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Green Man Gaming has launched its Digital Partners Programme by revealing details of a new global partnership deal with 10 Chambers Collective, making it the first studio to become a part of the new service proposition for indie studios and developers. The programme was initially launched on December 9th, with more details being revealed at the Ukie Xmas drinks reception last week .
The Sweden-based 10 Chambers Collective is the studio behind GTFO, a four-player action/horror cooperative first-person shooter currently available via Steam early access.
Speaking about the partnership, Oscar J-T Holm, Co-Founder of 10 Chamber Collective said, “We were looking for a very specific type of support as part of our preparation for today [the early access launch], and were struggling to find a deal that wasn’t just another one-type-fits-all or included terms that just wouldn’t work for us. That was until we collaborated with Green Man Gaming as part of this new Digital Partners Programme. Having them focus on one area of the launch has been a huge help and we can’t wait to now welcome more people into the game.”
The Digital Partners Programme by Green Man Gaming has been designed to be a collaborative, flexible, and valuable service that allows developers to retain control of their revenue and IP whilst accessing an elastic range of services and expertise. The intention is to strip away any unnecessary fixed terms in order to offer greater flexibility, with access to Green Man Gaming’s publishing, distribution, retail, marketing and community expertise all in one contract.
For more information about the programme, MCV/DEVELOP spoke to Green Man Gaming CEO Paul Sulyok.
Tell us a bit more about the Digital Partners Programme – why should people care about this and why launch it now?
AA and indie studios have proven they are very capable of creating fantastic, engaged fan bases by themselves, and can secure coverage from press and influencers for their games to truly create a buzz around their game. Indeed, over the past 10 years, I’ve met and worked with some of the most talented, nimble, and ambitious devs and studios in the world that worked bloody hard to make a good game but didn’t get the full reward of a global hit. Why? Because when they get to that precise moment of entering the market, they can suddenly find themselves stretched and overwhelmed with managing all the commercial mechanisms you need to take a game from having a good, regional success to global prominence. So we thought, how can we help?
There are a number of those commercial mechanisms that Green Man Gaming can unlock for studios on their road to glory. We’ve been through all the pain points at every part of the food chain hundreds and hundreds of times so that devs and studios no longer have to, and it’s this GMG smorgasbord of services which drives the Digital Partners Programme.
How did the partnership with 10 Chambers Collective happen?
It started with a conversation; you have X in place but you know you want and need Y and Z. In the case of 10 Chambers Collective, the specific area they were looking for support on was global distribution and we were thrilled to be able to help with this and saw GTFO rise to number 2 in the Steam charts last week. May I say congratulations from everyone at Green Man Gaming overall on their Early Access launch, it’s been great to read the swell of positive reviews from players.
So many of the studios we’ve been chatting to are extremely aware of what resources and expertise they have; they only know what they know. We’re here to act as an extension of knowledge and ability to those studios when they need us. They might have a great community manager but have no relationship with influencers. They may work with influencers but have no affiliation programme. Whether it’s working out multiple price points for different SKUs, social media or full marketing services, PPC, distribution to new markets or platforms; whatever it is, we can provide the missing piece. No need for full publishing agreements with stuff and nonsense the developer doesn’t want or need – we’re far more precise in offering the right support at the right level and right time.
What has been the reaction to the Digital Partners Programme?
When we launched Green Man Gaming in 2010, our mission was to deconstruct the relationship between the biggest ecommerce platform at the time, and the gamer because we believe in games, and choice, being available for everyone. We’re now set on deconstructing what the relationship can be for the developer with a digital partner in a fresh new way, and so far, it’s been received well. The launch of GTFO shows this new approach works, and we’re going to keep on building up our offer from there.
What can we expect to hear next from the programme?
What I can say right now is we’re going to be very busy in 2020, welcoming new developers to the programme, and announcing more games that are being powered behind the scenes, in whatever way makes sense, by Green Man Gaming.
