There’s a great quote from The Incredibles – it’s the scene where Edna Mode is showing off new super-suit designs and she says, “I don’t know darling – luck favors the prepared.”

If you are going to pitch a game idea to anyone, but a publisher in particular, you’d best take this statement to heart. Over the last ten years, I’ve been in tons of pitch meetings – and only a handful of these meetings ever resulted in a deal. Looking back on them I realize many of these wacky ideas should never have been pitched – not because the ideas were flawed but because my team and I were not prepared. Of course, some of the ideas were flawed at the core, but that’s a subject for a completely different article.

Rather – I want to show you how to put together a successful pitch: what to prepare before the meeting, how to arrange the pitch meeting, what materials and hardware you should bring with you, what to expect in the meeting, how to gauge the interest level of the publisher, and what to expect when they follow-up.

The goal is to get the publisher to love the idea and the team with the smallest amount of knowledge transfer. There are two reasons for this. First, it really helps decision makers at publishers – called the “green light committee” when the amount of material they have to review is concise and accurate. Second, any tiny flaw in your idea, your plan, or your team can be enough to leave a negative impression and cause the publisher to chase another project. Always remember that everyone on the green light committee puts their reputation on the line when they give you a thumbs up.

STAGE 0 – CREATE A GREAT GAME CONCEPT

My best game design idea so far is “Dungeon Golf” – something like Tiger Woods meets Beelzebub on the exclusive links of Dante’s Inferno. Clearly I’m not the guy to tell you about how to design the next Halo or Guitar Hero. I’ll stick to what I’m good at – selling the idea and the team to a publisher.

STAGE 1 - RESEARCH

Do your research, and choose your prospective publishers with care. It doesn’t make sense to pitch an overly competitive project that will attack an existing cash cow franchise. You should still approach them, but only do so with the full knowledge of what products they are selling now and hopefully what is expected down the road.

Once you know about their product plans, the next step is to have a short meeting with someone in business development. A good venue for this is a face to face meeting in an intimate setting like DICE (held in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year). Shows like GDC, and GameConnection are all extremely hectic, and not the best setting for a meeting like this. If you can’t go to DICE, I suggest visiting them at their office, or a arranging a conference call. Ask them about their appetite for games of specific genres, platforms, ratings, and budget. Ask them about their green light process – get them talking about themselves. Ask them specifically if they are signing new projects. If you feel a good vibe ask them, “would you be interested in seeing a <insert your game’s genre> game with a <ESRB rating> rating currently in <insert your current stage of development> ? They will almost always say yes – but by asking you are communicating to them you have such a game, which can be just as valuable.

STAGE 2 – REHERSAL

I can’t stress enough how important a formal rehearsal is – it will feel like a waste of time at first, because the “energy” of the room is different, but you MUST rehearse your pitch until you know it completely.

Rehearse it in front of your co-workers, trusted friends who work for other game companies, and anyone who has the knowledge to judge what you are saying and how you say it. Rehearse the entire thing, from unpacking and setup, through the pitch itself, to packing, exit, and post mortem. Keep track of your timing – since the full pitch should be no longer than about 30 minutes, excluding the demo. Every time you do this you’ll get better at it, more confident, and increase your chances of success.

The last time I went on a pitch tour we rehearsed the entire pitch at least a dozen times before we went in front of a real publisher, and it made a huge difference. We learned what questions to anticipate, what was confusing to the audience, even how best to arrange seating.

STAGE 3 - GETTING THE FIRST MEETING

The first people you will meet work in business development. It is through them you must pass in order to be the center of attention of real decision makers. Call them, and remind them of your casual meeting at DICE, or wherever, and ask them if they are interested in learning more about your project.

You might be asked to send some materials to them – your goal for these materials is enticement, not exposure. Send them a studio summary, 4-8 pages that describe your studio, your team, and your past accomplishments. You can also send them a short teaser for your game on a DVD. Make sure you design a full color DVD label and jacket cover – writing “Game Demo” on a naked DVD –R with a Sharpie is for noobs. The trailer should communicate the game’s high concept, genre, rating, and four or five distinguishing features that will make this game a hit.

The studio summary and game trailer should prove that you and your team aren’t psychos, and that you have the kernel of a good idea. That done you should be able to get a small meeting with the business development guys and a few other opinion makers in the company – perhaps in QA, product development, or marketing.

