Secrets of the Game Business by Francois Dominic Laramee, Laramee

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Videogame sales have soared past $30 billion, but most individual titles fail, and succeeding as a start-up is tougher than ever. Still, it can be done. Many of the industry’s biggest recent winners (Half-Life, Asheron’s Call, Deer Hunter, Roller Coaster Tycoon) were developed by start-ups or near-start-ups. We know of no better, cheaper way to improve your odds than to read Secrets of the Game Business.

These insider’s essays cover every aspect of the game business as it exists today. There are contributions from artists, writers, and project leads; business development specialists, marketers, and PR pros; recruiters and lawyers; freelancers and entrepreneurs.

Sega’s Kathy Schoback walks through the increasingly complex, lengthy, and costly process of getting a game to market -- from developer through publisher, platform owner, distributor and manufacturer’s rep, and retailer. Videotron’s François Dominic Laramée, also this book’s editor, outlines the “inner mechanics” of the retail game market, then walks through an individual publishing project from concept to launch -- outlining the up-front risks to publishers, how publishers seek to guide developers, prepare for launch, and manage the game’s lifecycle once it’s in the marketplace.

Developers will find detailed chapters on managing the development process, business plans, staffing, financing, even new wireless and online business models. There’s a valuable essay on building a successful freelance game development business. There’s solid advice on pitching your game, choosing (or avoiding) an agent, improving your bargaining power at the negotiating table; offshore game development outsourcing; localization; QA; and more. It’s the whole business between two covers. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

From the Publisher

Secrets of the Game Business, Second Edition unveils the inner workings of the flashy, but very serious game development and publishing industry. If you are thinking about creating a game development company, want your existing company to prosper for a long time, or just want to understand how and why the business evolved to its current dynamics, you have come to the right place.

This new edition is a compilation of the wisdom of dozens of industry insiders, publishing executives, veteran producers, independent studio owners, and writers. The book includes several new articles, and has been reorganized and updated to thoroughly cover the current state of the industry. With the insights provided throughout the book, you'll have a solid understanding of the business and find valuable ideas to get you started in the business or improve your own company.
 
KEY FEATURES
-Covers new topics, including middleware, licenses vs. original designs, serious games, psychological profiling of consumer types, and corporate management techniques
-Provides an insightful look at the current state of the industry and future challenges facing developers
-Examines the publisher/developer relationship and explains how games get from developers to players
-Describes how to plan and create a new game company
-Includes tips to help get games on the shelves
-Teaches contract negotiation skills
-Contains advice for improving the production process

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents