Managing a gaming company.

News & General Discussion
1

Hi,

I’ve done a lot of research on starting a business, the different taxes one has to pay, and all the details into managing a company. Managing a corporation or LLC is not a problem, but there are no special classes out there on how to manage a gaming company.

The gaming industry is not your typical venture, so I want to hear from you, the developers and owners of these gaming companies, what are some things to watch out for? What is the best way to manage a venture like this? What is the best way to incorporate my business?

I will be involved in developing games strictly for mobile devices with the possibility of branching out into gaming consoles. All using Unity.

I am not eluding myself here. I understand there is a high chance of me not even taking flight in this industry, but I still want to start things out right, and it would be a win for me to come out of this with more knowledge than I had before I started.

I would appreciate some replies.

Thanks,

W.

2

I’d like to know more about this too.

3

I have a product in the works to help with this space, due out in August. PM me and we can discuss what I’m planning and what you may be interested in seeing.

Cheers,

Galen

4

The (Free!) IGDA newsletter has some cool stuff from my good friend, Brian Robbins. He talks about running a game studio without a hit, based on iPhone games.

http://bit.ly/ca0pKy

Speaking of which, the IGDA is always a fantastic resource. You should check out the http://www.igda.org/ website - you’ll find numberous papers, reports and forums etc.

Good luck!

5

Ahh business, what fun.

Things you need to ask yourself is what are you targeting, as well, what resources do you have, this includes the people on your team.

Once you’ve listed that, list what you need.

I say need, not to be mistaken by want.

An important rule of thumb to remember, you can accidentally waist time and resources on getting what you want, completely missing out on the actual necessities.

What is your target market?

There are many, I’ll dig up some of my docs later and see if I can send them to yah, game design docs and SWOT analysis docs.

As well, think about the business plan you wish to utilize.

Are you using an agile scrum method, or are you trying to emulate a tier method, each has their own place depending on the size of your group, all of which I’d be happy to explain about if people would like to hear it here!

Give a pm if you got questions.

6

There is a really good book I purchased about this. It was the most recommended one I could find.

And here it is:
The Indie Game Development Survival Guide by David Michael
ISBN: 1-58450-214-2

7

shh

They only care if you start selling and make money.

8

Here’s some other books you might want to look at:

Business Legal Primer for Game Development

and

Secrets of the Game Business

John C>
“For all your days, prepare, and meet them ever alike;
When you are the anvil, bear - when the hammer, strike.”

9

Just ran across a blog that you might also find helpful: Tom Buscaglia: The Game Attorney

And the author has another site that sells basic Game Company Legal Kits

I have no idea if the above are worthwhile, but thought they deserved a mention. Caveat Emptor. :slight_smile:

10

There is a lot of info here! Thank you so much for all this. I appreciate your willingness to help. I’ll be doing research on all the resources you all gave me, and I’ll be getting in contact with some of you.

Thanks again!

W.

11

Did you see the Unity iPhone article? Man, that author looks familiar (and handsome too!)

Haha, feel free to punch me through the Internet now.