[LINK] Useful info on licensing/sponsorship

[richardpendry]

I came across this link on the Mochi Ads forum over the weekend, and it gives a good, clear explanation of what it means to sponsor or license a game, the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, and tips on how to go about it.

Licensing/sponsorship is a topic that comes up regularly on here, so I hope this might be a useful resource for some members.

See here: http://www.flashgamesponsorship.com/

Cheers
Rich

[Cimmerian]

Funny, all portals say they can make little changes on the games that makes them to be a lot more ppopular, it would be good if they give some examples of it
I like the ArcadeTown guys

Hey, are we superficial? You bet! Hire a cheap artist at the very least. Programmer art is something we try to avoid

[MikeMD]

Some programmer art is better than most artist art I've seen so far.

[BlinkOk]

i think "internet game sponsorship" will take it's place in history along side "junk bonds", "savings and loans" and "subprime mortgages"

[Cimmerian]

Some programmer art is better than most artist art I've seen so far.

Yeah but he is talking from the point of view of who runs a portal and knows what makes a game professional and popular.Every 'coder who draw' will love his coder art but it dont means the market will love it too

[Viza]

Very nice find. It wasn’t so valuable to me because it seemed that most of it was either common-sense or knowledge I already have, but I think this is definitely Knowledge base worthy (especially as a quick solution to those many sponsorship posts).

I only briefly glanced through most of the stuff, but I kept reading that sponsors only want to deal with 1 .swf file. That's understandable, but there must be an exception to separate .as files, isn’t there? I mean, how would you deal with classes (unless they're only referring to the amount of .swf files wanted)?

Viza

[Squize]

.as files are compiled into the swf mate.

It's only limiting if you want a stub preloader swf for whatever reason ( Checking which version of Flash is running and loading in a version targeted for that, although does anyone bother with that any more ? ), or if they don't allow external files at all ( Which sucks ).

Squize.

[renderhjs]

or if they don't allow external files at all ( Which sucks ).

partly impossible imo. now with modern development. Recently I load all tiles/sprites dynamicly because it allows me to be much more flexible editing the graphics and reload them on the fly- no need to reimport and recompile the file.

Some programmer art is better than most artist art I've seen so far.

but most suck because they dont even try. It´s usually R-G or B colors mixed with some black-white gradients and usually Times New Roman.

[Squize]

Yeah I totally agree, external files are essential in terms of workflow.

Squize.

[happinessSam]

Hmmm, interesting. An excellent resource - cheers.

[Viza]

.as files are compiled into the swf mate.

Yep, sorry I know that, I just didn’t really express my question very well... I was a tad sleep-deprived last night.

Doesn't really matter, I understand what they're referring to now .

Viza

[Squize]

ha, just noticed I'm August's quote of the month

Squize.

[Alluvian]

but most suck because they dont even try. It´s usually R-G or B colors mixed with some black-white gradients and usually Times New Roman.

OMG! You have seen my game! Wait, I use a Sans font... um... okay, there is some times as well. My god is this thing ugly, I need my wife back from vacation. I am addicted to gradients. They are so fantastically ugly! And then you can ANIMATE THEM! Moving ugly. IT LIVES!!!

Then you have people like Render and Ever that do quite fine for themselves with nice looking 3d renders.

[SirCastic]

I contacted Crazy Monkey Games, Armor Games and a few other smaller sites about sponsorship a week ago. The other sites gave me pretty good offers almost immediately but Crazy Monkey and Armor Games still haven't replied. I'm wondering if I should wait or just take it that they're not interested.

[alillm]

Well from my experiences, they usually reply in less than a week (less than a day in most cases), but I wouldn't have thought they would just ignore you. If you are happy with the offers you have had already though and don't want to wait, then just go with the best offer you have.

With that said, I've had sites get back to me long after I sent the e-mail , by which point I had already sold the game. It just comes down to how patient you are, and how happy you are with the current offers really.

Ali

[EvilKris]

Crazy Monkey will likely get back to you. ArmorGames probably will, but they have been known to ignore some folks (they get a bucketload)

[Al Capwn]

Funny, all portals say they can make little changes on the games that makes them to be a lot more ppopular, it would be good if they give some examples of it
I like the ArcadeTown guys

-Cimmerian

Popular among players, portals, or developers?

High Scores
Multiplayer Function
Improved graphics/Sounds
Preloaders and 'more games' buttons (for sponsorship people).

i think "internet game sponsorship" will take it's place in history along side "junk bonds", "savings and loans" and "subprime mortgages"

-BlinkOk

I agree if you mean exclusive sponsorships. But you can make a decent living if you know how to market your games.

I contacted Crazy Monkey Games, Armor Games and a few other smaller sites about sponsorship a week ago. The other sites gave me pretty good offers almost immediately but Crazy Monkey and Armor Games still haven't replied. I'm wondering if I should wait or just take it that they're not interested.

-SirCastic

It took Crazy Monkey almost a month to reply to a question I had. Just wait.
But you will probly make more if you do non-exclusive. Get 20 sites * 100, if crazy monkey will match that, then my head asplode.

[alillm]

Just thought I would say, I don't know if I could even find 20 sites willing to do a non-exclusive licence these days, the market really seems to be moving towards an exclusive or nothing view point. Anyway, if you are talking 20 x $100, then your head might just have to 'asplode', but best not to get into money talk here.

Ali

[Sauceofallevils]

Wow, what a great post! I read the entire article, and this was really educational for me.

I just started Flash Programming and I have had offers for my game when it's complete, so I really needed to read something like this to fully comprehend the Flash Game Sponsorship system. Thanks a lot!

[Max S.]

I sponsor flash games regularly. Please get in contact with me if you have games ready for sponsorship.