Publisher or investor?

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Two offers

Kai and Remy estimate Shard Garden at US$2 million. Two offers arrive in the same week.

A publisher will pay the US$2 million as an advance, earned back from the game's sales. An investor will pay US$2 million for 20% of the studio. Both pay for the same game. They take very different things in return.

What each one owns

The UK government's business guide describes equity finance as raising money "by selling shares in your business to an investor or a fund".

Quick check

Five years on, Shard Garden and the studio's next three games are all hits. Which deal has cost Kai and Remy more?

  1. The investor's: 20% of the company, so a share of all four games
  2. The publisher's: it took a share of every game
  3. Both the same: each paid US$2 million
Show the answer

The investor's: 20% of the company, so a share of all four games

The publisher's share ends with Shard Garden. The investor owns 20% of the studio, so it shares in every game the studio makes.

Who owns the game?

The IP, the intellectual property, is the game itself: its world, its characters, its name. Whoever owns it decides about sequels, toys and films.

Some publishers ask for the IP in return for the advance. When Epic Games started its publishing arm in March 2020, it promised the opposite: "Developers retain 100% of all intellectual property and full creative control of their work."

A platform can be a publisher

Epic's offer also said it "will cover up to 100% of development costs, from developer salaries to go-to-market expenses such as QA, localization, marketing", and that "once costs are recouped, developers earn at least 50% of all profits."

Store owners, console makers and big studios all publish games. The questions to ask are the same for each.

Read the offer

Epic Games Publishing, March 2020
Developers retain 100% of all intellectual property and full creative control of their work.

Under a deal like this, who decides whether Shard Garden gets a sequel?

  1. Kai and Remy's studio, because it keeps the IP
  2. The publisher, because it paid for the game
  3. Whoever sold more copies
Show the answer

Kai and Remy's studio, because it keeps the IP

The owner of the IP decides what is made with it. Paying for one game does not buy its world, unless the contract says so.

Match the money to the risk

The business guide says securing equity "is an involved process usually taking several months". Investors usually want a say in the company, often a seat on its board.

Many studios mix their money: their own sales pay for the prototype, a publisher pays for one game, and investors pay to grow the company. Money for a game is tied to that game. Money for the company is tied to everything.

Quick check

An investor who buys 20% of the studio gets a share of Shard Garden only.

Show the answer

False

An investor buys part of the company, not part of one game. Every later game, and any sale of the studio, is shared too.

Read the small print

Kai and Remy lean towards the publisher: it keeps the company whole. But the advance is only the first line of a long contract.

Bolt says: Next: a publisher deal, line by line.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026