Novy PR

Kickstarter. It extends funding for those who are tired of catering to publishers. It creates a lasting bond with your “backers,” leading to tons of press coverage, adulation from gamers worldwide, and financial freedom. It will change the world as we know it.

Hold on a minute. Let’s back off a bit. There’s a lot of buzz around Kickstarter and game development ever since Double Fine’s  Adventure created a huge splash back in February. Adventure is regarded as Kickstarter’s poster child thanks to almost 90 thousand backers and $3.4 million in funding.

After Adventure, it was Wasteland 2’s chance to shine. And it didn’t disappoint: almost 62 thousand backers, $3 million in funding. Wow.

Those two games led to a veritable gold rush. Independent studios and amateurs alike suddenly realized they didn’t need to bootstrap in order to make a game. They didn’t need to go begging to a publisher either. Getting funded on Kickstarter would mean getting a project fast-tracked to success with full creative control and a horde of “backers” ready to help spread the word. It seemed too good to be true, and in a way, it still is.

Winter is Coming

Stealing from Game of Thrones is fun. Do you know what’s even more fun? Watching history unfold in real time. My day job, promoting indie and mobile games, allowed me to observe (and learn) a lot in the past few months. In HBO’s hit series, “winter” is when the White Walkers may return once more to wreak havoc on the Realms.

In the Kickstarter world, winter would be:

a) Scams
b) Failed projects

We already had our first scam. Uncovered by Reddit, Mythic: The Story of Gods and Men was quickly outed to the whole world as a shameless attempt to scam Kickstarter users. Since no one’s credit card gets charged unless a project is fully funded, financial loss was avoided.

There are hundreds of failed projects. They are no fault of Kickstarter nor the project owners. Like the App Store, the sheer number of new projects — increasing every day — will make getting noticed and therefore funded much harder than in the halcyon days of 2011. Such failures should be taken as learning opportunities, high quality feedback before the game is actually in the market. Seen in this light, failing to get funded on Kickstarter might actually be a blessing in disguise.

This is what a Kickstarter scam looks like


Best Laid Plans

It pains me to see quality projects fail to generate enough excitement to get funded. As an independent games supporter, I want creative ideas and concepts not only to get funded, but to get made. I want to read about them — and play them. Still, a huge number of projects fails to take off or crashes right before landing. After months of careful observation, I concluded the problem is fourfold:

(1) Developers without a “following” fail to gain traction
(2) Projects without playable code scare away possible backers
(3) Lack of a high concept or “big idea”
(4) Journalists tired of Kickstarter pitches limit the amount of coverage devoted to Kickstarter projects

As seen in Adventure and Wasteland 2, well-known studios/developers have a much better chance of getting funded. Gamers recognize that such developers have a track record; that they have shipped dozens of games in the past, often much bigger projects than the one currently hosted on Kickstarter. Of course, no one takes a minute to consider that a huge number of well-known developers has failed to ship titles before, or that even publisher-supported AAA titles may get cancelled (sometimes mere months before release). Nonetheless, being a celebrity — or even a minor celebrity — pays off if you need to fund a game via Kickstarter.

Playable code. We’re all used to open betas where an almost-finished game is stress-tested by hordes across the planet. Few of us have access to alpha builds and an even smaller number to prototypes. In Kickstarter, concept art and videos are a given, but real prototypes are hard to come by. Well, I can share with readers right now that in the near future, you will need a prototype to get funded. A backlash against prototype-less titles is already evident — see this Reddit thread for the supporting evidence. Concept art, music, videos will not be able to assure possible backers that a project is healthy. The same goes for the press: it’s much more newsworthy to try a new Kickstarter project, share your own particular impressions with readers, than to write about yet another new project.

Everyone knows a big idea from a generic, OK one. Big ideas have reach. They make us look at the world in a different way. The personal computer was a big idea. Same for the App Store and the creation of Android. In Kickstarter, big ideas inspire gamers to become backers. They are more viral and more newsworthy to the press. A big idea spreads via social media, provoking oohs and aahs on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ — and therefore driving funding. Picking a niche genre in Kickstarter, something smaller, is a big risk instead. You would think that gamers would welcome an approachable, doable concept but the opposite is true: they shrug their shoulders and move on to the next game. Another problem is that a niche genre like casino games or music has a smaller pool of fans than something big like first-person shooters or even the Phoenix-like adventure genre. From a small pool of fans, you’d need to convince an even smaller pool of Kickstarter users or sympathizers to support your project. That makes things exponentially more difficult.

