Creative Media Funding Games
Self-funding
Games cost a lot to develop. If you have the money, and the
guts to risk it, then the rewards can be much greater. Of course if the game
isn’t great then you may end up with a finished product that no one will sign.
If you fund or have developed a game which turns out to be great then
publishers will wait and then sign it and the financial returns will be greater
because you took all the risk.
Another option you could is to develop a smaller indie game.
This eliminates the financial risk but does mean you game will take longer to
make. In most cases indie developers start off working on games in their spare
time while working a day job.
Indie
Funding
Most indie games are zero budget or self-funded. If the first
game doesn’t sell then they continue on part time developing their next game.
That means the developer works on the game in their spare time no other
employees to help out while working a day job. If the first title makes money
they can then use that to go full time and fund their next title.
While most indie games are self-funded there are a few
sources of funding available such as The Indie Fund, which is a funding source
for independent developers, created by a group of successful Indies. Indie
Fund and Kick-starter, an innovative “crowd funding” system that help
small game teams fund their games.
Grants and
Tax Breaks
Funding may also be possible via local grants or tax breaks.
These are usually limited to specific regions and many won’t be available for
creative projects. You will need to research locally available grants or tax
breaks to find those that are applicable.
Publisher
Funding
If you can’t fund it yourself then publisher funding is an
option for larger games. If you have a good demo, good team and a good
presentation in place there is a chance that a publisher may sign you. That
chance is dramatically reduced if you do not have industry experience.
Publisher’s hate to take any risks so they often only sign teams with an
industry track record.
The pros of publisher funding are that they take the
financial risk. The cons are that they almost certainly own your game and maybe
even part of your company in return for the cash. They will also take the
lion’s share of the profits. That funding will most likely depend on you
meeting agreed milestones and failure to do so may result in them withholding
payment and your company going bust.
Crowd
Funding
Crowd funding is typically, those seeking funds will set up a
profile of their project on a website such as those run by our
members. They can then use social media, alongside traditional networks of
friends, family and work acquaintances, to raise money. There are three
different types of crowd funding: donation, debt and equity. Crowd funding is a
way of raising finance by asking a large number of people each for a small
amount of money. Until recently, financing a business, project or venture
involved asking a few people for large sums of money.
