How to be Successful in the Gaming Industry

Mikal Belicove recently published a blog about the Five keys to building a successful gaming company. It seem appropriate to review these keys with my business plan focused on the gaming industry. Mikal interviewed Philip Holt of Row Sham Bow, a game development studio in Florida.


1. Get Smart fast

a. Holt’s team got ahead of the game by researching other competitors, analyzing reports, purchasing target research, and many other strategies which led them to using Facebook as their gaming platform.
b. In regards to my own project, this is what most of this program has been. Understanding how to research, budget, project profit and breakeven, and well develop and hire your team is essential to a company’s success.

2. Create competitive advantages

a. Holt explains the importance around hiring the right talent and people. Having the intelligence to do the job is only part of it. To be successful, you have to have employees that are passionate about their jobs and impact on the business. “Technologies change and you don’t want to be swapping your team out.”
b. The next step is making sure your employees know and understand your company’s strengths and principles. These things represent the company as well as its associates.
c. With my current business plan, I am trying to provide a subscription service that is new, affordable, and meets the needs of a growing marketplace.

3. Find the right advisors

a. Having strong, experienced mentors can also be beneficial to a new company. Holt’s mentors were venture capitalists who helped him understand what to look for in investors, negotiation tactics, and deal terms.
b. The right advisors can help you make the right decisions about who to pitch your product to and how to finance your initiatives.

4. Partner with the right money

a. Your investor needs to be someone that you trust and believes in your vision for your company. By sharing the same goals and values, it becomes easier to put together a pitch for such large companies like Facebook.
b. Having the right investors, making ends meet for a new business becomes more affordable. By having trustworthy partners who understand and share the same vision, you know they will support your goals.




5. Build and pitch the company you always wanted to work for.

a. Holt details that the environment is what really creates the success. Building a culture to define your company will help your advising, creative and other teams work with the same vision in mind.
b. Building a new company should give you an opportunity to create a work place environment you have always dreamed of.

This article is a great tool for emerging gaming companies to evaluate their business plans, ensuring that they have set themselves up for success. Holt’s new game, “Woodland Heroes,” is a great demonstration of using social media platforms for gaming digital distribution. It goes further than many of the other games available from physical retailers, reaching a larger audience. This is the future of the gaming industry.

Belicove, Mikal. Five Keys to Building a Successful Gaming Company. October 13, 2011. http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220506. Retrieved October 13, 2011.