If you write a novel and are seeking publication, you basically have two choices: Find a literary agent or self-publish.
In the tabletop game industry, though–particularly for hobby games–there is no intermediary between designers and publishers. If you want to find a publisher for your game, you need to research publishers and their unique submission processes, hone and execute your pitch, communicate back and forth with interested parties, and (if you get an offer) negotiate the contract.
It isn’t a tremendous amount of work, but if you solely want to focus on game design and not the business side of game publication, you may not enjoy this process.
On yesterday’s livecast I shared this question with viewers, mostly just out of curiosity for why something so standard in the literary world is almost entirely unheard of in the tabletop game industry, especially with the sheer volume of games being designed these days. Stonemaier Games alone has received over 1,400 game submissions over the years.
That brings me to the other side of literary agents: They serve publishers just as much as they serve authors. Agents know what various publishers are looking for, so they filter books based on relevancy and quality on behalf of the publishers. (I should note here that this isn’t the only field in which agents are common: There are also sports agents, talent agents, headhunters, etc.)
Another gatekeeper in the process–we don’t need that in the game industry, right? Yet I’m not sure it’s a bad thing in practice. Filters are helpful for counteracting the paradox of choice: If you’re faced with too many choices, you may not make any choice at all. Most game publishers are small–just a few people–so they’re more likely to give each submission the attention it deserves if it’s already vetted from a trustworthy matchmaker.
Here’s a firsthand account from a designer who works with Forgenext, an agency in Europe: “I do this for exactly the reasons Jamey stated; I love designing games, but selling games (especially doing it really really well) is an entirely different skill, and I’d prefer to spend my time building skills in game design. Also, they develop my designs and push them back to me when they’re not ready. I suppose it’s a form of gatekeeping but it’s one I welcome. It definitely makes my games better, and makes me a better designer.”
Plus, if tabletop agents became a thing, there’s no reason to abandon the current system. Both can coexist. If you’re a designer who wants to handle the pitch process yourself, you could still do that. There’s also a wonderful sense of cooperation and generosity in the game industry–I’ve recommended games to other publishers and vice versa. That would continue too.
As several viewers mentioned, there’s also the matter of compensation. Who pays the agent? I would propose this is entirely the responsibility of the publisher. Perhaps the publisher would pay the agent a one-time finders fee ($1000?) plus an ongoing royalty on revenue for the game (1%?). Neither would detract from the designer’s advance or royalty.
A game agent would need the following qualities:
- deep knowledge of the industry
- great communication skills
- time to scout new games
- ability to help the games they accept to be pitch-ready
- desire to serve and protect designers
- offers a trustworthy filter for publishers
If this describes you, I’m open to hearing from you (as I’m guessing other publishers might be) when you find a game that you think is a great fit!
Do you think agents could have a positive impact on the game industry (if designers could still go directly to publishers and if there’s no cost to designers)? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the subject.
UPDATE: A few people have mentioned two agencies that may be more active in Europe than elsewhere (I’ve never heard of them or heard from them). They are White Castle Game Agency, Forgenext, and All About Games Publishing. Please note that they do not follow the pricing model described above.
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47 Comments on “What Impact Would Agents Have on the Tabletop Game Industry?”
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I wonder if this could be done through a youtube channel for example designers could submit a 3 minute pitch to the channel for a small fee say$25 and the channel gets it sent to publishers.
Cardboard edison would be a good fit since they already have a big list of publishers and run a contest each year if they just posted all the entry’s and had a archive it could work perhaps.
That’s an interesting idea, Mark. It would be interesting for there to be a YouTube channel that’s just game pitches (and I wouldn’t mind seeing a few turns of gameplay in addition to them talking about a few things that make the game special). I like the openness of the channel–anyone could participate–with the option to pay a small amount for the person who runs the channel to highlight a few specific game videos each month for specific publishers (providing that matchmaking service).
It has its pros and cons. The cons really only appear if the agent becomes the dominant avenue of pitching because it can be difficult to get a good agent. The industry could become more exclusive and prohibitive to a lot of talent, simply because they don’t have representation. However, I pursued acting for a time and eventually got an agent. Having that agent was game-changing (no pun intended). I went from struggling to find gigs to audition for (let alone getting called in) to getting auditions for legitimate projects once a week on average. So, having a knowledgeable, talented, connected agent could really help both sides, but once an industry shift like this occurs, it may be impossible to stop it from becoming the only route to getting games before a publisher, and a lot of great publisher-designer matches may never happen. Then again, there’s always that beautiful, populist, subversive tool: crowdfunding. :)
There is indeed crowdfunding, but running a business is a very different (and much riskier) endeavor than designing a game.