Promoting SRRN’s Always Outnumbered last month, I encountered three different reactions from journalists. The first one was support — they know SRRN from Ash and Ash II: Shadows and helped us with a small post or tweet. A site even gave us free advertising (!) The second one was silence. No reply, which is expected and part of everyday life if you work in Public Relations. The third reaction was one of frustration. The journalist in question told me he gets such pitches, dozens of them, day in and day out. That other journos have filters set up so by merely mentioning the word “Kickstarter” an email gets moved to a particular folder, or deleted forever. He told me that there are way too many developers jumping on the bandwagon and flooding journalists with pitches in the process.

I understand why he reacted this way. I share some of his misgivings and can certainly imagine how annoying it is to get 20, 30 Kickstarter pitches every day. Where you can click on a link and download the game featured in a real pitch, that’s not an option with Kickstarter. There’s no way to know how good — or how bad — the game truly is. Journalists are forced to trust the studio, believe in all the promised features, have faith in the release date. And that’s IF the project gets funded. No wonder so many are burned-out.

Countermeasures

I still have hope that projects like SRRN’s, full of potential and with innovative gameplay, get fully funded instead of yet another zombie game. But I don’t have that power. What I can do is list a few directives that may help developers in their quest for crowd-funding.

• Wait for the right moment. Invest some time and money in order to have a prototype ready by Day One
• Be careful with niche titles. Unless you’re really, really famous like Tim Schafer, a niche title will be much harder to fund
• Consider your rewards carefully. Make sure to include high dollar rewards for those who can afford them. Avoid expensive-to-manufacture rewards — you should spend your budget making the game, not designing/creating/shipping rewards
• Try to include experienced developers in the team. Ideally one or all of you will have shipped multiple titles in the past
• Kickstarter is no place for amateurs — if you’re making games for the first time, it’s best to create a mod or even a small mobile game. Getting funded implies real responsibility for shipping an actual product
• Invest in a great camera and microphones. Enlist pros to shoot your videos, even if they’re still in film school. Production values are becoming a huge deal — some (unfairly) see them as an extension of your talent as a game developer
• Finally, have fun with it. Understand that it’s cheaper to fail on Kickstarter than on the marketplace. If your project didn’t get funded, regroup and start anew

A period of euphoria tends to follow the introduction of every new technology. In gaming, we saw it with CD-ROM drives in the 1990s, in-game advertising in 2007 and now free-to-play. In its current incarnation, Kickstarter is a truly disruptive development for the game industry, one which no one knows where it will take us. It will be worth your while to take a few deep breaths, then make the best possible decision(s) for your project.

Feel free to share your opinion/experience in the comments. And if you feel like this is a worthy post, please share it with colleagues, friends and family.

Appy was chosen one of the Top 10 Mobile Developers to Watch in 2012 by Pocket Gamer! This awesome bit of news follows the two Best App Ever awards won by SpellCraft earlier this year. 2012 promises to be epic for the Appy Combine :)

Excerpt:

“US outfit Appy has been around almost as long as the App Store. Spun out by veterans of the console scene, it quickly found scale with its FaceFighter franchise. Subsequent games were interesting but didn’t have the same mass market appeal, at least until the company’s first proper free-to-play release SpellCraft.

It’s certainly not perfect, but it is different to the typical Ville-style games, providing a deeper design mentality, as well as quality of presentation. This, combined with a push into Android and the company’s previous game experience, leads us to expect good things in 2012.”

One of the spells in SpellCraft

Follow this link to read the whole piece.

Liquid Entertainment’s founder and president, Ed Del Castillo, was featured in Gamasutra with a new post filled with valuable productivity tips, [Productivity] Tips & Tricks from a Game Developer. Ed figured out a way to keep projects, the studio itself and personal life on track with select techniques and mobile apps, most of them free (!)

Excerpt:

“There are times that you need to write and write fast. I’m a decent speed iPhone typist and I now take notes on my phone. Draftpad is the simplest, easiest to use note-taking app ever created. I think the thing that turns people off to Draftpad is that there is only one page, but that is its biggest strength.”

Visit Gamasutra to read Ed’s post and don’t forget to leave a comment :)

Indie developer Woo Games has announced its new multiplayer-focused Android shooter, ErnCon. The game has been available as a beta in the Android Market for a couple days now. ErnCon was downloaded by thousands of Android users and it currently has almost a thousand installs, pretty impressive for a game designed/programmed/tested by a single developer :)

Here’s the trailer:

You can download ErnCon here. It’s a free download. If you stumble on any bugs (it’s an open beta after all) make sure to send your feedback to contact@woogames.com.

Next week, I’ll be at GDC. If you’d like to meet, send me an email at luis ‘at’ novypr ‘dot’ com.

Here are some PR mistakes new studios will often make. Each (or all) of them can sink your mobile title in a single hit.

