Looking for a 2nd investor

[s2p]

We are now at the stage in the development of our games company where we are seeking a second investor to take us forward into the next 3-5 years worth of projects. We have upto 20% (max 30%) of company shares available to the right investor.

Two games are currently in development, one of which will be complete over the next few months. One is a large scale 3D MMOFPS (Massive Multi-Player Online First Person Shooter) game, also with 10 missions of single play. The other is a 2D side scrolling martial arts game. Both having the potential to expand into other formats in the sequence of PC/MAC/LINUX/XBOX360, with a view to porting some of the games to PSP/Playstation3/WII, etc.

This would be a long-term investment for someone who has the capital to use, and invest in our team. So if you are looking for a quick single return on your investment, this is not for you. Although, we are not ruiling out a quick return on your investment, as each game that is sold independently by us, or published through other channels has the potential for a high success rate.

send an email to: helpdesk (at) something2play (dot) com
for more information, or a serious offer.

Some screenshots (albeit out of date, more progress has been made since these were taken) http://www.something2play.com/wip.htm

and on another note, any further suggestions on how to go about getting another investor? It was pure luck that we managed to secure one off ebay. Even though I am trying this again, and some interest is being shown, it could be hit and miss. I'd also like to retain majority ownership of the company.

[UK Contract Centre]

A couple of quick questions how much are you looking for and how do you propose to compete with firts player shoot em ups like graw, splinter cell etc, ? Gamers are fickel things, i know i was one, get it right and your golden, get it wrong and your stuffed.... Whats going to be your USP?

[s2p]

Ideally, 500k or $1m and will be spread over a 3-5 year plan for a percentage of the company. Producing a set number of games within this time frame. We would source our own in-house team, and utilising some of the best contractors that we are currently using to produce some of the work for us.

With the MMOFPS game (Massive Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter) we would be willing to take on a 2nd investor, for a slice of the game profits instead of the company, so it's opening the door to a smaller investment, a ball park figure would be about £45-50k. This is based on the game being so near completion.

We do have the advantage of a potentially large customer base already with our first investor, and the kit to house the online aspect of the games. They are an established presence within the online gaming community.

We also work closely with the community, which is very rare for a games company, getting them involved in things such as BETA testing. The group of people were surprised to say the least that we approached them, afterall its the gamers that buy the games. We did not realise that there was such as distance between gamers and games companies.

Originally Posted by UK Contract Centre

A couple of quick questions how much are you looking for and how do you propose to compete with firts player shoot em ups like graw, splinter cell etc, ? Gamers are fickel things, i know i was one, get it right and your golden, get it wrong and your stuffed.... Whats going to be your USP?

[s2p]

There is also major interest in the game, which is always a good sign.

Most, if not all of our games will be live, or turn based. With off the internet, single play as standard - online subscriptions covering the game or games that we produce creates a second revenue stream The first being retail.

[s2p]

Just to let you know, we are in talks with 2 companies at present. But welcome more, and this process takes a couple of weeks worth of talks, emails and negotiations before anything concrete is established. Unless of course we get an instant offer.

[UK Contract Centre]

We maybe interested, could you email me over turnover/profit, employee details, company details and the other invested parties details please,

Thanks

[s2p]

Sure - send me a PM with your email address. I will send you a NDA first (Non disclosure agreement).

[Natkits]

Having seen many small companies start and never finish MMO's, this may be somewhat risky. Hell, even the small companies who actually do get their games to market often produce frankly, crap games :|

You say your game is near completion yet the screenies are very limited.... what's the game called? Has it been through stress tests, alpha, beta? Are there any early independant reviews of it anywhere?

[s2p]

Hello. Thanks for your reply.

Well in terms of finishing, we plan on just doing that - part of our agreement with our first investor, even if it takes a few months longer than expected. Considering we have had a budget of 20k, excluding many man hours of time for free. I would say we probably put in about 40-50k into it over the space of 9 months. I've been the lead programmer for the game, designer, planner, director - multi role, while calling on the services of contractors for the music and some of the modelling work to create the characters, taking advantage of how strong the £ is to the dollar. There are a few months of work left before the game is running smooth even with 14 beta testers. If the end result gives me the chance to get a foot in the door with an investor or publisher, we'll spend a few more months after that adding to the game, as there is always room for improvements, and that goes for any game.

No reviews on the game yet, but once we have our website up and running dedicated to the game we will start pushing it. It's all based on timing at the moment, as we have been watching a few other developers launch their websites and the game has taken months after to iron out any bugs, people will just get bored waiting. The name has not been revealed yet, as we have not ultimately decided on the right one, until we reach 99.9% of completion and checked that it is available to be trademarked.

For the next game, we are aiming for a larger budget. While this being a large game in its own right, we have one other small game currently being worked on, with the aim to have several games developed during a 3-5 year plan. We do not want to be a one hit wonder, even if the first is a flop. Yes the gaming industry is a bit hit and miss but like anything else being a risk, you either continue and see if the next one is more of a success, or quit!

Originally Posted by Natkits

Having seen many small companies start and never finish MMO's, this may be somewhat risky. Hell, even the small companies who actually do get their games to market often produce frankly, crap games :|

You say your game is near completion yet the screenies are very limited.... what's the game called? Has it been through stress tests, alpha, beta? Are there any early independant reviews of it anywhere?

[Brian Turner]

I'm a little confused here - you say your budget was $20k - but now it's near completion, you're looking for around $45k?

Also, $1m is a heck of a lot to ask for - an investor would need a couple of blockbusters over that period to just to get their original investment back on 30% of company profits?

If you don;t mind my asking, what is it you are actually looking to invest the money in? Is it office, workstations, staff, etc??