Pitching a game to a publisher or investor is an important step most game developers face at various stages of their journeys. This template could help aspiring indies avoid pitfalls when creating one.
Viewfinder
Last month, BizDev expert Gwen Foster shared a pitch deck template with her followers on Twitter (thanks, Simon Carless). In addition to her work at Well Told Entertainment, SUPERHOT Team, Sad Owl Studios (upcoming puzzle title Viewfinder), she has also been involved in the SUPERHOT Presents fund for indie games, so she has vast experience in this field.
The full template can be found on Google Slides, but here are some key tips and findings:
- A pitch deck should include information about the team, budget, and production timeline, as well as features overview, gameplay build / video, and support needed (funding, services, etc.);
- It is important to upload all the media files and data on Dropbox to share links during the process of finding a publisher or another partner — this includes a trailer, pitch deck, market comparison report, budget spreadsheet, and game design document;
- It is better to break down game features into different slides and accompany them with gifs or images so people you are pitching to can easier understand the game;
- According to Foster, it would be nice to provide stats on social media traction, including the number of followers on YouTube, Twitter, and Discord;
- A pitch deck should answer some of the following questions: 1) What happens after release?; 2) What are the expectations for this title?;
- Foster also shared an email template for a publisher / investor.
Gwen Foster also noted that she uses this template as a starting point, so it is not an ultimate deck that you can use without adjusting it to specific situations and needs. “Friendly reminder to research who you’re pitching to,” she said. “The decks I’ve built are very different, and I mostly use this template as a guide. Some people need more information and some don’t.”
And as Simon Carless explained in the GameDiscoverCo newsletter, “You want to present the most salient information succinctly. The game will be the real reason you get funded. But the right deck? It’ll speed you through the process.”