Possible Publishers
Last changed: DaveB - 07/26/2008 - 10:58 AM
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Confirmed Viable Publishers

This is a nonexhaustive list of potential publishers. These are people who meet the following criteria:

A publisher is not viable if:

Note that web-based advertising and distribution is fine, as long as there is an increase in coverage. Think of it this way, if we ended up with a company like EA or NCSoft, we would see a small minority of the profits. But they would sell a lot of copies of the software, so it would be OK. If we're listed with someone who is taking a majority share of the money, then they need to be getting us exposed to more users.

If they are just buying Google advertisements, and putting our file on a website with a one sentence blurb, clearly, that isn't going to drive adoption any more than if we did it ourselves. And we would get all the profit if we did that ourselves. So the publisher must bring something to the table.

Terminology

Acclaim

http://phpbb.acclaim.com/acclaim/viewtopic.php?t=10

Quote:

If you are publishing a completed online multi-player game and your are looking for a North American or European publisher you have found the right place. We are already working with the top Asian online game publishers. If you are developer with a an online multi-player game near completion or already finished, we could be a good publisher choice because of our focus. At this moment we are not publishing games for the unplugged consoles or handhelds. We are publishing online games for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii. At this time, we are not taking submissions for unfinished games and single player games with multi-player modes. Please email us at submitgame@acclaim.com.

Features:

Steam

http://support.steampowered.com/cgi-bin/steampowered.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=137&p_created=1093309932&p_sid=5chSA3Si&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTMmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9c2Rr&p_li=&p_topview=1

Quote:

Steam consumers enjoy the benefit of starting their favorite applications within minutes of confirming their purchase. They can access their applications from any PC. They are no longer challenged to find the latest updates for these applications. And they no longer need to wonder if their device drivers are compatible with the latest software.

The Steam SDK also includes an integrated set of communications tools and Valve’s Graphic User Interface (V-GUI), which provide built-in support for a variety of services such as instant messaging, configuration, and server browsing.

For more info, or to just shoot us a question, contact sourceengine@valvesoftware.com and we'll get back to you ASAP.

Features:

Note
As I said, they have to bring something more to the table. Total all the sales of Halflife 2. Every one of those users knows Steam exists, and has logged into it at least once. They have a presence on the XBox, so if we wanted to go that way we could, and they are wide spread. Hence I am classifying them as "viable."
Note
(from Eiji) I agree with you on this.. in fact, I dont think it would be my first choice either.. all in all, I think we should just hold them as a "fallback" for now...unless they give us something else.. as you said, "needs to bring more to the table".

Stardock Systems (http://totalgaming.stardock.com/developers.aspx)

Quote:

The TotalGaming.net Network returns to the day when great games were the goal and not massive games. A great game need not take up 5 CDs nor does it need to take 30 developers, artists, and musicians to create. If you have a clever and interesting game that you would like to work with Stardock to bring to the TotalGaming.net Network, as well as make available stand alone, contact us! We have amongst the best royalty systems in the industry, which means guaranteed income from your efforts.

...

Want your game on TotalGaming.net or license Stardock Central technology to update your software? Contact us!

I used to use Stardock's Object Desktop on OS/2 (I think just about everyone who used OS/2 did); they had Open Labs or something like that, where they supported OS/2 open source software development. In general, they're just pretty nice people. I've added them to our potential publishers list.

Features:

Unconfirmed Publishers