I think most sponsors would just pass on anything that needed to be installed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Incrue
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I think most sponsors would just pass on anything that needed to be installed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Incrue
Just publish and post a demo build of the game and arrange with the winning bidder for them to get the complete real file(s) after ??????
I'm with ray, cut the middle man out.
I have worked with the FGL guys for a few games and have always come away satisfied. They are constantly working to get uploaded games the best deal possible and don't even ask for the optional 10% fee (which they wholeheartedly deserve).
You can make MUCH more money (if that interests you) by using FGL than by going out on your own (unless you already have a huge hit like Bloons, or have an existing relationship with a big portal).
But have you choosen to make an exclusive license or choose a lot of non exclusives?Quote:
Originally Posted by 8bitjeff
I'm interested in how you guys treat the money you get from foreign portals, how much taxes do you pay and is it by your country or the companys?
I'm in Europe and most portals are US based I think.
If someone's dealt with this and doesn't want to talk publicly, you could PM me too
Thanks Jeff. We appreciate the props :)
We deal in both Sponsorships and non-exclusive licenses. In fact, we created a type of sponsorship that utilizes both. It's called a "Primary Sponsorship" and it allows you to get a nice up front payment from a sponsor that will have their branding in your game as it's distributed around the internet, but you also retain rights to sell non-exclusive licenses to anyone as long as they site lock the game to their portal (thus there are never competing versions of the game being distributed). That way you can make money off of both models, and you never limit your potential revenue stream on any game.
As for taxes, if you're dealing with a US company you can fill out a W9 and that will make you only liable to pay taxes in your home country. The bigger sponsors will require you to do this or they are obligated to withhold 30% of anything they pay you. I'm not sure how companies outside the US handle this, though. Maybe I could get our finance guy to post something.. but knowing him he'd charge us for it, LOL!
Sorry, hooligan I meant post a demo version on FGL and then Tom's worries can go away. ;-) (Would they allow that?)
Taxes aren't something to get all worried about. You get your checks. You cash em. You then report them as income from foreign sources, or income from self-employment, as per your own countries tax filing laws dictate. Don't ask us what those laws are. Ask an accountant or the tax office of your country.
I imagine it should be ok to post a demo instead of the full game if the demo is indicative enough of the full game, but yeah, you should ask em if you want to go sure.
Regarding 'Tom´s worries': Yup, i posted about some concerns, i said though i want to give it a try to see how it works out, so i added a game there now. I´ll post about it once there are any news on that.
If it is playable and it's a game then we'll approve it. I would advise against limiting it too much as you want to give sponsors an idea of the game and the gameplay, but I doubt they would mind that it is a demo version.
Knew I shouldn't have skipped those posts :)Quote:
Sorry, hooligan I meant post a demo version on FGL and then Tom's worries can go away. ;-) (Would they allow that?)
I'm a member over at FGL and the guys are working really hard to make the whole process as smooth as possible. There are teething problems as it's only a young site, as there are on most new sites. They listen to their users though, and they're very open to feedback, which is great.
PS I'm passionate about FGL and felt the need to make my first post on FK after joining in December 2001. Do I win a prize or something?
Also:
Welcome, pault107.
You last visited: 12-31-1969 at 11:00 PM
Back to the future :D
OK, first of all, you say these rules are leaning towards the sponsors comfort instead of the developers. It is actually quite the opposite. FGL helps you to make sure your game will get the most money, and not be ignored by sponsors. They know that if you have your game have a long ad many sponsors may not really look into your game. It can really lower how much money you get. FGL even picks out good games to show off to sponsors so they can find great games. The admins are also extremely nice and love to help you, and they make sure every little thing is explained while uploading a game. They want to make the experience for you and the sponsors as smooth as possible. That is why they put all of those little options on the uploading page, come on, its not that big of a deal. FGL is still amazing.
I love when someones first post is to say how good a product is.