Duke Leto knows best:

“The first step in avoiding a trap is knowing of its existence”

1. Launching on a Friday

Fridays are when bad, bad companies like BP put news out so it gets BURIED. Therefore, if you need your game to stand out, the whole idea is to launch on a productive day like Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Another reason to avoid Fridays is the fact that Friday morning in the West Coast is Friday night in the UK, so you will lose most (if not all) Euro pubs.

[Go here for a great top ten of “buried news: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=14489]

2. Failing to produce a trailer

Trailers are essential nowadays. They’re a basic complement to posts in sites like Gizmodo or Slide to Play. Through trailers, customers & press alike can understand how the game looks and sounds in motion — in short, how polished the whole thing is except for pure gameplay. So make sure to have a 30-second to 1 minute trailer ready for launch.

Here’s a great example: http://youtu.be/2_ObxR8d6LA

The game is FaceFighter Ultimate, a fun mobile brawler by Appy Entertainment.

3. Engaging in astroturfing

Astroturfing is when PR pros & interns pretend they are the common folk in order to give games they represent great scores/reviews in the App Store or the Android Market. Recently, a famous PR firm was caught doing it, making them look really bad to both prospective clients, the press and iPhone users. NEVER, EVER engage in astroturfing. You can easily get caught red-handed and in full public display.

Le Astroturf. As fake as my French accent

4. Changing the price / business model two weeks after launch

Pricing and mobile apps/games is always a point of contention. There’s a whole school of thought preaching that $0.99 is the place to be since it allows for mass penetration and wide distribution (the Angry Birds model). Others believe every game or app has it’s rightful place in the Great Pricing Pyramid — so games with a niche audience or high production values demand a higher price. That’s what EA and Activision do and I’m with the big boys on this one. However, there’s nothing worse than launching at, say, $1.99 then quickly dropping the price to $0.99 if lacking in sales. Or going for the whole in-app purchases bonanza only to find out no-one is buying — therefore immediately launching a premium (paid) version. Don’t change horses in the middle of the race. Stick to your guns — hopefully, you didn’t take the whole pricing issue lightly and made a great choice in the first place.

Don’t forget to check their user reviews in the App Store

5. Pestering the press with multiple emails/phone calls/voice messages

The press is busy just like you. They work hard and are often underpaid. It’s perfectly fine to send them one email and leave one voice message.

That’s it.

Don’t email them multiple times per day or leave multiple voice messages. Don’t keep calling either — maybe they are at their desk, but can’t pick up the phone due to a major deadline. Annoying journalists is the shortest path to getting ignored for the foreseeable future. No press = no coverage = tiny, tiny sales

Pests are found in many shapes and forms

6. Failing to provide sites with promo codes / premium accounts

Give the press promo codes of your game. Don’t make them buy it. Also, if your game is an MMO, let them know you can max out their character after a couple hours in-game so they get to see the whole world. Don’t make them play 10-15 hours straight just to have access to all the content — journalists have better things to do with their time. Finally, a word of warning: U.S. promo codes won’t work in Europe. If a target publication is in Europe — like the aptly-named Eurogamer — you’ll need to produce Euro codes or possibly reimburse them via Paypal.

No one will buy your game in order to review it

7. Having no presence on Twitter/Facebook/Google+

Twitter is great to keep in touch with your fans on a day-to-day basis. You can let them know a patch is in the works — or that this massive giveaway starts in two days. Facebook, on the other hand, fosters a sense of community, of belonging. You can still “broadcast” like in Twitter, but you need to understand every post will have lots of comments under it. So don’t assume everyone will love everything you say — expect criticisms from time to time. No matter what, use Twitter and Facebook to RESPOND as well. Engage your fans. Answer their questions. Post pictures of the studio, goofy videos, tips & tricks. You’ll thank me later.

Google+, the latest entrant in the Social Media Wars, it a hybrid of both Twitter and Facebook. G+ is perfect for the typical “broadcasts” done on Twitter but it also allows for posts well-beyond 140 characters. G+ is also a much more engaging social network; comments will be thoughtful — and plentiful.

How about you? Do you have any sins to add to the list? Tell your story in the comments!

The almighty E3 Expo is upon us. Here are some pro-tips for the lucky few who get to attend the most important game industry trade show in the world:

1. Write everything down

Make sure someone takes copious notes during interviews. Every little detail, no matter how small,  must be on paper. It will allow you not only to build a body of knowledge on each journalist (personal interests, beats) but also make following up after each meeting an easier task.

2. Have all your assets (trailers, screens, fact sheets) in a FTP server

DVD-ROMs are so 2002. The best way to give the press all those assets you’ve spent the last two months working non-stop on is an FTP server. On one end, some journalists are now taking tablets or netbooks without optical drives to meetings. At the same time, you can bet your golden coins that their hotel has high-speed broadband, more than fast enough for a few hundred megabytes.

