FlashGameSponsorship.com - Is a sponsorship right for you? What is the best way to get one?

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I asked Grant (Brink of Alienation Series) to share his experiences and advice. He was kind enough to do so!

The first game I ever got money for was a joint deal for “Brink of Alienation 1 and 2" for $150 from Armor Games, inc. *(formerly Games of Gondor) in 2005. (8/1/2005)

Realizing the full potential that Flash could yield, I immediately began a third game in the series. Working with unpaid artists I started coding BoA III, which featured scrolling backgrounds and a more exciting gameplay (in my opinion) than the first two in the series.

I met these artists via newgrounds.com, where they commented directly to my submissions, basically saying that they were huge fans of the series and they thought they could draw better than me. After almost a year of development, the game was finally released with TWO levels, and I received $1,000 in sponsorship money. (12/30/05)

The next project I started was an ‘interactive comic’ spin off of the series, where I hired my hometown friend, Ash Jackson, to do detailed comic style panels, which I could then animate. I paid Ash $250, and the game, “Brink of Alienation: Substance” got another $1,075 in sponsorship. (4/20/06)
Frustrating as it was, BoA: Substance received the same amount of money as BoA: III, although the game was completed in almost 1/5 the amount of working time.

At the same time that ‘Substance’ was released, I bought hosting for my web site, www.ratubaworld.com, and displayed Google Adwords and Yahoo! YPN on my game pages. At the time, I was making $50-$75 a day, and the month of March I received a check for over $1,000 in revenue. Traffic was being generated from newgrounds.com and links in my previous games.
With one other artists to assist me, I started working on the fourth and final game in the “Brink of Alienation series” about the same time that I started working on Substance. However, BoA: 4 took over a year to finish, and was one of the most frustrating projects I have ever worked on. It received more than quadruple the amount of sponsorship that BoA III got (I worked out a Dual Sponsorship with Armorgames.com and Newgrounds.com). Even though the game took for what seemed like forever, the end payoff was huge.

While I was working on BOA4 I vowed several times that I would probably never work on another flash game of that size

Ratuba Games has made over $13,000 since 2005, and is still netting income every day.

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Length
From what I have found, smaller games are much less frustrating, and easier to finish for a realistic deadline. When I say small games, I am referring to puzzle games, tower defense games, simple platformers with no graphical redeeming qualities, etc. These games can sometimes even get up to $8,000 in sponsorship, because they are so popular and win 1st place in flash contests. If you are good at coding, they are easy to make and as long as you have a constant flow of ideas, you can pump a couple of these out per year.

Professionalism
In my experience, I have never submitted a flash game to a contest, and I never will. I like to think of my company as a professional business, and professional games don’t enter contests. I always sell my games for an up-front, definite sponsorship deal. It is much safer than submitting a game that my team and I worked on for 8 months, only to end up 6th place in a contest and receive $500 in sponsorship when you could have gotten $5,500 with the right approach.

Don’t get caught up in extravagant deals. The occasional deal that says you will get an extra $200 for 50k views on newgrounds, and another for score over 3.8 is good, and I encourage you to seek that out. However, when a sponsor tells you that they will give you $1,000 up front (+ zero bonuses), and then $1,000 for every month your game is on the top 50 list of web site X, I would recommend to stay away.

Unless you are very bold, it is too much of a gamble for all the work you spent into creating your game. Whoever thinks that they will end up with $15,000 will most likely end up with the $1k.

Unless you are the creator of ‘Desktop Tower Defense’, chances are, you are going to get the $$ you deserve...and rightfully so!

Confidence
If you work on a game that you feel is genuinely worth a lot of money, then don’t be afraid to sell it for a lot of money. Email a lot of different flash portals and ask them what they are interested. Don’t be afraid to suggest a certain $$ amount for your game. If one web site says that you are asking too much, then they usually know what they are talking about. But they are just people like you, and chances are they really liked your game. Portals are always looking for games and will still be willing to sponsor your flash at a deal that works for both of you.

Contacts
Keeping close friends with your potential sponsor is a very good idea. Over the past three years I have developed very close on-line friends who are eager to see your work and critique it. If you send them updates as the game progresses, they will be even more eager to cut a deal with you when the game is done. Portals are making a lot of $$ off of flash developers, and every game they can get their link in is another deposit in the future success of their web site. If paying you money was not in their best interest, then they wouldn't do it, so don’t be afraid of accepting money when you deserve it.

I get emails all the time from little kids (little = 8 years old to 15) who ask me how to use flash and want to know more about my games. If you ever run into this, remember to always be polite and return at least one email. I’m not saying that you have to go out of your way to help some random kid half way across the world (because it can get very frustrating), but remember who you are talking to, and what kind of impact you could be making. I have worked with artists much younger than me online, and I can clearly day that after finishing a project, there is a good chance that their lives are inspired by the direction from a more experienced leader. If someone is interested in your work, keep good contacts with them, because you never know how they might return the favor someday.

The Future
No matter what age you are, always think of the future. I started making games when I was in 6th grade on an old macintosh using a program called ‘Game Maker’. I fell in love with production, and now I am being paid to do what I love.
However, my future is not in Flash games [I'm trying to change his mind! :)]. I have been honing my skills, going to college for 3D animation, and continually updating my talents so that one day I will have a high paying job at a professional animation company. If you are 9 years old, 15 years old, 25 years old or older, do not lose sight of the future. Hard work, patience, and practice always pays off. This rule applies for athletes, musicians, artists, Flash programmers, anyone. If you are inspired in something, continue to work at it and it will open new doors that you couldn’t have foreseen before.
Like I said, I have been animating and programming since I was young, and I know that someday I will have a very well paying job because I am a hard worker and I am confident in what I can achieve, and I’m inspired by what others around me are achieving.

Every game you have that gets sponsored yields much more than just $$, but rather a stepping stone to your success in the future as whoever you want to be. By obtaining a sponsorship, you have just learned a little bit more about real life business transactions, something that many of your peers never have had the opportunity to do.

Share Your Wealth
Whenever I finish I game and I get a lot of money from sponsorship I like to treat myself first. I bought new speakers once, and then a new computer, and then a new HD tv, etc etc. Patting yourself on the back is very important.

But when the time comes, don’t forget that you just got $5,000 up front, over night, and the bragging to your housemates’ isn’t helping. The little things you do for other people will make you enjoy your success even more. Treat your artists to a good chunk of that payoff. Buy your friends a 6-pack once and a while.

Being a college student, surrounded by college students with little to no spare money, it is nice to have a few extra bucks of my very own to share with my friends.

The most important lesson however, is to always save more money than you spend. The large majority of your sponsorship money should always go back into your games, web site, personal artistic project, etc. Having money will allow you to make more money. That is a solid general rule that anyone can live by, as long as they play the game smart.

Don’t be afraid to even start sponsoring other people’s flash games/movies. Traffic to your web site will allow your audience to grow.

My last piece of advice is to
READ READ READ

Read the web site that this article is posted on. Buy a book on successful web sites. Buy a book on successful Indie game companies. Stay on top of the current game trends. Sign up to portal newsletters so you can see the newest submitted flash games.
Buy a book on the art of traditional animation, and another on up to date computer animation. Reading about your field will help you emulate what is popular, and in turn, inspire you to reach for that sponsorship deal you have always dreamed of!

Grant Cerulo
President; Ratuba Games
www.ratubaworld.com

EDUCATION
University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.F.A. Candidate, Computer Animation, May 2008
Chancellor’s Talent Award for Art, 4-year full tuition scholarship
Hampshire College, Department of Cognitive Science; Computer Animation III course 2007
Lesley College Art Institute of Boston, Pre-college program; Traditional Animation, 2003

EXPERIENCE 2007
Teaching Assistant: Computer Animation I, UMass Amherst
Responsibilities: create class syllabus, design semester schedule, grade student performance.
Course covers fundamentals of animation and experience with the 3D program, Maya.

Texture Artist: “Tower 37,” Semi-Professional Short Film
Responsibilities: map UV data and digitally texture models for the film.
Maintained a fast-paced work flow while interacting with a team of 16 dedicated artists.

2005-08
Game Creator: “Brink of Alienation” series of six award-winning internet video games
Responsibilities: Produce, design and program Macromedia Flash games, including concept
art, level maps and story boards. Employed and directed a team of 8 artists.

2004
Game Creator: “Riot UMass” internet video game
Responsibilities: Produce, design and program Macromedia Flash game. Initially reported by
the Associated Press, Riot UMass was featured on Boston’s NPR affiliate, in the Boston Globe,
Boston Herald and local publications nationally and worldwide. News segments aired by
Boston affiliate television stations including CBS, FOX, and WB.