This isn’t the real pitch! It is just a warm up.

This first meeting will prove to the business development people and a few others that you and your team have something truly special. You must do that before get the attention of the people that have “green light” authority – those that are trusted to evaluate and make decisions about funding new projects. To get to meet them, you have to prove you are worth their time and attention by convincing some other people that are the gatekeepers to the green light committee.

At this first meeting, show the gatekeepers enough to communicate the essentials of your game idea and your company, and inspire good questions and spark an internal discussion about your game. A good example of this might be some pre-recorded gameplay, even in a draft level layout. You could also show a short presentation of your company’s history and key players on your team.

Their questions may expose some holes or risks in your game design, and you might not have good answers yet. Your job will be to go back to the team and handle as many of those sticky questions as you possibly can – hopefully all of them. That way, when you’ve got real juice in the conference room, you’ll be ready to blow them out of the water.

There is a delicate balance here – you must show just enough that they see potential that can be achieved with their resources and funding, but not a game that is so far off the rails that they can’t see it being developed successfully. Use the time between the first teaser meeting and the second pitch meeting to address these questions and concerns, and be prepared to show real progress in your game. If you made a great first impression you’ll be able to ensure a critical mass of decision makers in the real pitch.

STAGE 4 – THE REAL PITCH

You’ve been through a few meetings by this point, each time letting a little more light shine on your game – as this light becomes more intense you’ve hopefully cleaned up the rough spots to keep the overall impression of your game very positive while showing a little of your team’s ability to produce on a timeline. If you’ve done a good job at this and the publisher has an appetite for the game you are making you’ll be allowed to present the game to members of the green light committee – and this is where you really need to shine.

GETTING THERE AND SETTING UP

Give yourself PLENTY of time – publishers are almost always in big cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, or San Francisco, and you will have to deal with a lot of traffic. Confirm the location, where to park, and all else with your contact before you travel. Have it printed out so you can see it while driving your rent a car. If you happen to be doing a multiple publisher tour in one city – schedule at 10am and 2pm only, and don’t do any more than two meetings per day.

I’ve had pitch tours that required no set up, 15 minutes of setup, or a whole hour. The later was pitching The Crossing, a new multiplayer FPS from Arkane Studios, and we took an entire LAN party with us. If there’s anything you need the publisher to provide, like an extra screen or audio system, make sure they know beforehand and even call one day before the meeting to confirm it. They’ll likely forget it, but at least they’ll know it was their fault!

Most every publisher has some kind of cool A/V system that takes a VGA and headphone jack combination, suitable for easy hook up from a laptop. But – you should have a few extra things on hand to make set up easier such as a DVI/VGA adapter, 20′ audio cord extension (both headphone style and RCA style), and any other doo-dads you think you might need. Not every meeting room at every publisher has this type of system, and you won’t be in control over which room you’ll get. Last minute changes can get you scrambling or worse, unable to show any of your work.

As people filter in, take special note of who is attending your meeting. Common sense dictates two things: the bigger the meeting room, the better, and the more business cards you see with “Director” and “VP” in it the better. These people are closer to or in the green light meetings, so the more of them the merrier. That’s why the first pitch meeting with just business development and some staff is so important – you have to prove yourself before you get the attention of busy executives.

As people give you business cards place them in front of you on the table to remember who is who – if you are like me you’ll forget names instantly and this isn’t the situation to be unsure of who said what in the meeting. A lower level PD person who didn’t like your game isn’t as important as the VP of Product Development, usually!

Sometimes important people will bail out of the meeting. This doesn’t spell doom for you, but it might mean you have to make another trip to the publisher to do an encore performance of your pitch. Make sure you have the budget to do this – these people rarely travel to a developer, and you need every opportunity you can get to convince the right people.

DURING THE PITCH

Remember three things as you speak:

1. Communicate with passion – you can’t get a healthy seven figure budget game signed if you don’t have any passion for it.
2. Communicate with authority – you are the best person to know your own idea – if you aren’t sure of it, or can’t articulate it completely and accurately, your audience will not be convinced you can build the game.
3. Be Humble – one of my publisher friends said that “Some of the worst pitches are from big name studios – they think their reputation is all they need – and it’s not.” Take this lesson to heart - well known and unknown developers alike. A little humility and lot of preparation go a long way.

