I have a few notes to add to this.
I have been out at GenCon etc the last few years talking to paper
game companies about licensing in general.
I have talked to SJG among others.
So here is what I can tell anyone interesting in this market.
1. SJG is ver pro Mac and would love to see Mac version of their
games and or character generators. Basically the companies that do
approach them don't do cross platform. I have talked to them about
the benefits of RB if they wanted to do anything in house etc.
2. The RPG market is dead.
AKA there is basically no money in it.
Margins are horrible.
3. There is money to be made in board games and licensed board games.
Margins are good and license = free advertising.
This is also fairly true for video game licenses.
At least 3 game companies in the twincities make most of their money
by producing games for licensed properties.
4.
95% of the paper game market are tiny garage shops.
What this means is that...
A. They are a lot less protective about IP in general.
B. They are more open to licenses based on a %.
C. Try offering a %.
If that fails offer money up front.
Start low...
I know a few successful product lines that have been licensed for a
few thousand dollars. Money talks but in this market a LOT less money
then normal
will get you in the door.
5. Seriously if I was not busy I would be doing exactly what Joe suggests.
6. On another note Im not totally sure if RB is the best tool for these games.
A lot of them might be served better if made into web apps... plain
HTML or AJAX or flash. The reason is its easier to get more customer
and match players to play against other players online.
Though I can't prove this would be a better business model then say a
downloaded client app.
Here is one example of a old board game put online.
It has a free and pay aspect to the business model.
It is also supposedly very successful
http://www.cosmicencounter.com/screens/home.html
--
Email: chrisd at plaidworld dot com
iChat / AIM: crackbunny at mac dot com
Buy Art : http://www.starbounce.com
Play Games: Plaid World Studios http://www.plaidworld.com
Day job: Senior Software Engineer for LexisNexis. http://www.riskwise.com
I think this means I am supposed to know what I am talking about something.
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