80 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
DEVELOPER AND PUBLISHER RESPONSIBILITIES
Jeff Matsushita, Executive Producer
Activision
Most companies have a formal method of overseeing the progress of titles in
production. In my current role at Activision, it is my job to use this kind of a process
to ensure that the development cycle is on track, that the product is meeting expec-
tations, and that everyone involved with the title is on the same page. Through this
and my previous experiences, I have had the privilege of working with many devel-
opers, both internal and external, and gaining some interesting insights into the way
developers and publishers work together.
Many factors affect the relationship between the developer and the publisher,
such as the terms of the deal, whether the developer is internal or external, and the
developer’s track record for shipping high-quality titles on time and on budget.
Another factor that influences this relationship is who brings the Intellectual
Property (IP) to the table. For instance, the publisher will feel more strongly about
a project when they provide the IP. In this case, the publisher will likely have more
feedback in the development process, since they want their license to be repre-
sented appropriately. In essence, the publisher becomes the developer’s customer.
On the other hand, if a developer brings an IP to the table, the publisher will focus
on working with the developer to ensure that there is a strong marketing effort to
support the developer’s vision of the game. These instances are rare as the devel-
oper must bring a strong established franchise and have a history of executing on it,
or they must have a high-quality game that is very close to completion.
Because of the increasingly larger budgets necessary to develop and market AAA
games, publishers are more cautious with unproven properties and with unproven
developers. In most cases, publishers will go only to proven developers with estab-
lished IPs. Additionally, publishers will prefer to work with an internal developer on
a new IP so they can have better visibility into the project and better assess risk.
The project is the result of the developer’s hard work—the program, the art,
the sound, and so on. The product is the final package that is advertised to the
media, shipped to the distributors, and purchased by consumers. In short, the pub-
lisher is responsible for taking the developer’s project and making it into a product.
The publisher takes the project, tests it, submit it for approval, creates a marketing
campaign, designs the packaging, puts it into the box, and handles sales and distri-
bution of the product. When the IP starts with the publisher, they may also fund
the development and provide the initial key creative elements. The key thing is
that the publisher takes the efforts of the developer and converts it into something
that produces revenue for everyone. In the most basic terms, it can be said that the