THE POWERPOINT DECK

I know it makes you nauseous, but a good tool you can use to throw up visuals and movies in an easy way during presentations is the PowerPoint deck. If you haven’t seen it PowerPoint 2007 creates much better looking and professional presentations than the 2003 version. That given, here are some general notes about making your slides:

1. Do NOT use stock Powerpoint templates. You have artists – USE THEM – add screenshots, movies, and concept art to punch up the look.
2. Slides should be beautiful and FLAWLESS. You are a game company asking for millions of dollars – your first impression should be one of consummate professionalism, show a commitment to quality, and impress the audience with your creativity.
3. Test the presentation on multiple machines, AWAY from your network! You don’t want to get to the pitch meeting and realize you’ve forgotten something like a linked movie file. A good rule of thumb is to keep the Powerpoint file and all linked files in a single directory.

Every game is a little different, and every team is a little different, so there’s no perfect way to organize the deck, and the pitch. That said, here’s a template that gives you a place to start: Pitch Template.ppt 

Slide 0 – A Cool Background – Logo – Something

This should be something really amazing to show on the screen as people are gathering for the meeting.

Slide 1 – Introduce the team / studio

Where you are located, how many employees do you have, what games have you shipped and what ratings or awards have you achieved, and who is the core team. Segue into the game’s concept by talking about what your team wanted to do next. You might consider ashowing a movie here - you can producer a “trailer” with high production value that can even double as a recruiting trailer – showing past games, etc.

Slide 2 – The game concept

Show a trailer for your game if you have one, concept art if you don’t. Make sure you mention these things:

1. High concept: “you play a <hero> with <powers> in a <place> fighting against <villain> to <keep this really bad thing from happening>.
2. Genre: FPS, RTS, Action/adventure, stealth, racing, puzzle, platformer, etc.
3. “Think” – imagine the great environments and fiction of <ultra hit game #1> with the excellent game mechanics of <ultra hit game #2> with art direction similar to <ultra hit movie>.

GOAL – People must have a completely clear idea of what the game is about and spark continued interest in learning more. Just like mixing different foods, be very careful of choosing points of comparison for your game idea – if they don’t taste great together your concept will be lost on them from the very start.

Slide 3 – Fun Game?

1. Talk about the main “hook” – why is this game fun to play, and how does the game mechanic work.
2. Mention other important features that will distinguish this game from others in its genre.
3. Don’t go intro a GDC lecture here – just introduce the concept and perhaps what inspired you to invent it – your demo will prove the point.
   

GOAL – The game mechanic, just like everything else, should feel new but grounded in a solid design foundation. This will prepare them for what they will see in the demo, instead of attempting a proof of why your game is fun. Imagine what pitching Katamari Demanci or Guitar Hero would have been like if there was no demo….

 

Slide 4 – Fiction, Characters and Setting

Game fiction, characters, and setting are what motivate players – almost every game has some version of it, minimal that it may be. Present only the basics – where and when does the fiction unfold, what are the main characters, and what sets up the conflict and tension in the story. Whatever you do, don’t give away the ending – leave the audience wondering what happens as they play.

Here are some options for presenting your fiction, characters, and setting:

1. A rendered cinematic trailer – the best method, because it shows high production values, ability to execute, and communicates your art style.
2. Storyboards – this works fine when mixed with recorded audio and a soundtrack (make sure the drawings are ROCKIN’ good, complete with camera pans and transition effects).
3. Concept art – at a minimum always present your fiction with a few visuals as you describe the story. The passion of the designer mixed with beautiful concept art can go a long way.

GOAL – The fiction, characters, and setting should be interesting, new, and marketable.

