The Publication Process
Let me take you through the entire process of the publication of a game.
"Funny ideas" about publication
In case it's not crystal clear, you cannot submit an idea to a publisher, just like you can't submit an idea for a book to a book publisher. A publisher wants an actual game, just like a book publisher wants an actual written book.
You create your game and its rules, perfect it, and then you take it to a publisher. The game does not need fancy art or design. The publisher will redo all that.
Unusual strategies or shortcuts for publication/sale of your game will require huge effort on your part, and will almost certainly not work. Selling directly to shops, on a website, or from the back of your car, will fail dismally.
Just make a great game, and take it to a publisher. If it doesn't succeed, try other games, and other publishers. Or, don't try at all.
Choosing a publisher
Start with a smaller company. The bigger the company, the more submissions they get.
As long as a smaller company has done a few games to a reasonable standard, and had them properly distributed to major markets, they're good enough to publish my games. If your game succeeds, a smaller publisher is quite capable of having large numbers of them printed, if the demand arises.
Make sure the company is appropriate for your game. Are they accepting submissions? If they don't specify, they probably are open to very good submissions.
There are a few websites that maintain lists of publishers that are accepting submissions. These places will usually charge a small fee.
Once you've chosen a publisher, you contact them, to propose your game. I'll cover the proposal process in another article.
The playtest together
If a company is interested in what you've sent them, they'll next want to play the game.
That will typically be done on Tabletop Simulator, these days. (However, most will likely accept you mailing your game to them, if you want to go that way.)
The publisher plays the game with you. If they like the game, they'll ask to take the game with them, and evaluate it in-house.
Evaluating new games is a very low priority for a publisher, and they tend to be slow at it. I've had this step be almost instant, and also waited a whole year. Typically, it takes a few months. It's expected that you stop proposing your game to other companies, as this publisher is putting time into evaluating your game.
Don't get attached to a publisher. Even at this stage, they're still more likely to say no than yes.
Some companies will write detailed feedback, telling you why they rejected your game. This feedback is extremely valuable, and the publisher has gone out of their way to help you, by writing it. Even if you completely disagree, reply to them, thanking them. There's a reasonable chance you'll want to propose something to them again, so keep things friendly, and continue the email chain when you want to propose a game to them again. Writing back to tell a seasoned publisher that their feedback is wrong, and that your game actually is great, is an insult.
Publishers are also very much interested in you as a person. They have to work with you, so if you're a jerk, or are likely to be difficult, they'll reject your game even if it's good.
Publication
If the company decides they want to publish your game, the next step is signing the contract.
Once you agree to publication, the publisher does everything from here: the artwork, manufacturing, distribution, and promotion (if any). You get a royalty typically around 5-8% of what they sell it for wholesale, which is about 35% of the retail price. 5% is more normal for a first-time designer. This means your commission per game will be 2-3% of the retail price. This may not seem like a huge amount, but the publisher is giving you about a quarter of their profit.
This will be (US) 20c for a very small game, and $1 for a medium-sized one. You can do the mathematics.
A publisher will probably want to do some development on the game.
They may change the rules, but will likely confer with you about this, and ask you to do it. They're highly likely to want to tweak individual cards or game elements. A publisher will probably want your involvement and approval. They may not.
The publisher likely has people and groups they use, for testing their games. These people and groups playtest the game, and check it for problems.
The publisher may change the theme, and will almost certainly change the title.
Your game will likely also join a queue. Publishers will sign good games when they find them, not as they need them. This means there will always be other games that need to be done before yours. This queue is likely a year or more long. There's nothing you can do about it. In the meantime, work on other games.
Even after all this, publishers will hand back a portion of the games they've accepted. This is usually because the game had flaws they couldn't fix, but also for business and personal reasons.
Statistics
I'll give you my statistics, centring around 2025, and some guesses.
By my judgement, more than half of submissions are not even being looked at. My submissions include a video, and I can see how many times it's been watched. I state in the subject line that I'm the designer of Radlands. There's not much more I can do, to make that part more appealing. (And I'm not just spamming everyone. I'm using a database of publishers who have said they're accepting submissions.)
When I do get a response, many publishers tell me their schedules are full for years ahead. I suspect that most of the ones who don't even click on my video are the same.
Here's what I get (roughly):
- 70% no response
- 20% not interested
- 10% want to play the game
Expect your results to be a bit worse. I get a bit of extra interest for being the designer of Radlands, but surprisingly not much.
When a publisher plays the game (10% of them, as above), I have about a 20% chance of them publishing it. Earlier in my career, I'd say 10%.
So, I assume a 2% chance that each contact will lead to publication.
I've collated a list of about 500 publishers. About 300 would meet my very basic standards. Maybe 50 would be appropriate for a particular game. Radlands and all my other games have run low on publishers. When you run out of publishers, there's nothing more you can do. This is what happened with my pirate game. I just left it, and came back to it ten years later. I made it a much better game, and bought a list of publishers' contact details.
I also start with the big name publishers, who are less likely to be interested. Over time, I go further down the list.
Expect the process of actually getting a publisher to take a year, though it may be instant, or far more likely, never happen.
Production
Once development is complete, the publisher organises the artwork and graphic design.
The publisher then sends the game to the manufacturer, who prints an initial print run. This is likely 2,000-10,000 copies, depending on the size of the publisher. The game is sent to distributors, and it appears in shops worldwide, and online. This takes a few months.
Sites like BoardGameGeek add the game to their listings, and reviewers start doing review videos and articles.
If the game sells well, the publisher does more and more print runs. Most published games don't get beyond one print run, but successful games can be reprinted indefinitely.
The publisher pays you your first commission. It could be the first of many, or your last. Even successful games will peak, and sales will decline over a few years, as new games come out.
If the game is a success, the publisher might be interested in making an expansion or second game. Don't even think about such things now.
It's really slow
Publication is a long process. Expect a wait of two years at an absolute minimum, from signing the contract, to having the game in your hands. The upside is that you don't need to do anything except wait.
The publication process is so slow that you should have multiple games out there at once. Get to work!