Broken Rules' Felix Bohatsch on 'And Yet It Moves: From Student Prototype To Published Indie Game'.

1. And Yet It Moved
From Student Prototype To Published Indie Game
This lecture will be about what we, at Broken Rules, have learned developing and selling an indie game
that started as a student project.
It consists mostly of points we want to remember for our next projects
and also share with you

2. • Timeline
• Prerequisites
• Deals
• PR & Promotion
• Make Money
• Learning by doing
- show ayim over time
- what i think is necessary to build a good game
- how to deal with partners and try to get fair partnership
- ways to get the game known
- yes, we all need to. how and where
- what we did wrong, right and why it still is great to have your own indie studio

3. And Yet It Moves over time Licensed Nintendo Developer Greenhouse Launch
IGF 2007 Gamersgate
IGF 2007 Deadline
Steam Broken Rules founded
Pitching to
online distributors Nintendo Contact Impulse Direct2Drive, MacGameStore
Deliver2Mac
Business Expert
(through subsidy) Zoo
WiiWare Version
Prototype Talk with a 1st Party
Support & Update
Game Design Course Full Version Part Time Full Version Full Time
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1.0.2 1.0.5
1.0.1 1.0.4
1.0 1.0.3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
WiiLoveIt
Subsidy 2nd Payment Subsidy 3rd Payment GeneralGames
Subsidy Entry Subsidy 1st Payment Garagegames
GamerLimit
Bytejacker
Lords of Zock
PR Mail to everyone Rock, Paper, Shotgun
3:40
quick rundown of the projects development:i know it’s really small, ill be showing more details over the
presentation, this is just meant as an overview
we started in 2006 at Vienna University of Technology, made a two level protoype there in 5 month
goal of prototype was just to graduate NOT to be developed into a full version
which was part of igf student showcase 2007,after that we started to develop the full version: 15 month part time,
8 month full time
money came from subsidy for creative industry startups
partnered with Steam and Greenhouse first for PC/Mac release and later own website, Impulse, Direct2Drive and
others
were part of IndieCade 2008 where Nintendo saw us -> authorized nintendo developer
currently supporting ayim pc/mac release and developing a wiiware version

4. Prerequisites
now most of them are probably obvious but i think it’s also good to repeat obvious things because one tends to forget
them
these are the points to look at closely before starting to develop full version

5. solid core game design
something else as a coating
-> Good game design AND something else
something else can be:
visual / acoustic style, user generated content, good community, tournaments, etc.
we always liked to think that it’s the ability to rotate the world that made people interested in ayim. truth is it was and is more the visual style
so And Yet It Moves had solid core mechanic + unique and distinct visual style as a coating

6. 5
after that what is important I think is that one dares to go for it. Of course one needs a good game concept at hand but if that’s there: dare to do it!
And yes, it’s not going to be as easy as working for a bigger company but at the end more (that does not includ money) can come out of it for the daring ones.
if one is afraid of risks, going indie is not the right thing to do

7. You need a great team and work on it together
we worked the best when together
there will always be communication problems and these are best solved when sittign face-to-face
small Teams means decision can be made democratic -> pulls people in. the project becomes everyones darling
it also means everyone has to know something about every aspect of game development...
we are all game designers at heart and programmers by profession, but we needed to fill more roles

8. jan
visual lead
christoph
audio lead
peter
coding lead
felix
project lead
7
...but do split responsibilities
everyone should have a lead role
makes final decicision making easier
people like to be responsible for a specific part, makes them more connected to the project

9. 8:30:we have met at university, which means through coincidence
for that our team has worked quite well and we all turned friends (is that a necessity?)
under a great playful and inspiring atmosphere. another prerequisites (esp. techuniv) find supervisors who put their barefeet on the table
and sit ON the table rather than AT the table
over time (after the launch) our team has lost christoph, i think mostly because he didn’t want to go full time right away and didn’t like
our strict perfectionism.
and he’s still doing audio work for us but i think he didn;t want to have the full weight of resonsibilty for the studio anymore

10. Use online tools for easier collaboration
svn, google docs, blog, im, skype
although working at the same physical space works best in my opinion it’s not always possible
online tools help for that but also for keeping the process democratic
this means everyone on the team has access to everything if he/she wanted to
also a good way to document the process

