Pitching it Right in Cologne

Well that was a blast, thank you Cologne. 

Yes, I think Gamescom this year has to go into my list of great game shows. It was my busiest since ECTS 1994, my most thrilling since E3 2003, my most meaty since, er, my last Gamescom in 2016.

Why so busy? Well I overscheduled like a rookie but, on purpose, because as well as drumming up business for HeyStephenHey, I was doing some scouting for games for my publisher client, Merge. So, as well as pitching, I was being pitched too and this made for a show full of interesting and exciting ‘content’. The variety of games I was pitched was pretty vast and the quality of each of these was set at a ridiculously high bar, making it tricky to filter games. I didn’t see any bad games, terrible ideas or even poor pitches. Even the presentations that happened spontaneously were delivered in an enthusiastic and professional manner. 

Pitching Tips

The format of the presentations I saw was pretty varied but the majority of them packed way too much information and often overwhelmed the game content. Pages of information about a developers history, market analysis and game features are great but hard to take in on a busy show floor. I know that some people had the luxury of business suites (like the heavenly EA suite) but for most of us, a noisy and distracting environment was the norm. 

So, I think developers need to have two or three variations of a pitch deck when going to shows. First, establish how much time you have to pitch then select the right deck, even if you just have a short, sharp 10 minute pitch, to a longer 20/30 minute deck. The former should be mainly images (artwork and screenshots) and maybe gifs showing core mechanics and points of difference. Add some slides at the end with a basic budget and development schedule.

I know, may would say this would be way too basic a way to present a game, and it is only my opinion but the presentations that stuck with me most were the simplest, the ones that invited an emotional response rather than a logical one. Of course, this isn’t just about what ‘pictures’ I personally liked most (After 25 years in games I’m think I’m pretty able to discern what a particular publisher would define as ‘commercial’) but images and videos provide shortcuts, they can paint (at least) a thousand words, and make your soul bloom! These responses, combined with how you feel about the person making the pitch, go a long, long, way.

And, of course, this is just my opinion, and, it is just in the context of half hour meetings at a noisy trade show. But, I think it is worth thinking about when prepping a pitch - always remember the context and environment. And, take Haribos, I respond well to them as well as all the above.