Todays guest lecture was from Paul Hollins who works in the university. He worked for Midas in the early years who are responsible for publishing Dynasty Warriors 2, Warriors of Might and Magic and Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2. Paul told us about what life as a publisher is like and some insider information about the industry.

Publishers are dying out now that on-line distribution is getting popular. Services like Steam and Direct-2-drive are replacing publishers as customers find it more convenient and often cheaper than using traditional methods. This means that games developers are more likely to go straight to Steam as they will make a larger overall profit than if they go through a publisher. However publishers can supply money up front to a games company which can assist in development costs and then the publisher can release it in retail stores and onto steam.

Midas started importing games from other countries and selling them on the grey market. This was a big business back in the 80s when games would come out in one country but not many others. Eventually Midas bought out another company and had a lot of investment money to use to start publishing its own games. Midas would pay a development studio to create a game and then release it and make a profit, rather than developing the game themselves.

The good things about the industry
- Creative: The games industry is extremely creative, making it more interesting than some other industries. Whilst a publisher is still part of the business aspect of the games industry, it is still more creative than others may be.
- No two days ever the same: Many things happen in the games industry which are unlike other industries. Games publishers are invited to lots of parties and other social gatherings.
- Mix with celebrities: When publishing a celebrity endorsed game, then the publishers may be invited to meet the celebrity in order to get to know them. This means they often meet new and exciting people.
- Free tickets: Free tickets may be given out to sporting events in order for the publishers to find out what the games they are making should be like.
- Decent wage: Game publishers have the opportunity to make a lot of money every day. Publishers hired by big companies will be on a large salary and will have the chance to make more money on top of that if a game does particularly well.
- Responsibility: Game publishers are given a lot of responsibility, sometimes at quite a young age for where they are in the industry.

The bad things about the industry
- Bad working conditions: Working conditions are usually quite low in studios and publishers may have to travel a lot in order to secure deals with other studios.
- Job security: A job may be at risk all the time and will depend on how well the company is doing and what decisions you make. A few bad decisions and there may not be a job for you any more.
- Creative restrictions: Sometimes game studios will not be able to meet targets of what they have promised publishers. Some targets may be over the top and not technically possible to achieve.
- Constant pressure: The games industry is fast moving so pressure will always be a problem. Studios not delivering on time means that game will get delayed and publishers will get bad press.

Developers Plight
When a developer is planning to write a game, they must find an interested publisher to pay some of the development costs. Paul said that they received around 20 proposals a week which usually 1 or less they would pick up on. The publishers must ensure that the developer is capable of finishing the game and that the game will sell. The publisher will ask how many games they have made, and out of those games how many have been published. They want to know who works for the company and will expect some familiar names that they have worked with before, or heard about before. Overall they must ensure that the studio will be able to complete the game, and fill milestones whilst they are developing it.

Rugby
Paul told us about one of the games that they published that failed. The game was a rugby management game which was developed by an Italian studio. In Italy they play different rugby rules than they do here so the game failed. A lot of money was spent on licensing the rugby names and teams which made the game a huge disaster when the rules were strange and it didn't sell well. Pressure on the team to get the game out as quickly as possible and bad planning are other reasons why the game didn't do as well as it could of done.

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