11. 9: Once you have a prototype use festivals/competitions to test how good your idea/prototype is
igf, igf student showcase, indiecade
tigsource competitions
if it fails at one fo them it doesn’t necessary mean it’s bad but if it’s passes chances are very high that it’s actually good and worth the time and effort to make a
real product out of it

12. And Yet It Moves over time
IGF 2007 Deadline IGF 2007
Prototype
Game Design Course Full Vers
2006 2007
10
we build our team through the game design course and tested it through the devel. of the prototype
only after being part of igf 2007 we started to think about making a full version
and being at gdc 2007 was so motivating that we started building the full version

13. Deals
the decision is made: the game concept is good enough and the team starts working on it.
now is the time to start lookign for distribution partners

14. Be serious
it is a lot of responsibility
think about founding a company, it makes signing contracts alot easier and makes you look and feel more professional
you will have to take financial risks. having a company also deminishes the chances of a personal financial disaster,
trust your partners

15. Don’ loose your charm/fun
the big ones want fresh air, innovation, unique views on the industry and talent
don’t hide it and be yourself

16. 14
Go international, digital distribution means no more limits
especially true for non americans
once you have a prototype and some press, write to distributors
online distributors are more and more focused on indie games and have indie sections
but don’t wait for starting to work on your game until there is a contract, do these things in parallel
because vene if you don’t find a prtner as a last resort there’s always self publishing via ones own website
talk to distributors directly, we had the feeling that they like if they are approached by developers, rather than a publisher

17. approximate
units sold
we started with Steam and shortly after that Greenhouse (and our own site)
we only actively asked for at steam and greenhouse. the others approached us after we launched on these two services
Steam has most attention, but Greenhouse has a good foothold in indie market despite their obvious DRM
later on: impulse, D2D, MacGameStore, GamersGate, Deliver2Mac, etc.

18. 16: Go Multiplatform
More platforms means a wider audience
but remember as a small team one can’t really do everything so pick the ones that are easy to develop for and that fit your game best
Pick a few out of PC, Mac, Consoles, Handhelds, Flash, etc.
also a lot of people will ask you to bring your game to platform x...don’t feel bad that you can’t please all of them
Plan for a simultaneous launch, we didn’t -> :(

19. 18 Consoles:
PSN, XBLA, WiiWare they are all interestd in indie games
Write them once you have a prototype that has potential for a console
If you already have a PC publisher that only means your game is good
Don’t worry about exclusivity (PC vs. consoles)
we directly contacted one of them but nothing came of it
nintendo contacted us themselves after seeing us at indiecade -> we are going to wiiware
all have pros and cons. think abut what you need (power, control, a certain market)
if you can, go for more than one
but remeber that everything on console costs way more: devkit, engine, etc.
don’t be too idiologist and forget your personal preferences...still hard for me :)

20. points to look out for in a contract
example contract that kind of shows a common denominator of a fair deal
meant for a simple online distribution deal

21. • Royality Rate in the developers favor
• of net receipts = ( revenues
• – costs of returns, refunds, fraud, charge-backs
• – sale processing fees
• – applicable sales taxes )
21:
that means > 50 for you up to 70
we foudn royality rates to be fair and consistent throughout
but still: watch out what the source of your royalitie rates are from (lets call it the net receipts)

22. • at least quarterly payment, reports monthly
• NONexclusive
• duration: 1 - 3 years
• fair termination
you should also have audit rights, although usually these are quite risky because exepnsive if no fraud has been found ->
you’ll have to trust your partner
check that most of the stuff is nonexclusive
especially IP, but also game, marketing material, etc., except of course if you want exclusivity
duration usually has an automatic renewal process
termination should be possible for both parties und equal circumstances (look for the word MUTUAL)

23. Licensed Nintendo Developer Greenhouse Launch
Gamersgate
Steam Broken Rules founded
Pitching to
online distributors Nintendo Contact Impulse Direct2Drive, MacGameStore
Deliver2Mac
Business Expert
(through subsidy) Zoo
WiiWare Version
Talk with a 1st Party
Support & Update
Time Full Version Full Time
2008 2009
24
green vertical lines are the moments when we contacted distributors and signed with them
Subsidy 2nd Payment
sirlinger: feb 2008, pitching may 2008, steam: mid july Subsidy 3rd Payment
note that we signed a lot after the launch
Subsidy 1st Payment
green horizontal line is a period we talked with a first party