Slide 5 - Demo

Here are some options for your demo:

1. An actual running demo with shippable quality art, animations, and sound - this is the very best option if you have it – especially so if you feel confident enough to let the publisher play.
2. A running demo with temporary art – it will answer questions about game mechanics, but not artistic creativity, engine capability, or production quality.
3. Pre-recorded in-engine gameplay – a good thing to show in the first meeting, but less so for the second meeting – it is less risky, however, because it won’t crash.
4. Pre-recorded rendered gameplay – similar to in-engine gameplay in that is can show the intent of your design – but you will likely inspire questions how the game will be built and whether the engine can bear the performance burden.
5. Slice-o-matic – this is a montage of movie clips that give the audience a feel for the look and feel of your game – it can be pretty effective in setting an emotional tone and intent, but doesn’t do much for proving your team can execute. This is a good thing to show at the first meeting, but definitely not the second.
6. Storyboarded gameplay – this is only slightly better than waving your hands around and talking – but games have actually been signed with a game storyboard – so if this is all you have, you should show it. Just don’t expect a deal or any follow-up unless you really hit a nerve and your team is extremely well known.

The best idea is to show the game on your own equipment if it is a PC title, or create bootable DVDs for console test kits. Be prepared to spend a lot of money on your demo equipment – I suggest a set of identical high end laptops. They create a hi-tech feel to the meeting and are more portable that Shuttle PCs. For obvious reasons, you want to select a set of gear that can be easily transported and if possible carried on to commercial airline flights.

GOAL – The demo should be as flawless as possible and feel like a real game, show the game’s intent both mechanically and artistically, show the team’s ability to execute, and make the audience WANT TO PLAY MORE.

Slide 6 – Target Market and Brand Objectives

This is where you give more insight into the business side of the game – who is going to buy it and why.

1. ESRB Rating: E, T, M, AO
2. Platforms: PS2, PS3, PC, XBOX360, DS, PSP, …  If you already have platform authorization and dev kits – say so!
3. Mention the main artistic and design inspirations of the game

GOAL – This information should provide the publisher with additional information required to do a sales forecast, which will be instrumental in setting an upper limit on your development budget. T-rated games generally sell more than M, and a multiplatform title will sell more than a single platform title – but will also affect the development budget and risk. All of these factors should be taken into account when you propose rating and platforms. Artistic and design inspirations of the game will give the forecast something to compare against – hopefully you can favorably compare your game with something which sold millions of copies.

Slide 7 – Technology

Here is where you show the publisher what technology drives your game engine and your production pipeline. Here are some things you should mention:

1. What tech is being used and whether it is already working or licensed.
2. What shipped titles have used the technology.
3. Whether the team has experience with the technology on the target platforms.
4. What technology upgrades can be expected from the technology provider during development.

GOAL – Show that the technology will support the game design on the target platforms and the team can execute using it.

Slide 8 – Team

When you talk about your team – publishers want to see your ability to choose the right talent, not just gather your friends into a company. They want to see the right mix of skills, experience, chemistry, and passion. Here’s what you should mention:

1. Core team – if they are already in place, say so!
2. Development team – if they are already in place, say so!
3. If they have worked together on a previous project, say so!
4. If they have experience in the genre, ay so!
5. If they have experience on the target platforms, say so!

GOAL – Convince them that risky hiring is behind you – especially the core team, hopefully the preproduction team, and even the bulk of the development team is guaranteed to be in place when they are needed. Lots of hiring (any more than a few hires per month) is a risk many publishers will not tolerate. They also want to see a team management commitment to hiring the very best and an ability to actually do it.

Slide 9 – Current Status

This is where you mention the current status of the project:

1. Is the game in concept, pre-production, ready to begin production, mid-production, or ready for gold master?
2. If the riskiest part of preproduction or production is completed – say so.
3. If you have already acquired a necessary license for content – say so.
4. If you have any other cool thing that is hard to get – say so.

GOAL – Communicate the current status of the project so the publisher will know what you need to continue the project and eventually reach the Gold Master.

Slide 10 – Ask For What You Came For

It goes without saying that the research you did before the pitch should give you confidence that what you ask for is possible given a publisher’s constraints. On specific numbers such as the schedule and budget estimate, make triple sure your slide deck calls these numbers out as good faith estimates, subject to change.

1. Mention the schedule estimate in calendar months from signing, or a ship date if it isn’t dependant on a deal – be mindful of “difficult” times of the year, such as shipping in November, especially if the title is original IP.
2. Mention the budget estimate – in your local currency! Small developers should not bear the burden of currency fluctuations. Don’t mention the developer rate per month at this stage or the exact man months of development – it brings up too many questions that can give them a negative impression. You’ll do that during due diligence, a process you’ll go through after the publisher is hooked.
3. If anything large, such as a technology licensing fee or voice recording, isn’t included in the budget you should call it out here.
4. If you want a dev/pub agreement – say so.
5. If you want a distribution deal – say so.
6. If you are just whetting their appetite, asking for feedback, and will come back again at a later time to show more progress, say so, and say when you’ll be back.

