Thursday, 28 June 2012

5 things you must do in a successful game design pitch


If you're ever planning to become a professional video game designer then you're going to have to write a game design pitch. And if you're ever going to craft a game design pitch then you have to know the five things I'm about to share with you:
1. Keep it Brief
Game design pitches must be short and get your theme about your game across in as little words as achievable. Game publishers do not have the time to devote all day reading about each character or level in your game at this point. Right now all they need to know is one truly straightforward thing: will this game sell.
We'll get further into that later on but now just know that you need to be able to communicate and describe the concept of your game in the quickest but still fascinating way possible. The length of your initial pitch document needs to be about one or two pages which distinctly explains why the publishers should choose your game.
2. Include an Elevator Pitch
Carrying on with the matter of keeping things brief and easy I recommend that you begin your video game design pitch document with an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is an expression regularly used in marketing that means a short two or three line paragraph that states specifically who your target audience is, what your game gives them (your unique selling proposition) and how it does it (usually the main features of your game).
Here is a template elevator pitch:
Your game name allows your target audience to your unique selling proposition by your game features.
Here's an example:
Ultimate Flight Simulator Pro allows aeronautics fans to fully experience the pleasure of flying from the convenience of their living rooms by immersing them in the game with the most detailed scenery ever seen in a flight simulator and industry leading authentic flight controls.
3. Research Your Market
As I said before the main thing that the game publishers are bothered about (even more so with independent a video game designer) is the commerciality of the game. In your design pitch demonstrate that your game could be a success by studying the current market place for your game.
There are two essential factors that you will need to think about when you're pondering on this. The first thing is whether there is a market for your game anywhere. Whilst you may well think it would be undoubtedly cool to have a sheep farming simulator game, others might just not share your views.
One way you can review the possible number of customers looking out for a game like the one you 'd want to design is to perform a Google search for the subject of the game (include the word game in your search) to view how many results come up. Another way you can review this is by going to a forum dealing with the idea of your game and seeing if there is any type of interest in the game about it.
The other thing you need to mull over is the possible competition for your game. If you're planning to create a first person shooter with a focus on multiplayer set in the not too distant future then sorry Call of Duty has without a doubt got that one dealt with.
The premier prospects will result from finding a game concept that has a good volume of interest but not a lot of opposition. There is a way to decrease the competition and that is to create something that is truly one-of-a-kind.
4. Add some Visual Style
A great way to really capture the game producers attention is to include some graphics in your video game design pitch. These actually do not need to be fully rendered screenshots of your game, they can be the storyboards or some character sketches.
Most people in the video game design business are creative people and are consequently more likely to absorb info visually rather than verbally (in this case verbally includes written text). Having some eye catching visuals in your pitch can really swing their decision in your favor.
5. Don't Forget You're Selling Your Game
Far too regularly video game designers forget that the main goal of a pitch is to get the game publishers to "invest in" your game. So if you're not promoting it to them they won't desire to. A triumphant video game design pitch will make the producers think they would desire to be the ones playing the game.
Don't just detail all the features and leave it at that, the best way to sell something is to show the advantages of the game. How will this game make them feel? Will they gain anything from playing it? Why should buy your game instead of all of the others out there? These are a few questions that you should consider answering in your pitch.