24. PR & Promotion
i’m not a marketing guy so this is not traditional marketing
still even as an indie you need to work on your public image
people don’t expect AAA marketing stuff but they do want you to be honest and sharing

25. biggest, most effective and cheapest tool: Use festivals to reach out to people
journalists can’t deal with everything that gets announced -> they like to trust festivals for pre-selecting the mass of releases
if you are part of one of them, you will get more attention
( and if you got money or are close enough, you can go there and network with people and get motivated:) )
igf: media was suddnely interested in And Yet It Moves
Indiecade: nintendo saw our game there

26. 27
Don’t be all anal about your work, tell the people what you do
Start early with telling the public
good time is if you have a vertical slice that looks & feels like the final game
make and publicize videos

27. Use online communities and spread the word
Have a blog, twitter, email contact with fans etc.
these are blogs of other successful indie develoeprs: we still don’t have one -> baaad:(
why don’t we have one, because it’s lot of work to maintain and keep interesting (twitter is cheaper/easier), schedule it

28. Demo Conversion Rate: 1.5%
Also think carefully about what to put in demo and in trailer:
on one side you need hooks that pull people in on the other if you show too much people will be disappointed
same for demo...try to show advanced stuff as well, not only the first few tutorial levels

29. competitions: not many users who play them, roughly 5 unique users,
BUT links from the other developers blogs bring new users: yeah!
still i’m actually not sure how much the online leaderboards where of help for ayim: hard to develop, not that many use it. note
to self have to make metrics :)

30. steam indie bundle
31
picture of tale of tales The Path sales spike. the graph shows units sold, not profit
go for special deals and bundles.
especially on steam many people are waiting for bundles! wheter this is good or not remains for a talk on its own :)
you get bonus users that buy bundles for other games than your own

31. Support & Update
Full Version Full Time
08 2009 201
1.0.2 1.0.5
1.0.1 1.0.4
1.0 1.0.3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
WiiLoveIt
GeneralGames
Garagegames
GamerLimit
Bytejacker
Lords of Zock
PR Mail to everyone Rock, Paper, Shotgun
33: Plan your release date
watch out for conferences, other games (we originally had same release date like braid pc and change it because of that
Contact the Press prior to release date
plan ahead, talking to the media takes a lot of time
write to everyone you know or trust first (exclusivity)
then mass mail to everyone else on the planet who writes about games
we didn’t talk to anyone before the launch -> few people knew the game -> had to build interest AFTER the launch -> BAD

32. Make Money :)
Although I believe in Purrhos statement:
“When making the game is more important than selling it, then you know you're actually creating an
indie game. Which is one of the reasons why indies are such horrible business people”
it is something all indies need to think about as well, because otherwise we soon wont be able to
develop more games.

33. Get Professional Help!
Get a business expert
Trust him/her
Dont be afraid to go mass market
use non standard distribution channels
white labels
we are trying to go more for the casual market now as well

34. 60 000 € 7500 €
if you are in europe: check out state fundings, subsidies, etc. don’t know about the US
we received a subsidy for the creative industry that supports startups and innovative projects, called
impulse:
60.000 €
and a subsidy that paid half the payment for an expert: 7500 € for martin sirlinger

35. 20.000 € payment / 7400 manhours
2.7 € / hour
37
we got a subsidy which fulfilled most of our money needs
and during the development of ayim we have paid eah one of us roughly 5000 euros of actual payment
how did we live? off our parents and the republic of austria (study funds): remember we were still students

36. Business Expert
(through subsidy)
Talk with a 1st Party
Suppor
Full Version Part Time Full Version Full Time
2008 2009
Subsidy 2nd Payment Subsidy 3rd Payment
Subsidy Entry Subsidy 1st Payment
we didn’t pay monthly but twice when we got money from the subsidy
paid November 2007 & May 2009
most of that payment went straight back into the company (~limited)
now used for current pay

37. 1000 € / month = ~ 600 € / month into our pocket
We haven’t though that much about money during the development...
but after founding a company we have realized how much money actual is necessary to pay a decent
living to each one of us
we have stopped studying and went full time so the company needs to support our living:
that is our pay for now....
without the starting money, that is only through sales, we could not even afford to pay us these sums
other costs: office: 300 euros, tax-expert: ~2500/year

38. sales per distributor
7%
13%
16%
64%
Steam Ayim Site Greenhouse Others
41

39. price drop
that hurts!
let’s look at steam unit sales from april - august
april 02 - may 22: 14.99$
may 22 - now: 9.99$
did the price drop help...we don’t know but it definitly got us a user spike
it did drop very soon again and we even had some 0 sales day, which hurts!