I love how I am still probably ten times as experienced as you. Don't judge people by numbers. I joined FlashKit just now to support FGL. FlashGameLicense.com doesn't even require paying 10 percent, and even if you do, Im pretty sure using FGL will get you at least 25 percent more than the traditional way of spam emailing. Also it is a lot more professional. So please, try to explain to me how FGL is a product. It is nothing more than a free rescource.Quote:
Originally Posted by .hooligan
Ummmm...
In business, a product is a good or service which can be bought and sold. In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. In retailing, products are called merchandise. ...
Google define: product
Can be offered free.
Hooligan, what I'm referring to is your post about taking out the middle man. There is no real middle man in the FGL system. All it is is a way for sponsors to easily look at potential sponsors. The Google definition of middle man may coincide with FGL, but you are not really paying them, so i don't consider them a middle man.
How are you referring to that post when all your talking about is product this product that, that's why I gave the definition of a product/service.
The reason, why I said cut out the middle man (FGL) is because I feel it just adds another step to releasing your game to portals process, when you can do it just as well yourself if not better.
If you read my post properly you will find I'm not judging anyone at all, just thought it was funny that 2 people's firsts posts ever where to praise FGL.Quote:
I love how I am still probably ten times as experienced as you. Don't judge people by numbers
Looks like from your second post ever you seem to be the one judging?
Hey again everyone.
We really appreciate the positive feedback. And we also welcome criticism. It's one of the best ways to get better :)
I think if someone has a first post for any reason that it is a good thing. New voices are crucial in order to keep a dialog growing and keep contributing to what everyone takes from the conversation. As long as everyone treats each other with respect that is :)
I totally understand why we could be seen as a "middle man." But we never built our system to be such a thing. In fact, if you've ever used FGL you'll find we're almost the opposite. We remove hurdles, we don't add them. We have over 500 sponsors on our site. Within 24 hours of your game being approved on our system we send out emails to all of them about your game. You then can see a list of all the sponsors who have looked at your game AND how long they played it! If that is creating a restriction then let me know cause we will want to tap into your system ;)
What most people don't realize is that the people who created FGL were flash game developers. We created it because we hated the way you had to seek sponsors, and monetize your game in general. We wanted an easier and better way to do things, and so that's what we tried to build.
Another thing that should be kept in mind is that we have proven that we do a better job of getting deals on games than most developers. We work with some of the biggest names in the industry, and many of them use us exclusively now. Even if you're stuck in your ways of viewing us as a middle man, if the middle man can get you thousands more for your game then it shouldn't matter.
However, we would never say that we are always the best solution, or that we can in every case do a better job than you could yourself. However, there is a LOT of work involved with doing this type of work. Our ultimate goal is to let developers focus on one thing: making great games. We want to handle the rest and do it in a way that you're confident that it is done in the best way anyone could do it. That way everyone makes more money and enjoys what they do. I have the same feeling about in game ads. You could do them yourself for sure, but do you really want to be out hunting for advertisers all the time? Or just doing what you love, making games?
Just to throw my $0.02 in, we've had a couple of games with FGL ( Law of the West, and Law of the West Pinball ).
Pinball just didn't work out in terms of sponsorship, I guess it just didn't light anyones fire, so we just went the gameJacket route.
LoW was sponsored, and there were some slight problems with the client ( Nothing major and nothing nasty. Server related problems rather than anything wrong with the game, us or the client ).
Adam was on hand all the time, constantly keeping us in the loop and acting as a go-between.
As a service, FGL is def. something we will look at using again. There may be things that some people want to question [ About their service ] and that's right and good, but I personally trust them totally to try and get the best deal for us.
The choice is, trust them with a game and see how it goes, or contact all the big portals yourself and deal with all that [ pain ].
The thing to keep in mind is that services like FGL, Mochi, gameJacket etc. are all only as good as there last review.
Bad words spread quicker than good, and if FGL had done something bad then we'd all know about it.
The fact that a couple of guys from the FGL forums have taken the time and effort to sign up here and post their views surely says a lot.
Squize.