We also used an agent for a number of years, but we let our contract with the agent expire and didn''t renew. Our agent was able to help us get deals, but I found the whole developer-agent-publisher relationship to be fraught with peril.
Since the agent has a different agenda than either the developer or publisher, using an agent can tend to complicate an already complex relationship-building process. It''s like trying to make a marriage work between three people (it''s hard enough with two). During the years we worked with an agent, every deal the agent brought us ultimately fell apart. Once we let go of the agent, things went much more smoothly for us.
I also found that many publishers are completely turned off by agents because they feel the agent is there just to jack up the price. Because of their greater experience, some agents can be far better negotiators than their equivalents at publishers, and this can put publishers on the defensive. I saw this happen on several occasions.
I think that if a developer is in it for the long run, it''s important to develop your own contacts and learn how to negotiate your own publishing deals. It can take a long time, but in the end it will really pay off. When we terminated our agency agreement, we were cut off from many of our publisher contacts, since they all knew the agent, not us. Building contacts on our own worked out much better in the long run though, and it''s much less risky.
Now that we''ve entered publishing ourselves, we''d be unlikely to work with developers who come to us through agents. Our plan is to build strong long-term relationships with a tight group of developers, and agents get in the way of building direct ties with the people behind the games.
Steve Pavlina
Dexterity Software
www.dexterity.com