I like the option of haveing a game/toy agent available.
I was at my wits end to find a home for several games, some with toy-like qualities. I’d managed several pitch opportunities myself, but thought a game agent might have access to more opportunities.
I pitched several projects to Mary Ellroy who is GameBird, a toy and game inventor rep. She liked one, and I signed it to her to manage future pitches.
She has definitely gotten in front of more companies than I had, and it has freed me up to focus on other games that I’m pitching myself. A win-win for me. I don’t have an issue splitting a royalty when otherwise I’d be earning 100% of 0%.
That’s a great way of looking at it, Jeff! I hope the pitches work out.
We offer this service to designers in All About Games Consulting. Happy to discuss this with any designers that want help finding a publisher for their games.
Thank you! I’ll add a note about this in the post.
Speaking as someone that’s both heavily researched publishers (see tabletoppublishers.com for a one-time-fee database of 500+ publishers based on public-facing information) and has considered assisting designers in an agential sort of way..
I see this as one of several natural steps in the professionalization of the board game industry. The designer, as of late 2023, is asked to be many things and rarely or never compensated for all of them. It can take years to go from when the game is signed to when a designer may receive royalties from their hard work… during which time many others are paid when their professional work is complete (among many others: editors, graphic designers, artists).
I’d greatly welcome an agent’s efforts into finding that fit. Yes it means figuring out the compensation they need to make it sustainable (which is also a conversation to have for designers…), but once sorted that becomes a business model for others to follow. The examples from other industries will inform one potential way forward.
Thanks for sharing this, Chris. “The designer, as of late 2023, is asked to be many things and rarely or never compensated for all of them.” This is exactly the reason that Stonemaier Games now pays designers an advance against royalties of $10,000 when we sign their game.
I have been toying with this idea recently. I work full time as a freelance developer (as well as running my own publisher). On an ad hoc basis I’ve kept my ear to the ground for games that might be a good fit for clients I work with, but I’ve never invested significant time into it because I haven’t formalised that service, and so have no guarantee of compensation. I do think there is an opening for it.
For a lot of clients I can’t help by think might time would have been better spent finding them another game to publisher than trying to develop a design quite far off the pace into something that might be a commercial success.
Forgenext ???
Well, there is White Castle in Austria. I understand that Alexander Pfister and Wolfgang Warsch both contribute to the game design group around the agency.
The closest I have heard of an agent in tabletop design is Matt from Indie Game Alliance. I believe he will playtest and even pitch your game at some conventions.
That’s great! I love the generosity of this industry, and I hope people are compensated for their work.
Thank you for bringing this up Jamie!
This is for sure a tricky process, there are so many angles to it. At what point should the game be pitched? As an Idea, as a game mechanism, as a story or theme, as a fully developed concept? As a game designer, usually the first climps of an idea of a game usually becomes something completely different. Example; idea for a game, where Hexes are brewing potions in a cauldron became a Fuþark rune dice game. Then comes the question, would a cauldron game have fit more than a rune dice game? So it is really tricky to find the right and correct balance, if there even is any. Also, it feels a bit like all games need to be extremely unique in all ways to succeed. But what is unique? There is often something similar; oh it is like this or that game. So for an agent to try to find the one unique game that will break the barrier is hard, to put it lightly. It’s tricky, tricky indeed!
These are great questions! As a publisher, I’m only interested in games that have already been designed, but that could differ by agent–some agents might enjoy working with designers from the ideation stage.
I agree that uniqueness and innovation are as important as they are subjective, and great agents would have vast knowledge of the game industry to help designers know what they’re up against.
While it is more challenging, even in the world of writing, you can self-submit to publishers. There is a hefty guidebook updated each year that includes tips as well as publisher information (including editor names to properly address your submission.)
That said, to be more about the topic at hand: the idea of agents in the board game space is a neat one, and it is cool to hear about them existing already in Europe.
I appreciate you sharing that, Jamie!
I use Forgenext to represent all my game designs, and I’ve been really happy with the relationship. They’re based in Europe but they’ve pitched my games to publishers all over the world. I do this for exactly the reasons Jamey stated; I love designing games, but selling games (especially doing it really really well) is an entirely different skill, and I’d prefer to spend my time building skills in game design. Also, they develop my designs and push them back to me when they’re not ready. I suppose it’s a form of gatekeeping but it’s one I welcome. It definitely makes my games better, and makes me a better designer. Even if it’s occasionally frustrating.
