund For Investors Intrigued and Confused by Esports, a VC Fund Opens BITKRAFT Launches With 18 Million Euro To Fund Esports Startups BITKRAFT Esports Ventures will invest in esports startups Access to a wide range of successful esports companies Incubation of BITKRAFT esports ventures
18. philipp@metagames.gg Questions?