Do you have problems trying to come up with your Game Pitch? If yes, then worry no more.
Here, you’re going to learn about a few special tips to help you make the ideal pitch for your game.
But for starters, what is a pitch?
In short, a Pitch is a short presentation (max of 5 minutes) that you make for publishers and investors where you are going to expose your product and explain to them as clearly as possible why it’s a good idea to invest in it.
So it’s very important that you nail this in order to convince whoever is going to watch your presentation that your product is worth buying!
But how do I start a pitch?
Well, let’s start with the basics.
First of all, there are two major questions that you’ll need to keep in mind when making your pitch:
- Is this game worth making?
- Can my team make this game?
Those are the two things that you have to aim to answer in your pitch. Every slide has to be made thinking about answering those questions, so if one slide doesn’t touch on those two topics, remove it at once!
As Juliana Brito, Indie Hero’s CEO, explains in her presentation about how to make a pitch, it’s important to follow the rule known as the “Golden Circle”:
“[The Golden Circle] says that every pitch needs to have a “Why”, “How” and “What”. Your pitch has to be focused in the “Why”, as in, why does that need to exist?; In the “How”, the details, the features, what does your game brings that is new?” – Says Juliana.
So, by having the Golden Circle rule in mind and following those steps is already a huge step in building the structure of your pitch.
If you concentrate in those questions and create your entire presentation revolving around explaining them, that is the key in mastering the basics of what makes a pitch effective.
When it comes to the structure itself, starting with a logo right in the first slide goes a long way. It helps grabbing the attention of the audience out of the bat by introducing the name of your project before anything else. Just don’t forget to make an incredible art for your logo!
Next comes the slide about gameplay. This part is probably the hardest one, since you must condense a lot of information at once. You’ll basically need to explain what your game is all about, what the genre is, what the main mechanics are, how they work… It would be also interesting if you could actually show such gameplay with a video so the audience can see the game being played (That’s a huge differential too!) About 20 seconds of gameplay is okay.
Then it comes the “Hooks”. What makes your game different from the others? Why would people be attracted by it? Here, all you need to do is explain what your game has that makes it new and unique, something that will make it stand out in the market.
If you have a beta version of your game to show or if you managed to build an entire community around it, now is the time to bring this up. This will help giving your game some traction. Anything from some famous streamer playing your game to the fact that you won some game jam in the past can be used here. If those are not the case though, then you can obviously skip this part.
Next, you are going to talk about marketing. Here, you have to know your target. What kind of people is your game aimed for? What audience is this? And how does your game intend to attract these people? You will also need some marketing research about other games of the same genre or similar to yours so you can compare how it will stand up to them. You need to have a good notion about your competitors, after all. A good tip is to look for these games on a platform like Steam so you can get useful data like price or how many times they were downloaded.
Next is “Roadmap”. That is, how is the game’s release going to be? What steps need to be completed this year, when are you going to finish the art for the game, when do the next phases in development start… Basically the beginning to end of how the development is going to be.
The next two slides will be about your team and your awards. The first one will show every team member and what tasks they are assigned for. It’s important that you know how to sell your team and show why they are capable of making this project succeed. And the second one will show your accomplishments! So if you have already received any awards with your game, use this space to show it off!
Now, there are only three slides left. First, the valuation. In other words, how much you are willing to spend for this game. This, however, will depend on who is going to watch your pitch, so you won’t necessarily need this part.
Then it comes the asking part. After all, if you’re making a pitch then you must have some requirements, right? So ask away what you want with it. Is it a partner? A publisher? Money? Also, do mention the reasons behind such requirements. If it’s money, explain what you intend to spend it on. If it’s a publisher, tell the reason you’re looking for that specific type of publisher.
And last but not least, your contact. Finish your presentation by showing the team, your contact and also the second best art produced by them during the jam! This will help finishing your pitch with a big bang!
So there you have it, folks. Some basic tips on how to make a strong pitch! If you follow those steps, people will surely be surprised and invested in your idea. So if you were having troubles coming up with a good presentation, this just might be the solution to your problems! Now it’s your time to go there and caprice this pitch. Good luck!
