Issue #88
PUBLOG
Another roguelike
Really, we're not sure why, but we keep signing them. Not because they're roguelikes, but because they catch our attention in a unique way. (We are publishing a non-roguelike too, FYI.)
So why did Devilcoin catch our eye? A few things:
Distinct art
Unannounced. No Steam page, no public presence at all
A good premise
[Key ART]
Our last email spoke a lot about premise, so give that a read. The unannounced part matters more than it sounds. It meant nobody had seen it yet. The Steam page, the trailer, the first impression would all be ours to build from day one.
But here we had a different thing to worry about entirely.
Funding
Mateusz pitched us directly via email. He'd seen that we released Feed the Scorchpot, and he was spending a month pitching every relevant publisher he could. So right from the get-go we knew there was competition.
We read the pitch deck, played the demo, liked what we saw and understood the direction, then got on a call. We had some initial feedback on mechanics we thought would be a problem, but all in all we were interested.
[Screenshot]
As much as he liked us and what we were saying, one thing would make the conversation a lot easier: upfront funding. He was after full production funding, a number we weren't remotely close to. But he said any kind of contribution would change the conversation significantly.
We talked it over. We knew the Feed the Scorchpot money was going to land, and we knew we'd have a little bit. So in true indie fashion we offered a single-digit thousands amount (not going to say exactly, for privacy), and waited.
We knew there were other publishers in the mix, some quite large, so we waited until all the conversations were done. Then he let us know another publisher was interested. One of the biggest around. They'd fund him fully (8x our offer), but take a much bigger cut.
He picked us instead. For a few reasons:
He saw what we did with Feed the Scorchpot. He told us, roughly, that it was a hard game to sell. It wasn't chasing trends or carrying flashy graphics, and we still made sales with it despite the sheer volume of games coming out.
He knew the funding we offered was a proper gesture. We told him we don't have much, but we'd make some cuts to fund him if it meant getting Devilcoin.
The other publisher was too big, and he was worried about getting lost in the sea. With us, Devilcoin is part of a small catalogue, and we have to work hard to sell it. He knew we'd be right next to him, on the ground, doing the best we can.
Small one, but our split is 70/30 in his favour. Better for him in the long run, even with our funding coming back out of sales first.
[screenshot]
Humbling. Frightening. Empowering. Being picked for those reasons reminds us we've earned a bit of credit, and that maybe we're capable of doing this one justice.
And work we have
This was a fresh launch. As far as everyone else knew, the game didn't exist until we put it out there. We:
made the Steam page
did a global press release announcing the game
made the trailer
gave gameplay feedback, including reworking a major part of the UI (that could be its own email)
organised original key art and logo design
And all the small things in between. Devilcoin gave us a different opportunity entirely, and the response to the announcement tells us we might have another success story to tell.
[screenshot]
[FINISH AFTER ANNOUNCEMENT: the numbers or reaction from the reveal, plus the wishlist link]
Josh & Clem