I know Forgenext doesn’t generally represent heavier gamers games, so perhaps that’s why there hasn’t been a contact with Stonemeier games yet. But if there was some interest on the medium or medium-light end, they would definitely have some interesting games to show.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with Forgenext, Stefan! I appreciate you sharing the value they offer to you as a designer.
Have a look at forgenext https://www.forgenext.com/en/
They do exactly that but in France. Maybe you can ask them how they operate and how successful it is.
I love the idea of agents! I think it should be handled like a literary agent.
1. Yeah, the designer paying a % of the smaller amounts designers make would be a little tough, but run the numbers folks. Assuming I have a great game already, AND I spend all the time needed to find a good matching publisher, what’s the chance they pick it up – 1%? 5%? Pretend 5% (so I’d need to show it to 20 publishers to get it signed.) If I made maybe $10000 in royalties, I sort of look like it as a “guaranteed” possible win of 5% x 10k or $500. If the agent lowers the pay to $9500 but raises the likelihood of it getting picked up to 10% that’s $950 win rate. Obviously all of these numbers are spit-balled, but the theory I think is correct. I’d lose 5% to an agent to get games signed.
2. My most precious resource is time. Ideally I should be spending all my design time, well, designing! Not networking with publishers. I’d gladly pay an agent to be doing that side of things.
3. The assumption of “you already have a great game” is a big one. I know a lot of designers who think they do, but they don’t yet – maybe good but not great. Maybe great, but no market. Maybe great but no chance of production due to components. A good agent should be able to get you past all that – tell you if a game isn’t ready yet to pitch, or doesn’t have a market niche.
4. The agent could also be the person who helps with business things most designers don’t know – getting a good contract. Managing the publisher when they sit on something too long with no communication. They have a vested interest in it and they’d help you that way.
I’m curious if such a thing actually exists yet!
Thanks Rocco! These are excellent responsibilities for which an agent could be a huge asset for designers. I’ve added a few links of agents in Europe that people have mentioned, that I hadn’t heard of (or from) them until today.
It seems like this could work in theory, but I’m not sure anyone could make a living as an agent with the current industry.
Stonemaier got 1400 submissions last year, but how many of would you have ended up paying an agent for? Even a larger company will only publish a few new games each year.
Using your suggested and reasonable payment schemes, my very rough calculations indicate the current industry could maybe support a dozen agents worldwide, or twice that if it wasn’t their only job. The fact that very few designers are able to quit their day job, and an agent would make a maybe 10% what a designer makes, doesn’t bode well for the idea.
Definitely, I’m not suggesting this as a full-time job (particularly in its infancy). Around half of our games are by other designers, so if all of those games were signed through an agent, that would be around 8 games.
I think agents with a strong reputation could be a huge asset to the industry. If they peruse Protospiels across the US, they’d be flooded with potential games and if they work on behalf of maybe 7 or 8 publishers each, they could do a decent job of creating a relationship with publishers while also helping designers work their designs in a way that their publishers may take a look at it. They’d learn what the publishers are looking for and how to best communicate that to them so nothing is lost in translation.
A lot of designers do this for other designers already from what I’ve seen, but I would love to have a handful of folks really go out there and dig for gold and help designers get recognized who may have a hard time traveling to conventions or may be too nervous to talk to a publisher directly.
I think gatekeeping is bad, but not every game can be fully realized. There isn’t enough money or time in the industry. I would love to see a way for some of these designs to receive accolades early on in development so publishers can approach it with an understanding that the game meets some kind of minimum requirements and so a designer doesn’t spin their wheels for too long developing something that will have a hard time selling. That could be a solid middle-step between having an agent and flying blind.
Thanks for your thoughts on this, Trevor. I agree that there are lots of very generous people in the industry who look out for each other and make recommendations. You touch upon some of the benefits of formalizing that process.
I think the compensation issue is an important piece. If there’s an extra $1000 + 1% in the budget, why not just give that to the game designer right now? I think if a publisher sees that much value in agents, then a publisher could hire gamehunters / scouts, and offer those people a bounty if a game they recommended is selected.
I’m also a little wary of agents because it can condense power even further. They can serve a valuable need as you describe, but I think the overall breadth of ideas and published designers might not be as great if they need to be funneled through both agents and publishers.
It’s a fair question, though it’s more like I may be willing to sacrifice $1000 + 1% for the value added by an agent (just as we also pay for playtesters, proofreaders, artists, and staff).
Agents / Sales reps are definitely how the toy industry works and has been adopted by many/most of the largest companies in our games space.
So does CGE work with agents?
No, the vast majority of CGE games are from internal staff / found at Essen or other shows.
