Requirements to Submit to OTK Pixel Pitch
INDIE GAME DEVELOPMENTGAME DEVELOPMENTGAME PUBLISHERPIXEL PITCH
During the OTK shareholders meeting, a new show was announced called Pixel Pitch. It was especially exciting to me because they said they were accepting games in all stages of development. For a while now I had been wondering when I could start pitching and promoting my game, and this seemed like a sign. I knew I should be contacting publishers, but I also had no idea what publishers would accept.
If you are planning to submit a game, you will need the following setup beforehand:
Game Name
A studio name
Studio website
Pitch deck
The rest of the form has questions that can be answered while submitting.
In general, the Pixel Pitch application form is also a good checklist of what to have when pitching to any other publishers.
Disclaimer
At this time, I have not been chosen by OTK for Pixel Pitch so I do not have tips on how to get chosen.
Getting the Requirements Together
1. Websites
You will need two websites when submitting to Pixel Pitch:
Studio Website
Game Website
If I had a YouTube channel, I probably would have linked to it. Even though I could code and publish websites with my eyes closed, I have limited time to work with so I wanted to get professional-looking websites up quickly. My weapon of choice was a website builder.
On a weekend morning, I was able to spin up the websites upbeatgalaxy.com and frontlinefantasy.com. Even though right now the sites are mostly filled with stock images, editing when I have the time is easy. The other advantage is I don't have to worry about hosting and platforms.
For those thinking of using a website builder, you do not have to be technically inclined at all. It's all about clicking buttons and dragging things around to your liking. There are a ton of really good ones and many have a free tier.
2. Pitch Deck
Creating a pitch deck was much harder than creating the websites. It took several days of work and I added in the additional complexity of coming up with a custom illustration for the first slide. I wanted the reviewer of the pitch deck to understand my art style and the eventual game graphics.
After I created the illustration, I needed to do research.
The videos that helped the most were:
This article was also helpful:
In the end, I picked the slides and ideas that worked for me and created my first Pitch Deck.
3. Game Name
Coming up with a game name was not as easy as I thought. I had been calling the project This vs That since development started and now I was suddenly tasked with creating the name it will be known as forever. I went through many ideas, most bad, and talked to many friends, most encouraging. Somehow in the end I came up with a name that I like, Frontline Fantasy.
Do not settle for your first thought. Come up with something you truly like because this will be your game's identity.
4. Studio Name
This part was a little easier for me than coming up with a game name. I wanted a name that sounded like a game studio and to me, the best game studios have fun names and mascots. After plugging things into a name generator and searching for open domains, I chose Upbeat Galaxy Games.
Know Your Game and Your Story
Outside of the websites, pitch deck, and names; the rest of the submission was answering questions about your game and your story. Lucky for me, I knew what kind of game I was making and how I wanted it to work in the end. It also helped that I knew about gaming in general, the different genres, and how others would classify it.
There is no trick to get through these questions, just know your game and know your game development story.
Don't Be Afraid
When Pixel Pitch was announced, I saw it as a sign to start working on the "boring" parts of game development. I regularly watch the OTK characters on Twitch and YouTube and I knew at the very least they would just ignore the entries that weren't chosen. I am excited to see the memes and react videos that come from this. I plan on playing a drinking game when Pixel Pitch is streamed, and seeing how many times n64 controllers, gotcha, and body sliders are mentioned.