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Bidding Projects Successfully
As the chief F.O.G. (F#@&-in' Old Guy), I have learned that people tend to fight about two things in life -- sex and money.
In game development, everyone is too busy to be getting any on a regular basis, so it just comes down to money. And the most amazing thing I've learned is that, despite years and years of experience bidding projects, a lot of people still set themselves up for a fight when they really can avoid it by changing their approach just a little bit.
Last month, we talked about the art of the RFP, doing the right things to make sure you win a job. In that lesson, you learned that price is not the primary determining factor in the vast majority of selections.
In this one, we will talk about why pricing can still get you into trouble after you have won the job ... if you did it incorrectly.
How many times have you bid a project with a certain profit margin in mind, managed it closely, but still not ended up with the same margin once all was said and done -- and you wondered how it happened? Or you have cut your resource allocation close to keep the bid low, then watched your margin get gobbled up in the course of development -- and perhaps even lost money in the end, leaving you vainly hoping that royalties kick in 9-15 months later to save the ROI on the project? Or, even worse, you under-resourced the job to the point that your ability to deliver is in question and you have to go back to the publisher, hat in hand, and ask for more money absent significant design changes? What do you think your chances are of getting repeat business from that company after that? Or, as one of the owners of the studio, who is expected to take less when times are lean, you find that all of your team is compensated but you are working for minimum wage at the end of the day because there is nothing left for you?
Ladies and gentlemen, that is not how to run a business. Chances are, you have committed one or more of the following three common mistakes, all of which can be avoided …
Click here to read the full article »
Archive of previous columns.
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Location: Huntington, NY.
Focus: Design, produce, create content for, deliver, and track e-newsletters, especially for companies in the videogames industry.
Facts: Create and deliver this e-newsletter (FOG Studio's FOG/Log) each month, as well as e-newsletters for GameTap, Digital Artist Management (DAM), and others.
FOG: Ronen, as CEO of OpenMoves/Games!, what would you tell readers of this e-newsletter who never thought of having their own e-newsletter, like FOG Studio's FOG/Log?
Ronen Yaari: I would ask them a few simple questions: Have you been able to establish an online community around your products and services? Have you been able to figure out a process or system that allows you to stay top-of-mind with both your customers and prospects? Do you have a good way of highlighting your products and solutions? If you're trying to do that, one of the best way is through electronic marketing. And e-newsletters are the best way of creating a community and alerting your customers to the products and services that you have.
FOG: And why would you hire OpenMoves/Games! to do that? If all they need is an e-newsletter, why can't they do that themselves in-house?
RY: Typically most companies don't have the human bandwidth to create a professional-looking e-newsletter and deliver it each and every month. Sure, they think they can do it, and they might even try doing it for a month or two, but then the reality sets in that there's no one assigned specifically in their company to do this on a regular basis and, ultimately, it falls by the wayside. The other point is that the actual delivery of the e-newsletter, making sure that the design is rendered correctly across all e-mail clients, dealing with spam issues, all that should really be outsourced to professionals. And that's what we do.
FOG: And that includes the tracking of the newsletter after it's sent out.
RY: Yes, because it's great to send out strong content and to get people excited about it, but to complete the sales process, you really want to know who is interacting with the e-newsletter so your sales people can follow up. We can tell you who has opened your e-newsletter, who clicked on which links, who forwarded the e-newsletter and to whom, who unsubscribed, why it might have bounced back, and so on. It's a host of information that you can get 24-7 by logging in to our reporting tools.
FOG: You specialize in videogame companies. Why is that?
RY: Because Paul Hyman, our editor-in-chief, is a videogames expert, he reports on the industry for “The Hollywood Reporter,” “Game Developer,” and other national publications, and he brings that knowledge to the content he creates for the developers, publishers, and other videogame companies who are our clients. For more information about what we do, I recommend contacting him.
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Blue Omega's “Damnation” announced.
Currently in development at Blue Omega Entertainment's Annapolis, MD-based facilities, "Damnation" will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC late this year through publisher Codemasters.
The "shooter gone vertical" will feature huge, open environments; frenetic combat; daredevil acrobatics; and high-octane, vehicle-based stunts. Players will be able to choose their own paths and navigate the world by performing breath-taking feats on the edge of human ability.
Learn more about the game or, for immediate assistance, contact FOG Studio’s sales representative Adam Spencer.
Steve Fawkner speaks at GDC, announces “Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.”
Just like the Beatles, “Puzzle Quest” was turned down many times before it got a contract -- from D3Publisher, Infinite Interactive CEO Steve Fawkner told the audience at his Game Developers Conference session last month.
But that hasn't dissuaded the developer from working on a brand new sequel, “Puzzle Quest: Galactrix,” which is scheduled for a year-end release and, according to Fawkner, will have a sci-fi theme and more variety in missions.
Learn the story behind “Puzzle Quest,” read the “Galactrix” preview, and check out the Gamespot video interview.
I-Play to develop “Jenga” mobile game.
One more classic game is being taken from its original environment and transformed to a brand new, mobile game format. In this case, it's the wildly popular party game, Jenga. In the original format, wooden bricks are stacked precariously and players are asked to remove them -- one by one -- from the tower without causing it to collapse.
The mobile game, which is being designed to appeal to all players, whether they've played the classic game or not, is scheduled for release before mid-year.
Learn the full story or, for immediate assistance, contact Adam Spencer.
FOG Studios launching student internship initiative.
FOG Studios is leading a new student internship initiative designed to help align the needs of game developers with the skillsets they seek when hiring graduates. The program has been created to respond to developers' concerns about the absence of a common platform to communicate their needs to game development education institutes.
FOG Studios will maintain an ongoing feedback loop to these educational institutes with what specific technologies are popular within the professional development realm so that course syllabi may evolve in real-time as technologies improve. This initiative will work in conjunction with game industry job recruiters to fulfill their needs to find the job candidates that are best-suited for their clients.
For more information, contact Chafic Haddad.
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Ping us by clicking on the appropriate link. We are currently looking for the following:
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FOG Studios, the leading agency for interactive rights since 1979, helps:
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Independent developers find publishing partners and other avenues to market. |
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IP owners maximize their return when licensing in the interactive marketplace. |
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Publishers develop relationships with world-class brands and top developers. |
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A Friend Of FOG
If you've invested in a trade show booth recently, you know how expensive they can be. Especially if you've done nothing to maximize your ROI.
One of the best ways to do that is to call on Irvine, CA-based Lead Detectors. It can provide you with salespeople that you can hire specifically for your booth so you don't have to pull your own people from the field. Its product demonstrators and sales experts are especially trained to actively approach your audience, which can generate double to quadruple the number of qualified leads for your company. And for that reason -- for what they can do for your trade show efforts -- they are now a Friend of FOG. |
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This is not a complete listing of the opportunities available through FOG Studios. To request more information on any of the featured opportunities, discuss other opportunities exclusively represented by FOG Studios, or to determine the availability of any of our Developer or Service Provider Clients for your upcoming projects, please click here.
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OpenMoves/Games!