“If I had a game, I would not sign with 90% of publishers”: Manor Lords publisher thinks “self-publishing is a fine way to go”

The head of Manor Lords‘ publishing studio Hooded Horse explains that he personally would opt to avoid most publishers, or even self-publish as a developer – and with good reason.

Speaking in a recent interview with Pirate Software lead Jason ‘Thor’ Hall, Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender reveals he’d steer clear of the majority of publishing companies – and why he’d do so. “If I had a game, I would not sign with 90% of publishers that exist out there. There are resources that you can learn,” Bender says. Hall agrees, saying that he personally thinks the sentiment is “correct.”

Bender continues, offering an alternative to publishers: “Developers – if you’re the kind of person that you’re willing to go out there and you’re willing to start reading and learning and thinking about all these marketing things and trying your best to do on your own, you can get yourself to a state where you’re 90% better than 90% of publishers at doing it and you won’t charge yourself.” It isn’t all just about the money, either.

The publishing lead states that not only could developers cut costs that way, but they’d also have more interest in their game’s success. “You’ll care a lot more about your game, and in particular, you won’t make certain mistakes that I see publishers often make – which is when marketing a game, trying to market it as something else that isn’t quite the game but they think fits better into some other popular game,” the CEO explains.

Bender concludes that “self-publishing is a fine way to go” – as long as developers know what direction to take and are willing to “learn.” Earlier in the discussion, he says he thinks “so many games fail” because of bad contracts where publishers insist on making all their money back before devs get a bite of revenue – so his position on hiring a publisher from a developer’s point of view isn’t all that surprising.

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