Good day, everyone.
I have started doing some game design as a hobby, and have managed to find a Game Developer Representative that is interested in one of my ideas (Yay!).
Before I start signing contracts and whatnot with them, I would really like to get some feedback from people here about the company in question.
The name of the place is Gamesplay UK. Has anyone here dealt with them before (as either a developer or a game company)? Were you satisfied with them?
Thanks in advance!
This is their website: http://www.gamesplayuk.com. They claim they have been around for ten years. It looks like it is a company that sells game ideas to the big industry companies, at least that's what the logo's and the links to the websites of Ravensburger, Mattel and Hasbro seem to imply.
I don't know the company, so I can't tell you anything about them that isn't on their website. I do know that it is very hard to get a game design looked at by the "big" companies, unless you use an agent like this company. Whether the monetary investment is worth it is up to you, of course.
Good luck!
- René Wiersma
From their website I noticed one of the games they have sold was Escape From Atlantis to UK boardgame giant Waddingtons (who is a subsidiary of Hasbro now?). This is a good thing. However, it should be known that Escape from Atlantis is just a retooled version of Survive!, which was already published in the early 80s by Parker Brothers (another subsidiary of Hasbro), so who knows if the company had a huge hand in getting it published.
-Darke
The ONLY reason why I'm not tripping over myself to sign is the prototype development (and) fee, which is 3,900 British Pounds. 50% of this would be payable up front, and the remainder is to be paid when their prototype is finished.
3,900 Pounds is a pretty darn big fee to me, and THAT is what has sent me running here with my pants on fire for your opinions.
My intial gut reaction is: holy cow! That's alot of money for basically a fancy prototype and no guarantees. You could almost self-produce the game for that kind of money.
My advice (and you can take it or leave it, of course) is: don't do it. Despite how much you and your friends and family love the game, the chances of it getting published by an industry giant are slim, even when you use an agent. Just take a look at the agent's board game proposal page. How many of them have you seen in the toystore lately?
I think I would have been OK with the 40% fee and perhaps one or two hundred bucks for a professional produced prototype, but 3,900 British pounds? Come on.
There are many smaller game companies in the UK that you don't need to contact through an agent. Sure, they won't do your game in a one million print run, but the chances of getting published are a lot greater and it won't cost you as much money.
You don't need to limit yourself to the UK, there are also many game companies abroad, especially in the US, Germany, France and Italy. Most of them can be contacted through email and give you quick feedback about your game proposals.
Anyway, good luck!
- René Wiersma
Hello
I must agree with Zaiga. Don't sign any paper, (this deal is not serious).
The reasons that were obvious are.
- You will pay them 3900 pounds. If they believe in the idea, then they should invest and not you. After the prototype is ready they have the exlucive for three years. They do not have to do anything for that.
- They have an exclusive right to the game for 3 years and takes 40% of your profit, from the game (this could be OK if you only payied a small fee).
- They are not promising anything, except taking the money from you and creating one demonstration game (if the game is sold, the game company will change the artwork and components one more time).
But there are more...
- If you read the statements on there homepage properly, they don't want anything ready, they want to do the prototyping.
- I do not see any famous (a game I recognise) on there homepage (and I test at least 5-10 new games per month). I can't see that they have presented any result.
- Several of the games (I hope there are prototypes and not finished games) on there homepage have not so good (read terrible) layouts. I got a flashback of the cheep games from 1975-1985.
If you still want to do this you should do the following:
- Have the game tested with at least 3 different test groups. (All has to agree on that this is a greate game).
- The game has to be tested in the final version for more then 20 times (and you should still think the game is one of the best created).
- Get a second opinion of the game (I thing a lot of people in BGDF are willing to help you).
- Check with some of the smaller companies.
// Johan
Well I just heard back from Gamesplay UK about my counter-proposal...
They didn't bite, and replied with the expected response of "this is our company's policy" and the unexpected "it's a shame you don't view this as an 'investment'".
Whenever someone tries to 'guilt' me into making a business decision, red-flags are automatically thrown up. You could just as easily reply back and say the same thing back to them. Basically I think they're business model stinks, and the product they are selling is vague. If they were a prototyping service, then I think they would have a good thing. But as a supposed 'agent', I think they are probably fooling the consumer and themselves. Of course, I really don't know anything specific about this company. This is only the gut feeling I'm getting from your post.
I vaguely remember in the past that there was a discussion about a highly reputable agent, but alas searching the forums returned nothing. Does anyone remember anything about the agent I am referring to? If I remember correctly this person was also a designer themselves.
-Darke
I vaguely remember in the past that there was a discussion about a highly reputable agent, but alas searching the forums returned nothing. Does anyone remember anything about the agent I am referring to? If I remember correctly this person was also a designer themselves.
-Darke
I think it was the " New Ravensburger Submission Policy"
// Johan
I am glad you made this decision, there are red flags all over this one. To me, the most troublesome issue is the complete absence of any "success stories" on their website. They include several company logos, which I think is incredibly misleading because they aren't actually saying that they've published games with those companies. They also make it sound that they will turn away lousy ideas, which I think is supposed to make you take them all the more seriously when they say "What a great idea!" to your game, after which you pony up their truly exhorbitant fee.
My hunch, and it's just a hunch, is that these guys haven't sold a single game to a publisher yet, and they keep themselves in business with the outrageous prototype fees. I could be wrong, but I'd be shocked if I'm far wrong.
I'm afraid I can't recommend a specific publisher for your game, but I would suggest that spending some time on the BoardGameGeek and looking at similar games, finding out who they're published by, and contacting those companies, would be a good start. Avoid these shysters like the plague!
