I'm a game designer thinking about creating a videogame magazine to raise money, can I get your feedback?

[JahvonCreamCone]

Hey guys, I'm a game designer and for years now lots of people have told me i'm pretty good at visual communication and sharing cool ideas with people. Like ALOT, and think it's one of my few god given strengths in life that I'm actually proud of.



I've played a disgusting amount of videogames and have been blessed to have an actual mentor from Rockstar games.



The problem is, being a game designer isin't really valued in the same way a developer is. I've pitched my game ideas to my mentor and he's said it sounds great, but that I need to prove myself showing I can at least generate some interest and momentum to be taken seriously by publishers and others in his network. I really don't want to let him nor myself down, so I'm committed to making the most of the cards I have, which is convincing people I know how to make really fun games and that fun games are a great investment.



The Idea

So that being said my idea is to create a digital magazine that basically works as a pitch deck for raising small amounts of money, say about $30,000+ to build fun niche subscription video games that can generate a return for everyone involved.

You can read it for free with just your email, learn all about the idea, extremely detailed breakdowns of the economics, market analysis, game concept, and your potential upside as an investor, and at the end contribute to the project if you're interested with a small $3.99 weekly subscription (Cool perks included) or full-on investment starting around $499.

My big pitch is basically, "imagine if you could have invested in Doom2 before it launched in 1994 or if you could have invested in Minecraft before it blew up" .



My pitch deck would be about raising money to build a simple Doom engine prototype that combines the simple character design of Doom2 with the environmental design of Minecraft for a fun niche multiplayer experience.





Before i create anything, i just wanted to hear from you guys, if you were to put yourself in the shoes of a potential investor what would you want to see included in the magazine to make you consider investing through a weekly subscription or pulling the trigger on full-on investment? Any and all thoughts and considerations are welcomed.

• What would you want to see in the magazine?
• What information do you want to know about the game
• What do you want to know about me?
• What do you want to know about the future of the project and the roadmap?
• Do you need any guarantees of any kind

Your feedback and advice truly mean the world to me.

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Hey guys, I'm a game designer and for years now lots of people have told me i'm pretty good at visual communication and sharing cool ideas with people. Like ALOT, and think it's one of my few god given strengths in life that I'm actually proud of.



I've played a disgusting amount of videogames and have been blessed to have an actual mentor from Rockstar games.



The problem is, being a game designer isin't really valued in the same way a developer is. I've pitched my game ideas to my mentor and he's said it sounds great, but that I need to prove myself showing I can at least generate some interest and momentum to be taken seriously by publishers and others in his network. I really don't want to let him nor myself down, so I'm committed to making the most of the cards I have, which is convincing people I know how to make really fun games and that fun games are a great investment.



The Idea

So that being said my idea is to create a digital magazine that basically works as a pitch deck for raising small amounts of money, say about $30,000+ to build fun niche subscription video games that can generate a return for everyone involved.

You can read it for free with just your email, learn all about the idea, extremely detailed breakdowns of the economics, market analysis, game concept, and your potential upside as an investor, and at the end contribute to the project if you're interested with a small $3.99 weekly subscription (Cool perks included) or full-on investment starting around $499.

My big pitch is basically, "imagine if you could have invested in Doom2 before it launched in 1994 or if you could have invested in Minecraft before it blew up" .



My pitch deck would be about raising money to build a simple Doom engine prototype that combines the simple character design of Doom2 with the environmental design of Minecraft for a fun niche multiplayer experience.





Before i create anything, i just wanted to hear from you guys, if you were to put yourself in the shoes of a potential investor what would you want to see included in the magazine to make you consider investing through a weekly subscription or pulling the trigger on full-on investment? Any and all thoughts and considerations are welcomed.

• What would you want to see in the magazine?
• What information do you want to know about the game
• What do you want to know about me?
• What do you want to know about the future of the project and the roadmap?
• Do you need any guarantees of any kind

Your feedback and advice truly mean the world to me.

Good you posted.

The only game I play on my phone is chess. I used to play draft. I am not going to play any video games anytime soon or later.

Therefore, I may lack proper on point information about video games.

Questions though
1. Are you a designer instead of programmer?
2. Can you write code?
3. Can you team up with someone so as to leverage their abilities?
4. What makes you believe you can create and run a magazine?

If you can't code, team up with someone who can.

~Isaac~

 

[Prdgy]

• What would you want to see in the magazine?

Your past work. Something I can base my appreciation of your execution of an idea on.

• What information do you want to know about the game

As an investor information isn't that important, unless you're investing because of passion. Instead I'd like to hear more about your idea of a subscription based game; would it be something like what World of Warcraft is doing, or is it something along the lines of Fortnite, with a battle pass? How exactly would this be monetized?

• What do you want to know about me?

Nobody cares who you are if you can execute well and have a decent idea. The only thing I'd need to know about you as an investor is whether or not you can pull of this idea well and if you can use my money to my benefit.

• What do you want to know about the future of the project and the roadmap?

What are your plans for further scalability and magnitude of the game's profits? What in the roadmap might facilitate the revenue and create as much value as possible?

• Do you need any guarantees of any kind

The investing amount isn't that big so I'd say no, not really; maybe a guarantee that the investment can give returns quick, so you'd have a deadline on making the game.


I hope some of my answers help! I would like to clarify that I am not a venture capitalist, however, and that my answers may not be what the investors you approach may want to see. I wish you luck in your endeavor!

 

[Connor.McAneeley]

Hey man!
I'm brand new to this forum and haven't read MJ's books yet.
I recently enrolled in a Unity game development bootcamp program starting at the end of May, to pursue my passion for games and dream of starting an indie game studio. However since then I discovered MJ's content and am now reconsidering following my passion as a business. I came to this forum to try to get get clearer on what kind of business to start within the games industry and if I should continue with becoming a Unity developer.

I find your concept really interesting but I'm not 100% clear on how it works. The magazine would act as a way to get information on the game/industry then the subscription gets you extra perks plus access to the game? Cheers.

 

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