Florian Jauffrineau – Nov 25, 2020

The creative force behind every game comes from the studios and devs putting in the hours to develop something new. The lines of code and layers of art all come together in our favorite form of entertainment that is uniquely immersive and inherently interactive: games.

You can’t make games without studios.

Every concept is built into a fully fleshed out experience with the help of studios. Imagine the power of taking an idea as simple as a plumber with a goofy mustache and turning it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Studios have the people with those skillsets and drive, making fantasies a reality every day.  They hold the cards when it comes time to find a publisher and launch a new game.

Good Studios Are Sought After

Publishers are always on the lookout for the best studios in the world. They want to help bring the incredible prototypes and rough drafts to market with a tested action plan. A good publisher wants to have your game in as many players’ hands as possible.

More than simply being a fan of supporting games, it’s also just smart business, because working with a good studio translates into success for the publisher as well.

A proven track record is a sure way to build more dreams.

The best part is after launching one title together, it’s then easier to understand how beneficial the partnership really is in practice. As that trust builds up, risk decreases and everyone can focus more on bringing the next big hit to the stores.

Better working relationships are built from working together.

With a good game studio, the entire marketing side of launching and maintaining a game is simplified. The publisher can trust that the studio will deliver on all promises and players will be satisfied by how great the game feels to play.

All that leads to more players finding and playing the game and then potentially leaving a positive review or talking about it with their friends!

Different Publishers for Different Profiles

With so many publishers looking for more studios, the competition can be fierce. That’s good news for studios, but it also means it’s important to be aware of what makes any given publisher the right choice for any given studio.

There are many different needs that may or may not be met by a specific publisher.

Finding the perfect match between the right publisher and a good studio is a very important part of the process. Weighing factors like letting the publisher having an active role in development or being completely hands off and letting you do whatever you want are all things that need to be considered in order to benefit from working together.

There are also publishers and studios who specialize in highly specific niches that can lead to awkward mismatches. Having a publisher who specializes in idle games may not be the best choice for a studio that wants to launch an .io one.

Publishers and studios also need to make sure they share or at least don’t strongly disagree on any core values.

A studio that is only interested in making avant-garde art games and never wants to think about profitability may not want to partner with a data-driven publisher who relies on tested algorithms to make gameplay decisions that generate more revenue.

What it all boils down to is making sure the partnerships make sense for everyone involved. Both the publisher and the studio should have a clear understanding of why they are working together and how they will be helping each other grow, create, launch, and maintain a new game.

Publisher & Studio Partnership Checklist :

• Active vs Passive Involvement
• Matching Genres, & Specializations
• Compatible Core Values
• Common Vision
• Intertwined Goals

Publishers Are Here to Help

It would be impossible to talk about the relationship between publishers and studios without mentioning how some studios already have experience with marketing and analyzing data. It’s tempting to shrug off the idea of working with a publisher if it feels like you already know how to do everything they normally would end up helping with.

However, it’s important to remember that publishers are never meant to take over all operations, sit back, and give orders on how to develop and market your game.

Publishers like TapNation are here to work hand in hand with studios.

We want to work together with studios to build the best possible game. We want players all around the world to be choosing to have fun with your new hit the moment it launches. We want and are ready to help make your publishing dream a reality.

The goal is to combine our values and shared love of gaming. The exact details of how a publisher should help is up to the game and the studio, but in the end, it should always result in more players around the world enjoying more games.