Best of luck!
-Jeff
Who are the best US contacts then?
A good list of agents top ten or so you think or reviewers would be good.
Hello there,
It's some time ago that this topic was active, but I found it doing a forum search. I received a letter from Games Play UK today, saying that they love my idea and would like me to visit their offices.
I'm glad that I have read this topic, because I know now I should be careful.
I have decided to go on a visit and to hear their proposals. I'll keep you informed...
Greetings,
Pelpo
Hey,
Many thanks for your post. I will ask the agent to provide anwers to the valuable questions you mentioned. The meeting is planned in 3 weeks. Again, I'll keep you informed.
Thank you,
Pelpo
How did the meeting go Pelpo?
IF you want to go by the way of agents, hear is a short list. They all charge from $100 to $250 to review your game and if they accept it 40% of your take is kinda standard. If they can get a company to publish it.
Anjar Company--------(212) 255-4720 or fax (212) 633-1183
Excel Development Group---(612) 374-3233 or fax (612) 377-0865
Delaney Product Development---(708) 289-1583 or fax (708) 837-2952
Marra Design Associates----(612) 937-8141 or fax (612)934-1180
Cactus Game Design---( 800) 365-1711 or fax (757) 366-9913
Rehtmeyer Design & Licensing--(630) 717-9384 or fax (630) 717-9384
For the record I have not had any luck with any agents, they all got a couple hundred from me at one time or another. At least the ones that I tried. Good luck to all and happy gaming at the table
Hello,
The meeting took place the 21st of July in the offices of gamesplayuk in Weston-Super-Mare, near Bristol, UK. I'm wrinting you only now because I took a holiday afterwards.
The meeting went very well. There where four people of gameplayuk on the meeting. We talked about game mechanics and eventuel changes to make the game more presentable. Most of the changes where about the shape of playing pieces, they had some ideas to make them more 3D-like, something that I liked too, but haven't done yet because of prototype restrictions.
The people of gamesplayuk are now taking some time to come up with a proposal of how the game could look like. They will also let me know how much the propotype would cost, if I would decide to go further with gamesplayuk.
I really got the impression that gamesplayuk is a respectable agent, with some very good contacts in the games industry. I will keep you informed.
Kind regards,
Pelpo
IF you want to go by the way of agents, hear is a short list. They all charge from $100 to $250 to review your game and if they accept it 40% of your take is kinda standard. If they can get a company to publish it.
Those are not strictly agents. No serious agent charges a DIME to look over your game and determine its viability. I can't stress that enough. These shops are trying to package the ability to refine a game (game play consultantcy, graphic design, prototyping are typical) and they may or may not have more than one channel to get it seen, which is a bonafide lure for you to give them work.
But the 40% cut figure is ridiculously usury unless the folks are business partners with you, helping you produce an asset, providing you with valuable goods and services, and indeed, that may be in the game plan. But agency alone should be in the range of 15-25% for placing a polished game prototype-- using their channel(s). Anything higher is for space cadets.
Self-publish first. That figure will go WAY down IF you prove your market.
My .02.
I really got the impression that gamesplayuk is a respectable agent, with some very good contacts in the games industry.
Well, I'm sure that's exactly the impression they wanted you to get! I wonder how you would go about verifying such a thing. Have they successfully published any games? Because that remains the big question for me. If they're charging an exorbitant fee to do a nice work-up of people's games, but this doesn't translate into dramatically increased chances of publication, then it seems questionable at best, or a scam at worst. Best of luck, but proceed with caution...
Just my take,
Jeff
I'm new here, so hi all!
I've designed a card game which I duly sent off to Gamesplayuk. I visited them yesterday (Mar 10th) and, although the meeting went very well, I feel the example development price they quoted was a little(?!?) OTT. There will be a letter coming within the next few days quoting me the true price.
As I have seen elsewhere on this forum, they do not seem to have any games I can say I've seen out in the shops.
As many people here probably don't have these kinds of funds, I'm looking at the best way to get the game out & about. As GPUK have provisionally taken it under their wing with very good feedback (they did like it a lot, or do they say this to all the girls?), I'm in a good position to
have the game either looked by someone else, or self publish.
I need some good advice on this. I've not had a god look round here yet, I will in due course!
Cheers,
JohnnyD
Has anyone in this thread taken GamesPlay UK up on their offer?
I'm at the deciding stage with them and I'm looking for reassuring reports before I put my hand into my pocket.
KCRandal, JohnnyD, Pelpo or BeyondCloister, if anyone of you has anything to add about your experiences with GamesPlayUK, please let us know. I'm very interested in hearing more about this company.
I have yet to find anything else about them on the internet apart from other people asking exactly the same question.
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Hi,
Firstly, welcome, and congratulations on this good news for your game.
I've never heard of Gamesplay UK- are they a new company? Is your game the sort of thing that aims to be sold on the mass market (i.e. Toys R Us, High Street shops etc.) or a hobby game? I haven't been able to find their website and I'm a bit puzzled that I've never heard of them. Unless they are obscure developers for the mass market, or simply new, I'd have expected to have heard of them.
There's a natural instinct to be suspicious of a company I've nver heard of, and it would be wrong for me to cast doubt without reason, but I would caution you against paying someone to "represent" your game. With the huge mass market publishers in the US, you often do need a literary-style toy or game agent, but the vast majority of companies in the UK and smaller ones abraod have internal submissions, or in the case of Ravensburger a specially appointed agent. It may be necessary to get someone touting it through industry channels on commission, but my advice is to beware of having to pay upfront for these things, unless you really know these people get results.
Best wishes,
Richard.