GOAL – The publisher should know exactly what you are looking for, but don’t try to throw deal breakers in the mix this early such as a demand for ownership of the IP. The goal is to get them to love the project, give them a reasonable estimate of the development costs, how long it will take to bring to market, and what kind of business arrangement you are looking for.

Slide 11 – Questions Slide

This is where you should let the other side pummel you with tough questions. They will likely ask you all manner of things. Look in the next section to see how to handle some of these questions.

Slide 12 – Thanks & Contact Info

If you can end with another cool movie, do it – it leaves a positive impression.

Now you get to take their questions. 

If there are no questions – I hate to say it, but you a doomed. There are always questions. In fact, the longer the questions last, the better. BUT – stick to a schedule! If you have to cut the meeting short because of a time constraint while they are still asking questions, you can do so and feel good about it because you’ll leave the audience wanting more. If the questions begin to dig deeply into subtle intricacies of your game you are in good shape. It means they have understood your concept and are interested in learning more.

You need to know about 100 times more about your game and your team than you are actually going to show during the pitch. You will be pummeled with questions about design, art, technology, production, schedule, budget, etc. and you should have every answer within 20 milliseconds or less – but as I said before you should prepare your answers carefully.

Make sure at least one person, hopefully two people, are taking detailed notes during Q&A. They should note who asked what, what the answers were, whether the answer answered their question, and even subtle details like body language. These notes will be invaluable for helping you make your pitch better.

Here are some tips for handling questions:

• Be flexible, but not TOO flexible – some questions are likely going to be challenge questions meant to test your own convictions, and others are genuine attempts to see how flexible you are in your game design. You will never really know which is which. The best advice I can give is simply be truthful – hold your ground on the things most important to you and your team, and show a willingness to work with the publisher on everything else, within the framework of your core game design.
• Have Some Visuals Ready – If you can prepare some visuals ahead of time to back up answers to some questions you expect to receive – DO IT. It shows the publisher that you have really thought through the idea, and have come completely prepared to handle anything they throw at you. You can use keyboard shortcuts to show the slide, then go back to the Questions slide when you are done. Whatever you do DON’T show a full menu of slides that answer various questions! There will be time for that later once they are truly interested.
• Handling Really Stupid Questions – watch out for the stupid question, one that makes you think that the person wasn’t paying attention or has no idea what the game is all about. Stay nimble, polite, and give them a good thoughtful answer. Don’t try to be funny here – it may be an attempt to see what you do under pressure. Of course, it could be a bona-fide stupid question, too. Not everyone who works in publishing is dealing from a full deck.
• Getting Blindsided – sometimes a publisher will ask you something that hits you like an anvil, clearly showing you that there was some gaping hole in your prep work. The best thing to do here is keep your cool, and show them that while you are perhaps as fallible as anyone else you won’t get flustered or crack under pressure. Tell them you’ll get back to them with an answer as soon as possible and take the next question.
• Saying I Don’t Know – is much better than making something up on the spot. But, make sure your note taker generates an action item to find the answer and provide it via email after the meeting.
• Keep Answers Really Short – when possible give short, succinct answers that address the meat of the question. Details and backup materials can come later. Besides, the more you say the higher chance you’ll say something the publisher doesn’t like. If they need to ask a follow-up question, they will.
• Not Everyone Should Answer Questions – everybody has seen them, the unabashedly truthful developer honestly giving their best answer to a publisher’s question, only to instill serious doubts in their minds about the game or the team. You shouldn’t lie or willingly conceal important information, but a well placed, “we’re still working on that” beats a “we have no idea how to proceed” every day of the week. Know your teammates, and make sure they are comfortable with some amount of spin that happens in these meetings – believe me the publishers do it as much as developers, if not more.

