It’s generally understood that major businesses, including those in the video game industry, tend to keep the details of their inner workings close to the chest, which is something that can make it tricky for developers trying to navigate a wide variety of contracts and business dealings. But in a notable break from convention, indie publisher Raw Fury has made several of the business templates it uses available for all to see.
As a holiday gift to the gaming community, the publisher, which has released such notable indies as Kingdom, Gonner, West of Dead, and, most recently, Call of the Sea, has set up a new resources page where anyone can view its standard publishing agreement. Additionally, the page boasts the templates Raw Fury uses for financial projections, developer pitches, outsourcing agreements, and more.
Beyond offering a bit of welcome transparency in a rather secretive industry, as well as helpful insight for developers, this offers an interesting glimpse at how Raw Fury operates differently from other publishers. As Virtual Economy’s breakdown of its publishing contract points out, Raw Fury pays developers through a monthly disbursement plan, foregoing the common practice of giving more money to developers when they reach specific development milestones. Additionally, the publisher provides funding at a contract’s effective date, meaning developers get money as soon as a project officially begins.
Since its founding in 2015, Raw Fury has garnered a reputation as a developer-friendly publisher, and in releasing its developer resources, it stated that it knows how hard it can be for fledgling studios to get a proper understanding of the deals that are available to them in the gaming industry. Hopefully, this push for transparency will compel other companies to do the same, and cut down on shady business practices that encourage publishers to take advantage of developers’ ignorance.
Source: Raw Fury, Virtual Economy