How would I go about finding an investor for a game I'm working on?

December 30, 2004 3:14 AM

How would I go about finding an investor for a game I'm working on? [MI]

Without giving too much away about the game, it's a fairly whimsical browser-based RPG with a quite unique method of traversing game space and which, when finished, has the potential to earn a lot of money from ads, sponsors and character upgrades.

I've been working on it for the past few months but it's becoming rapidly obvious that I am going to need to secure some funding to hire a few artists and coders to get it finished, and also still have a little to pay myself a small wage to support myself during the development cycle.

Is securing such funding likely or even possible? Where would I go to seek out investors? How should I approach them? Is it even legal to pay myself a wage like that? What kind of legal issues are there? What am I obligated to give in return? I'm in South Australia so travelling to places outside of Adelaide isn't really an option, so anything internet-based would be awesome.

I'm really out of my depth here, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

posted by Savvas to Work & Money (11 answers total)

I can't provide a link at this point, but I read an article on a major news site (possibly the New York Times) about someone doing a similar thing. They got it to a point where certain parts could be open sourced (primarily the assets, art, etc) and raked in a ton of money from donations. There are similar projects out there, take a look. Of course, donations may not work for you, but weirder things have happened.
posted by wackybrit at 3:55 AM on December 30, 2004

Talk to Jick at kingdomofloathing.com?
posted by agregoli at 6:55 AM on December 30, 2004

This article is a good, if maybe disappointing, read.
posted by still at 7:39 AM on December 30, 2004

Savvas - your best bet is to ally yourself with someone who isn't out of their depth. Smart hackers can build stuff with self-funding, but if you want investment you're going to need someone who knows the business. If you don't know anyone, your best bet is to build up the game to the point where folks are playing it and it gets some buzz. Then maybe someone will come to you.
posted by Nelson at 8:12 AM on December 30, 2004

If you want to go the VC route, you're going to need an angel to get you going here. I don't know what the "right" way to find an angel is, especially if you don't have any ties to the VC community.

I'd avoid friends and family financing unless they're people who regularly invest in risky ventures. A lot of people will end up feeling resentful if they lose even small investments, if they feel like you could've succeeded. Friends are better than money, so be careful.

Financing a business off of personal credit cards isn't as insane as it first seems, the major downside is that if you fail, you'll be saddled with debt and may be forced into bankruptcy. But if you succeed, it's all you. If you go this route, talk to an accountant first and make sure you're at peace with the personal financial risk that you'll be taking.
posted by mosch at 8:19 AM on December 30, 2004

Not a help for the investment thing, but I came across this link, and it seemed like it might be helpful to you in another way.

http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/default.asp
posted by FunkyHelix at 9:06 AM on December 30, 2004

Yeah, the kingdom of loathing model seems to work pretty well if you can swing it. If you can get the game to a playable and sufficiently enjoyable state on its own, your player base will gladly fund the remaining development of their own free will.
posted by squidlarkin at 11:06 AM on December 30, 2004

Also, Jick rewards donations with a unique item that not only boosts the players' stats, but also lets them show off their support. But naturally you'll have to make your game look like it'll be worth the investment for this to work.
posted by squidlarkin at 11:13 AM on December 30, 2004

What was great about KoL is that there was so much to do at lower levels from the get go, and it was so much fun that people donated more and more as Jick was tweaking the end game, and simultaneously adding more content to the beginning. His turn system also keeps people from burning out on the game and keeps them coming back and excited for the next play session, something that I havent felt in games since UO. Maybe you could contact an established shareware/online company like Ambrosia or Spiderweb Software and see if they can help you and send them a demo of the game?
posted by outsider at 11:50 AM on December 30, 2004

if it's good - email me at muddylemon (AT) gmail (dot) com - i work for a game distribution/development company, were actively licensing and developing a couple right now - if it has a good money angle... could work something out.
posted by muddylemon at 12:12 PM on December 30, 2004

I've successfully coded and made about $200.00 at rentacoder. It was a good experience, but really, the pay is at the low end of the spectrum. This is a good thing from your perspective. Offer $20 for some character sketches and you will probably get dozens of surprisingly good submissions. You could definitely develop on the cheap this way.

I've also wondered how the coders there would respond to payment in terms of a stake in the finished product. Many of the talented (renta)coders are professions CS persons. Their rentacoder endeavors are to get a little hands-on with languages other than those with which they make their primary income. Program in C for a living? Make a little money on the side with Java, for example, and expand your horizons. If you project is sufficiently inspiring, I'll bet the monetary outlay could be pretty small. You'll still get plenty of interested coders.
posted by MotorNeuron at 7:16 PM on December 30, 2004