We have 2 games that Chillingo were interested in them. We say "yes" to Chillingo with one game and "no" with Time Geeks. I need more time to know about the final result. Time Geeks is having good sales but of course that i don't know how would be the sales with Chillingo.
Is the Chillingo published game out yet? If I may ask what game is it? Would be very interesting to see the sales after a few weeks if both games are comparable in quality and have (*almost) the same market. PS. Time Geeks looks really cool!
It would be very interesting! it seems Time Geeks did quite well without any publisher backing you up. Is the other game with Chillingo not out because they want changes? How are they to work with?
Yes, Chillingo send us a large list of suggestions and improvements for the other game. I love it because we can learn about how improve the game. But of course that it have a negative point: We need more time to do this changes (Chillingo don't do the changes for you, only ask for them)
Wow, that's great. I don't mind changes as well. It's a good learning process and if it makes the game better and more polished in the end, I'm all for it. My biggest concern was obviously money. We did most of the work but we also hired out contractors to lend a hand in art and development. Does Chillingo help with that coverage? Or is that negotiated?
I don´t know about Chillingo but PR companies only put out so much PR as YOUR pockets are deep! Esp. with it being all digital.
I think if a game is truly polished people look at it as Chillingo's A-tier games and flock to it, while being wise to the games that aren't as good. You know this when Appstore gamers talk as though Chillingo made Angry Birds, iDracula, Knight's Rush, Cut the Rope, etc rather than publish. I think if your game is fun and polished but you're having trouble finding publicity Chillingo is a safe bet, better than NgMoco anyhow. I advised the devs behind Blue Hole 3D to link up with them, for example. I wish I knew how an indie dev could hook up with Gameloft, if possible. They have incredible brand recognition even though their games are clearly made on A and B tiers.
EA just reached out too. Is this normal for iPhone devs/indies for publishers to be tempting you? Our game doesn't look like any of EA's games and more towards Chillingo's. Anyone have experience working with EA? If anyone wants to check out our game, PM me. I didn't post up the info here since I didn't want to jeopardize anything for my team.
Chillingo from breif e-mails I like the ethics of. Quote from an e-mail: "We work to a maxim that we sign if we can make a developer more money than if they were to self publish." EA I have spoken to, but not dealt with enough to comment really...
I've heard EA makes you go through some pretty intensive Q&A before they'll release anything they're publishing. Reckless Racing, for instance, was a game we previewed back when it was titled Deliverace back in March. The game seemed great then, so who knows what they've been up to in the meantime.
I would say Chillingo is safer than EA, since they rely solely on mobile games as far as I know. EA is rather large, I would be pretty intimidated working with them.
In terms of other publishers, I've worked with Appy on the just released All-in-1 ZombieBox. The overall experience was positive. They sent out clear app requirements, were available for questions, were patient, and are very friendly. Definitely a higher level of exposure for the app than I could have gotten on my own.
A very interesting discussion going on here, I appreciate all the perspective. I think with the way things are now, it is a very good idea to talk to publishers/PR companies in general. Do your homework - See what they have to offer, contact other devs who've worked with them (for pros and cons), and just try to be as cordial and friendly with them as possible, of course. It is fairly clear by now that making a great game and selling (any) game are two different things, and it really depends on what you expect out of this whole thing. If you want to make some decent money up front, obviously you want to let someone experienced and connected to take care of your networking, media planning, etc. Yeah, they might ultimately cost you a large chunk of change, but if you've worked it out right then you can spend more time developing more (hi-quality) products to sell and less time "chasing your audience." At the end of the day, easier to get some money in your pocket sooner. If you decide it is very important that you own everything, then you are definitely risking a lot with the huge market to fight against. A good game is just a blip, a *great* game that looks awesome and generates buzz by itself is not easy to generate. If you have a bit of cash stashed away and don't mind learning as you go (and spending a lot of time "on the chase" as opposed to pure development), then this is a very good option.
Steal Careful. They mght steal it for themselves pension or company. Like Gameloft for instance pretending they might be interested to publish my game (not coded yet as nobody replies to me) yes Gameloft Mathieu Rolland pretending then when I said I have prepared a game document after a few weeks of thought about it, his email wanting full details of the game. ( I didnt send it) I asked are you still interested? he replied "Sorry we are not interested" YEah thanks for giving me false hope of a brighter financial future and pension. Then Chillingo I said who are your development studios, I need a developer? (I know that already, yes I can be very stealthy too), they also wanted details and I said "A A NDA signature first", he keeps avoiding the question what he will do to help me get my game made and if he will charge for development or develop free and take cuts and how much I will get from this from final sales. I dont mind that last part if its a good developed game for free. I mean what a devious underhand industry. Yo cant expect me to send full game details and mechanics without saying how you can help or what cut your giving out. Dont tell me otherwise as I emailed about a hundred developers and studios and only a handful replied to a game quote or licensing. I seen it first hand.
so you you contacted a mobile publisher with an idea? and you wonder why there was no result and why are are not wealthy and rich by now? if you've had a running prototype and proof of concept you would be in a position to talk.. but just an idea.. is as hard as it sounds.. worthless. everyone has ideas.. yours are nothing special
I spoke to someone at Appy too. Not regarding our game but more just via twitter and emails. The people there seem easy going.
The people I spoke to were pretty professional. They sent through NDAs and didn't really hold back on any info. We didn't go with them because we wanted to launch on our own but we might in the next game if our first one doesn't do well. Of course, we hope it kicks ass but it'll be good to have both experiences to compare on our end. Either way, if they can help out, it doesn't hurt to keep an open mind and a good relationship with people you meet. It could eventually work out to your benefit in the end.
I would want to make sure there's it's clearly outlined how much will be done to promote your game. If your game doesn't sell right off the bat will they toss it to the side and move onto something else? That's my biggest concern. Everyone knows Chillingo for the big name games but they also publish many games that are much more amateur looking and completely unheard of the only way I know is because I've seen them on the app store.
I wondered about this too. It seems there are many skeletons in Chillingo's closet. I haven't seen any PR for their unpopular games. Would suck if your game sold like shit and you still had to give away 50% commission to your publisher.