Some questions to expect:

• “Why is this game fun ?” – Sometimes this question really throws me – because it might mean that I didn’t communicate it earlier. Sometimes the publisher wants you to articulate the game’s fun factor in your own words. Describe your game just as if you were describing a new game to a friend, and you want to get him to come over to your house to play.
• “How many developers do you have now, and what will be your maximum team size ?” – The publisher is trying to get a feel for how much hiring you will have to do. Make sure you have an answer that fits the scope of the project you are proposing, but also minimizes the hiring risk. Having an outsourcing plan already in place can help – just saying that you’ll hire 50 people in 6 months won’t cut it, no matter how cool your game is.
• “How many levels, or hours of gameplay will there be ?” – Another question related to scope, and will generally be compared to your budget to see if you have any idea what you are getting yourself into. You can’t do a 50 hour action/RPG game that will compete with Oblivion with a $10M budget these days, so don’t attempt it unless you have some crazy trick up your sleeve.
• “What about <insert cool feature here>, are you going to have that ?” – this could be anything from split-screen co-op to XBOX Live support to in-game advertising to any other of the latest stuff going into games. The best strategy here is to be honest but flexible. If your game design won’t support multiplayer – say so right up front. If it is something you hadn’t planned on but would consider, also say so. Don’t say anything just to bend over backwards, publishers are smart enough to know that when they see it and aren’t interested in working with developers that don’t know their own game.
• “Instead of historical China, can you set your game into a futuristic space city orbiting a black hole ?” – This question and those like it sometimes come from a frustrated game designer working in publishing – and should be a huge red flag for you. The publisher shouldn’t try to alter fundamentals of your game – instead they should be able to help you take your idea and fine tune it so that it will be accepted by the mass market – sometimes this might be through an alteration of the main character after it has gone through testing, or perhaps changing the name of the game so that it will pass a trademark search.

Don’t forget that a pitch meeting is a two way street – you should be looking at them and their company as hard as they are looking at you. Try to get answers to these questions:

• Do they have a commitment to quality, or ship dates ? Everyone likes to ship on time, but face it a crappy game sitting on the shelf doesn’t do either the publisher or developer any good.
• What support do they have for voice recording, motion capture, music recording, localization, hardware testing, and other studio services ? A publisher sometimes has in-house groups that do this or has existing relationships with other companies. Find out how they do this, whether you can manage it or change it, and if that suits your needs.
• How are sales forecasts made ? This is the first huge hurdle for your project once you had a good pitch meeting. Knowing what goes into sales forecasting is key for you to position your idea to get the best sales forecast possible.
• How do you set your marketing budgets, and how do you get the word out about your games ? Compare their answer with what you know about games they have recently shipped and whether you thought they were marketed well.
• What kind of testing do you do in-house ? Different publishers do different kinds of testing – from playability testing, usability testing, hardware testing, pre-certification, public beta testing, etc. Find out what they do, and how long they will do it. Be cautious of a publisher that does most of their testing out of house.

IMPORTANT – Have someone in your group responsible for taking notes – this includes people’s names, their questions, your answers, and their feedback. It will be invaluable for putting a fine polish on your pitch when you do it again – and you invariably will.

STAGE 5 – FOLLOW UP AFTER THE MEETING

Once you have left the building – do a quick post mortem. Whatever you do don’t say a word about anything until then – you might be overheard by someone, which could be embarrassing at best or scuttle your possibilities for success at worst. Ask these questions of everyone on your side who attended:

• What were your impressions of their impressions? Who was a critic? Who was an advocate?
• What did you do during the meeting that went really well?
• Are there any possible improvements? Do you need to better prepare an answer or the script for a slide?
• What action items were generated from the meeting?

Going over this right after the meeting, while it is fresh in everyone’s minds, is important to improving your pitch.

Put up an FTP site soon after the meeting, give each publisher a separate login account, and upload everything you feel you can release to the publishers. Remember that the people you met are only a handful of people that are involved in the green light process, and to get these other mysterious and invisible people on your side, they need to see and hear as much about your game as you can safely share.

Feedback can sometimes take weeks to prepare, so don’t start emailing and phoning your business development contact sooner than three weeks after the pitch.

If your pitch went well, and there’s good feedback, the next step is due diligence, when the publisher will send representatives to your studio and dig deeply into your design, your technology, your production practices, and your team.

Surviving that is the subject of another article!

My thanks to Doug Whatley at BreakAway Games who gave me permission to use concept art for “Gone”.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 2:57 pm and is filed under General Musing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.