3. Invest in power bars and good ol’ H2O

Trade shows are busy times for everyone involved, from clients to account executives. Avoid fainting spells with lots of water and many, many power bars. You can have them for lunch and dinner, but we usually recommend a hearty breakfast to start the day with enough gas in the tank.

4. Go to bed early

At the risk of sounding like our mothers, we must insist on at least 5 hours of sleep. Hopefully 6. Sleep deprivation will wreak havok with your memory and stamina. Now, if you add clubs and margaritas to the mix, you might approach zombiedom in a day or two, tops. Split your nights in partying and rest nights to keep things on an even-keel, so to speak.

5. If recording video interviews or podcast, scout for a quiet spot

Film school taught us that sound can make or break a picture. Your movie can look like El Mariachi and thrive, but bad sound will make it feel cheaper than straight-to-video monster features. It’s worth your time to find a quiet (or quieter) spot for podcast recordings and video interviews. The press outlet will thank you for it and people on the interwebs will actually understand what you’re saying.

6. Bring extra batteries

Both Android and iOS devices consume energy like ferocious beasts. Don’t assume that your phone will last a full day under load. If you have an Android phone, invest in spare batteries. No kidding, we have 3 of those at home, two of them always charged. If you own an iPhone, buy one of those battery extenders. There’s nothing worse than dead smartphone during a trade show.

7. Have tethering and portable wi-fi hotspots as Plan B

You can NEVER trust the following during a trade show: (1) the show floor’s Internet connection (2) your hotel’s network. That’s why you need to make sure your mobile provider offers tethering for you phone — in case there’s an “issue” with the hotel. Similarly, trade shows are known for having shoddy Internet and mobile connections. Overcrowding is to blame most of the time, but it doesn’t mean you need to suffer everyone else’s fate. Bring your own wi-fi hotspot and enjoy the peace of mind.

8. Be flexible

Things may change in the last minute. Journos can be late, the client can get stuck at a publisher meeting. Use technology to your advantage to keep the pace: text messages are great for last-minute rescheduling, for example. Go with the flow, but make sure to respond to journalists immediately. They are usually in a much tighter spot than you are.

9. Carry all your documents in your smartphone

Sorry iPhone owners, but this one is Android-specific. Use the mass storage capability of your phone to carry all your important files with you everywhere you go. We’ve been saved many times over by a spare copy of important documents. iPhone owners can rely on Dropbox but we still think local access is important. You heard it here first!

How about you? What are YOUR strategies for E3 survival?

Image credit (top): Rie H @ Flickr

Image credit: Android Central, Google

Memorial Day is near. We figured it was good opportunity to address weekends, holidays and PR, a topic often missing from the usual convos.

The First Rule: Don’t do it

The first rule is that you NEVER email/phone journalists during the weekend or immediately before and immediately after a holiday.

• Many journalists will spend time getting their stories ready right before a holiday so they can have some peace of mind. Don’t think for a second they want to be bothered
• Once they’re back in the office, it will most likely take a day (maybe two) before they can “clear” their inboxes
• Journos will often monitor email during weekends and holidays, but don’t count on it. They’re doing so in case something major breaks, not because they hope you’ll email them a press release

The Second Rule: Tricky Friday

Friday is where stories go to die. Friday afternoon might as well be Sunday — Friday morning is “dead” enough. If you’re trying to get something covered right before the weekend, you should have started pitching on Tuesday.

Anything you send out on Friday morning will show up on Friday night if some of your targets are in Europe, a clear infringement of Rule #1.

On the other hand, because Fridays are quiet, journos might have some time to talk. Assuming you have a scoop / exclusive and that you have a relationship with that journalist in particular, maybe they will be up for a quick chat. If you’re lucky.

Stick to Tuesdays and Thursdays for important announcements — why do you think there is such a thing as DVD Tuesday?

The Third Rule: Stay in Touch via Social Media

We said it on Quora that Twitter is a great place to be on Friday night. It’s true: exchanging tweets at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night is an engrossing experience. Your personal and professional contacts are starting their weekend — they’re finally starting to relax and kick back.

• Assuming you’re not the annoying type, use weekends for social interaction via Twitter & Facebook
• One or two tweets per contact is OK. Three or more isn’t, unless there’s an actual conversation taking place
• Be yourself, not a RoboFlack that likes to stalk journos on Twitter

Weekends and holidays are sacred, so make sure to treat them accordingly.

If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to use the Ask functionality on Tumblr or email us at leglevy ‘at’ gmail dot com.

Image credit: Carl Wycoff @ Flickr