Why finding a publishing partner in Southeast Asia is like Tinder and marriage

SINGAPORE — Game development is a tough business, but finding the right publishing partner has a lot more in common with dating than anything else.

Developers need to treat finding a publisher like finding a spouse, according to Asiasoft Online international business boss Robin Ng. During a presentation at the Casual Connect conference in Singapore, NG explained that relationship between a publisher and a developer is a lot more intimate than something like a business and its customer. And he thinks that more studios will have success finding a publisher in the $99.6 billion global gaming industry if they stop thinking about it like shopping.

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“For publishers, [looking for development partners is] kinda like going on Tinder (a popular mobile dating app)” said Ng. “There are too many handsome guys and pretty girls to choose from.”

Essentially, publishers aren’t afraid to say no to a developer because they know they’ll have plenty more attractive opportunities the next day. That means, for studios, they need to spruce themselves up specifically for the tastes of the target publishers.

“There’s too much competition for game developers,” said Ng. “You need to do something that catches the publisher’s eye. You need to know what we’re looking for. Some publishers are looking for a strong IP. Others are looking for suitability.”

In that way, Ng says that this is like a person trying to woo a potential romantic partner. You find out about their interests — their turn ons and turn offs — and you do your best to fit into those expectations. The Asiasoft executive noted that successful developers are already doing this.

At the same time, some developers are avoiding even a minimal amount of effort into finding a publisher. Ng explains that this usually never works out for those studios.

“Imagine you have hundreds of thousands of competitors fighting for the deal,” he said. “But some developers send a mass message to publishers looking for a lot of responses. But the response rate for these are pretty low.”

He said that when Asiasoft gets these impersonal, mass pitches, they almost always put them in the trash. With so much competition, it’s easier to focus on studios that are appealing specifically to what his company wants.

“It’s better to do your research and to reach out directly to a publisher and show them that you know what they want,” said Ng.

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And this isn’t just because it’s a publishers market. While the huge amount of competition for developers means that publishers can get really picky, developers will also benefit in the long run by having some standards themselves.

“Look for publishers that can walk the talk,” said Ng. “You need to find someone who suits you. “Even once you have a publisher, don’t assume everything will be smooth. You’ll have to deal with a lot of challenges.”

Casual Connect arranged for my travel to its event. Our coverage remains fair.