There is a lot of information available online about throwing a launch party.

There is substantially less information available that focuses on throwing a launch party or event for a game.

*This presentation is part of a series from Social Games Chicago (SGC) focusing on launching your game.

What is a Launch Party?

A Launch Party or Game Launch Event allows you to introduce your game (or studio) to the world.

The Scope and Scale

The Scope and Scale of a game launch event is driven by the budget.

Scope: What will be covered in the game launch

event… Scale: How big will the

game launch event be…

#SGC Game Talk

Especially if resources are limited, consider the resources that you can

commit to a launch event.

To help with planning your game launch event, Social Games Chicago (SGC) proposes the SGC Rule of Ten.

The SGC Rule of Ten:Let the powers of ten (10) be the bounds of your budget. Let these

bounds drive your Scope and Scale.

Think of the Rule as a Safeguard

Before spending one additional dollar over your bound, commit to spending

up to the next bound…

Think of the Rule as a Safeguard

If you cannot commit, do not spend any amount over your bound.

The SGC Rule of Ten In Action:

If you can reasonably spend

$100 on a game launch event…

The SGC Rule of Ten In Action:

…before you spend even a single dollar above $100 on this game launch event,

are you committed to spending

$1,000?

If you cannot commit to the next spending level, do not spend any amount

over your current bound.

10x: Go 10x or don’t go.

#SGC Game Talk

Understanding the Rule:

The SGC Rule of Ten keeps a tight focus on the Budget, Scope and Scale

…even though it takes little effort to convince yourself or your team to go a little over budget on a party for your

game…

Spending for the sake of Spending

…realistically, a game launch event that does not meet your goals with a $100

budget will really not meet your goals at even double that amount ($200).

You’re likely just overspending on an event that is too small.

#SGC TBL - The Bottom Line

The Trap of 3x, 4x, 5x

A game launch event that triples, quadruples or otherwise multiplies the base budget is becoming a version of a

bigger event with less quality.

You’re likely spending substantial money for marginal value or

marginal return.#SGC TBL - The Bottom Line

Go 10x On your game launch event

or don’t go at all.

Use The SGC Rule of Ten as a suggestion to drive your team’s

discussion on Scope and Scale of the event and to evaluate the worth of the

game launch event.

SSS

Interested in live and online discussions on building studios and opening markets? Please join us at socialgameschicago.org. Membership is free.

*For even more on game design in Chicago visit the Chicago Experimental Game Development Group!

Rev B. May 2014