An interesting question Jamey! As an illustrator and designer, I’ve seen the pros and cons of agent representation over the years. In illustration for instance, an agent isn’t crucial to an artist’s success. Costs can be steep and value is uncertain at times. While agents may help cast wider nets for illustrators and help filter options for clients, creatives who cultivate meaningful relationships directly with clients and partners see longer-term benefits. (That’s another post tho!)
The thing is, the game industry as a whole involves a different market ecosystem than just illustration, design or copy-writing as one-off services. So I wonder about the implications of adding gatekeepers here and what control(s) agents might consolidate?
Initially, my instincts tell me agent involvement in the game industry would increase costs for publishers, designers, AND patrons. That said, who knows? It’s uncharted territory so it would be a good experiment! I’d be interested in some case studies or pilot programs if you know of any at some point!?
Thanks for the great blog posts and promoting conversations within our community! Be well.
–E
Thanks for sharing your perspective from the art side, Eric. I completely agree that I would rather seek out artists directly than add an intermediary.
You’re right that the impact on revenue could spillover to impact prices, but I think a 1% royalty is something we publishers could eat.
“Most game publishers are small–just a few people–so they’re more likely to give each submission the attention it deserves if it’s already vetted from someone we trust.”
This captures my feelings really well, as a small publisher. I’m from the film business originally, where agents of course are a crucial part of the industry, and I’ve watched scripts that come through the mail slot go to the intern’s desk where they will most likely get rejected, while scripts that come in an email from an executive’s acquaintance – no matter how distant – are much more likely to be read by them directly and produced. Unsurprising, of course; the film industry is built on relationships.
My guess as to why this hasn’t already happened in tabletop games is money. In film, agents earning even a single-digit percent of their clients’ takes can make a good living. In this business, it’s unlikely for even published designers to make a living solely from their games, let alone a middleman working for a percentage of their sales. For that reason I think you are right that it would have to be entirely on the publisher to compensate them. At which point they’re not really agents anymore, because their clients are the publishers, not the designers / artists, so essentially they become scouts.
Which is fine, but what’s interesting to me about the premise of agents in this industry would be support and advocacy for the designers and artists, rather than for the publishers, who are the ones already in a position of power.
Agree with all of it, as I said before, agents were needed because of volume and publishers couldn’t keep up. If as a publisher you see value in them, I’m sure designers would give it a go.
I’m wondering what kind of experience or contacts you would need to become one. Do you see them as a publisher agent like one person for stonemaier or do you see it more like a freelance thing where agents would build their own network and make links between publishers to help speed up the process?
I was signed with a literary agent for a brief period, in the kids book world, and she took her commission out of my royalties. She worked for an agency, not a publisher. But I think you’re right that many publishers also have in-house agents.
Right, I think it’s standard for literary agents to get 15% of a designer’s royalties. It’s the publisher sends the payment to the agent, and the agent then distributes 85% of it to the author. In that way, the publisher might as well be sending two payments (one to the agent and one to the author)–it’s effectively the same thing, just slightly more efficient to only make one payment.
That’s an interesting point about agents being scouts, and I agree that would be part of the job. But would you describe literary agents the same way? Just like what I’ve described, literary agents are paid a royalty by the publisher, but they are a representative of the designer.
I agree about the money: As Valerie notes, this is a volume game, so there isn’t room for a lot of agents.
Valerie, definitely this: I “see it more like a freelance thing where agents would build their own network and make links between publishers.”
Actually there is at least ForgeNext https://www.forgenext.com/ and Meeple oN Board Vanguard https://mobvanguard.com/ (even if the later is more focused on pushing published game to international market).
Thanks for sharing!
These look cool, thanks for the links! They do seem to be more “consultants” than “agents”, since they offer help with game development, consult on crowdfunding, and even negotiate licensing agreements. These additional services may be what’s required for someone to make money in that space.
These look cool, thanks for the links! They do seem to be more “consultants” than “agents”, since they offer help with game development, consult on crowdfunding, and even negotiate licensing agreements.
These additional services may be what’s required for someone to make money in that space.
Never thought about this! If there are any such agents I’d love to get in touch with them. Maybe we can create a document similar to the play-to-win spreadsheet that you maintain? One tab for designers interested in being contacted for their games and one tab for agents who know publishers?
That’s of course if such agents even exist.
I see what you’re saying, and perhaps that’s a reasonable way to start something like this. Though when I think of the most helpful version of adding agents to the industry, it puts the impetus on the agents to proactively scout games, find designers, and create relationships with publishers. From the publishing side, there’s already a great resource in Cardboard Edison’s compendium–any publisher can include themselves in it.