we are not investing in companies with this fund, we’re investing in games. They are completely independent. It’s not like we get a share of their company or a board seat. We are there to support them, to advise them, or give them our guidance on what we think might be best for the game if they want that. We are investing in these titles and taking a return on our investment in the success, but not investing in the company.” “I’ve always found it pretty curious,” Worosz explains
after a pause, “that there’s been such an influx of private equity into game studios, because a studio needs a ten year arc - at least - to actually exit properly. It’s very rare you’ll see a team exit in a shorter timeframe than that because within ten years, they’ve maybe got two different games to market and are at work on a third. That team will need to have had extraordinary success to break through an exit in a ten year timeframe. The studios that are selling now, have been in business for 15, 20, 25 years. Gearbox went to Embracer after being in business for over 20 years. With project financing, we’re actually putting our money behind the game. Do we make a one or a zero on that outcome? I think that that leads to better results and better investment choices.” “To use a US sports analogy,” adds Rochkind, “I’d say
VCs are really looking for home runs. We would love to have home runs within the fund, no doubt. But we’re also happy to have doubles and triples along the way as well.” When it comes to what the Private Division
Development Fund is looking to establish, the answer is equally clear. “First and foremost,” says Rochkind, “we’re looking
for great games with breakout potential. One thing that I think is different from our publishing label is that generally for the fund, given the fact that we’re so hands off and that we are looking for things that have that tremendous potential, I would say a playable build is fairly important to us in evaluating the [potential of a] game. “Second to that, a desire and plan
to self-publish. As we stated, we are not publishing these titles. We’re really looking for entrepreneurial developers who not only can self- publish, but are excited about it. We’ve already passed on some great games that we thought would have been a good fit for the fund, but when we spoke to the developers more, it was very clear that they were just not interested in self-
January 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 49
publishing. We are looking for people who are going down that path, and doing whatever it takes to have a successful game in that model.” One of the reasons for the fund is to encourage
self-publishing on the basis that it relieves some of the pressure on Private Division publishing resources. It’s about accepting the world as it is and not trying to do everthing all at once.
One of the reasons for the fund to exist is to encourage self-publishing, alongside logistics issues at Private Divison’s current size
“We have passed on some great games in the past
because of our bandwidth,” says Rochkind ruefully. “Bandwidth is a real concern here. One of the reasons why we have such a great reputation is that we really do the work here for the games we publish. In order to do the work, we can only do so many games. Our bandwidth is absolutely a factor. But I would also say it’s a recognition of being nimble. Private Division is part of a $20 billion dollar company. “It was no small feat to get everyone on board
with a new sort of business avenue like this. But we thought it was important to recognise the reality of the situation, which is that there are great, smaller
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