Publishers ‘offer nothing’ for small developers

Publishers provide no benefits to small and medium-sized developers, claims Introversion’s Mark Morris.

Speaking to Develop in a newly published interview, Morris said that whilst publishers add value for triple-A titles, most developers were better off forming a relationship with Steam.

He added that indies would benefit from controlling their own marketing and PR for a game’s releasing, citing that publishers were completely redundant for the indie sector.

“I think publishers add value for triple-A titles, but that’s it. At the small and medium level, there is absolutely no benefit from working with a publisher,” said Morris.

“I firmly believe that developers are best place to form the relationship with steam and control the marketing and PR for a game launch. Publishers are completely redundant in the indie world.”

Introversion is currently self-publishing and crowdfunding its own title Prison Architect, which as of last week had garnered almost $300,000 from customers despite still being in the Alpha stage.

Morris said that taking to crowdfunding was the ideal route for Introversion to take with its latest game, and took inspiration from other paid alphas such as Develop Award winners Minecraft and Frozen Synapse.

You can read the full interview discussing the development of IP and the decision to take to crowdfunding here.