Is the Opportunity Right For You.
By: Colin Donaldson
Tags: Consulting, Opportunity, Videogames, Business, Indie Game

The Mistake Videogame Developers make when evaluating Opportunities.

We’ve been working with Videogame Developers that have been having a hard time getting to the next level. These are talented and experienced Developers that have been in the industry for 10+ years, and are staffed with industry veterans. Their work is high-quality and they are stable, profitable businesses.

However, they feel they haven’t made progress in the last couple years. They have been the same size, generated the same revenue, worked on the same opportunities (they are W4H shops), and in essence are the same studio they were 2 to 3 years ago — they have plateaued. So what’s going on?

After a deep dive into these studios, we found a common mistake; they’re not comparing the inbound/outbound opportunities to the Goals & Ambitions of the studio. For the most part, every project sourced is accepted as a valid opportunity and there is a push to close the deal asap. They don’t take a step back and ask if the project is a good fit and will help them get to the next level. It’s a shot in the dark if the opportunity is going to prove fruitful for the business (they are operating as if they are in survival mode when they’re not). In order to break away from this, there needs to be a Qualification Process that is directly tied to where the studio wants to go.

If the project doesn’t meet the Criteria the studio needs to stay faithful to it’s vision, the recommendation would be to negotiate the opportunity to align accordingly. If this can’t be met — we advise walking away — it’s no longer a fit for the company. Sometimes saying “No” is hard, especially when it equates to revenue and/or when work is hard to come by. But staying true to the long term Dream is essential to getting there. Walking away is a powerful statement, and from a psychology perspective, can have the added benefit of the Potential Partner being more interested in working with the studio.

We’ve seen this many times over the years from clients and non-clients alike. Either the studio has not articulated their Goals or Vision (why are you in business and what is the end goal), does not have a Plan of Action to achieve these Goals/Vision (what you’re going to do in order to reach your Goals/Vision), or is not staying faithful to getting there (not following the Roadmap or Necessary Steps to get there). All three steps (know it, have a plan around it, and stay faithful to it) are essential to evolving as a studio. In the case of the Developers we’ve worked with, they don’t have a sound Strategy and Action Plan in place to get to their end goal.

We’ve seen a lot of studios that accept any project that comes through the door or are sourced through outbound efforts. From our experience talking and working with these studios, it’s due to lack of clarity. Clarity around what the Vision is, clarity around the steps to get there, clarity around how to stay true to the objective. We’ve helped these studios gain clarity around their destination, and scoped out the journey to get there.

Let’s dive into some quick examples of how to gain Clarity around the Objectives you put forward for the studio.