40. to be part of the steam indie best seller list: roughly > 30 / day to get into top ten
(we once made rank 4 with 70 / day)

41. piracy

42. i like to call it bootlegging as it’s the better fitting word

43. ~93%
45:the truth is of course it’s just your average nice and friendly computer user
we have roughly 93 % calculated using data from submitted highscores and actual sales
so yes it it is a problem
but there’s not much you can do about it but
don’t think every cracked copy is a lost sale -> not that easy (people in china are playing it)

44. DRM
no drm and the likes, it only gets cracked anyway
only way to deal with bootlegging: make it comfortable and easy for the people who do BUY it
we have a system where every sold copy has a unique URL and we know how often that sold copy got downloaded -> if it happened too often we disable the
URL
of our versions, only greenhouse has a noticeable and annoying drm and it was the first version that was cracked and still circulates on the net

45. also watch out for regional price differences...
users don’t like to be treated differently...
although we still do it, but we are gong to change this

46. 49: generally i don’t think you can make a living of one game only
try to have several projects running and shorten release cycles at least on a few of them
as an example: red lynx has an interesting and good model for that: some people working on contract work, some on their own
games (their darlings), and a few on supporting web games and iPhone/mobile games -> 3 pillars of support
and if you believe introversion (which you always should)releasing new games will also help selling your older ones
our financial hope currently lies on the wiiware project, although it will take some more time until we see money of it and we
have heard some demotivating stories. good thing is we are a small company -> low costs
after that we will try to work on more smaller games -> quite the time challenge

47. Learning by doing
now that you heard the hard financial truth, a little bit more uplifting stories

48. –
• contacted press too late
• too short
• priced wrong
• demo & trailer showed too little
yes ayim was not the most hyped indie game and not the big sales hit, i think this is way
the truth is of course that we were learning by doing and most of our mistakes where marketing/sales wise
Good Press but only AFTER the launch
Press missed story/narrative, some said it was too short, other it was too frustrating
probably too expensive at the start
also automated update process not planned from the start ->updates took too long
so as you have seen before, financially it was not that big of a success

49. design the games you want
build a trackrecord
but also: if it’s your own studio there is lots of work to be done that has nothing to do with game design
we haven’t really done game design for over half a year now, well except the control scheme for wii version

50. meet great people
for business, sharing knowledge, at conferences, etc.
from idols, mentors, colleagues to the next promising student protoypes: lucid dreams with walkabout

51. talk to press and peers
and you (conference :)
becasue you have something to be proud of

52. And Yet It Moves over time Licensed Nintendo Developer Greenhouse Launch
IGF 2007 Gamersgate
IGF 2007 Deadline
Steam Broken Rules founded
Pitching to
online distributors Nintendo Contact Impulse Direct2Drive, MacGameStore
Deliver2Mac
Business Expert
(through subsidy) Zoo
WiiWare Version
Prototype Talk with a 1st Party
Support & Update
Game Design Course Full Version Part Time Full Version Full Time
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1.0.2 1.0.5
1.0.1 1.0.4
1.0 1.0.3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
WiiLoveIt
Subsidy 2nd Payment Subsidy 3rd Payment GeneralGames
Subsidy Entry Subsidy 1st Payment Garagegames
GamerLimit
Bytejacker
Lords of Zock
PR Mail to everyone Rock, Paper, Shotgun
rough ride
was and still is risky

53. ules founded
ect2Drive, MacGameStore
liver2Mac
Zoo
iWare Version
Update
2010
1.0.5
4
3 1.0.6
NationsOfVideogames
iiLoveIt
eralGames
egames
imit
cker
Zock
, Shotgun
the future still looks exciting