Publishing?

Mholmes, what is a "software company" if it's not a publishing company?
And you're going to quit your job at this type of company?
Or are you asking a business question (a question about your business, not a question about your job)?
This is a job forum, but if you're asking a business question, I can move this to the Business forum.
Either way, you're going to need to refine your question for us.

Well its a business question. Ant he question would be what should I expect if I switched my companies current direction from software to publishing. Does anyone have a idea what running a publishing company would intail compared to a software company?

Ant he question would be what should I expect if I switched my companies current direction from software to publishing. Does anyone have a idea what running a publishing company would intail compared to a software company?

Again, you have provided very little information. So I will start with what you said and fill in the blanks as appropriate.

You are switching from being a software company. That's all I know about your company. Therefore I will assume your software is the control gates inside zoo dispensers. Your software company "ZooFood" is the premier provider of automated dietary supplement dispensers. Since this is such a niche industry, and because you are already the highest rated software company in that industry, you don't need to do any marketing. You don't need market research, and your specs are all provided to you by your clients.


You are switching to become a video game publisher. You want to publish games to retail at stores like ToysRUs, Target, WalMart, ShopCo, and more. In that case you will need to hire people with sales contacts or experience at getting those contacts. You will need to hire salesfolk to talk with game studios to arrange for products to sell. You will need a legal team. You will need marketers or marketing contacts. You will need manufacturing facilities, warehouses, a distribution chain, and much more.


Did I miss anything? Probably, because you haven't given near enough useful information.

Well its a business question. Ant he question would be what should I expect if I switched my companies current direction from software to publishing. Does anyone have a idea what running a publishing company would intail compared to a software company?

You should expect to have to learn a lot of hard lessons about the game industry, and what a tough business publishing is. You should expect to have to get publishing licenses, you should expect to have to hire marketing personnel.

What platforms are you going to publish on? Internet, Playstation, Wii U, Xbox, iOS, Facebook, Steam?
What business models are you contemplating? Retail packaged goods, ad-supported, subscription, freemium?
You should probably do a lot of reading on gamasutra and gamesindustry.biz

Think about it this way with an analogy from the music industry...

You want to switch from being a Band to being a Record Label.
As a band, your focus is on making great songs. As a record label, your focus is on finding bands that can make great songs.
As a band, your emphasis is on the 'creative' aspects of the music. As a record label, your focus is on the business side.
As a band, your time is what you put in. As a record label, your money is what you put in.
As a band, you will go on tour.. As a record label, you will need to market the tour and arrange for all the details.
As a band, you'll show up at Walmart for record signings. As a record label, you'll be negotiating with Walmart to take your bands' music. As a record label, you also have to decide how to make money.. Touring? t-shirts? music sales? Music placement in movies?

They are both great industries, and they are certainly related. And yes, most videogame publishers also develop their own games. But to be sure-- Publishing (being a record label) has very different emphases than game development (being a band)

Brian Schmidt
GameSoundCon San Francisco Oct 24/25