How to get investment for your video game in 2026

GamesIndustry.biz hosted a panel throughout Game Republic’s Investment Summit at MCM Comic Con in London on October 23, the place editorial director Jon Hicks talked to Lirui Ding (principal at Transcend Fund), Nick Cavander (senior portfolio supervisor at Artistic UK), and Cassia Curran (founding father of Curran Video games Company) in regards to the present state of funding within the video games trade.

The panel gave recommendation on quite a lot of questions going through builders in 2026, particularly: the place is the cash, what are buyers on the lookout for, what must you put in a pitch, and the way vital are wishlists?

The place is the cash?

The cash for making video games remains to be there, mentioned Ding, even when it is tougher to entry now than it was prior to now. He beneficial attempting a combination and match method, on the lookout for pots of funding from completely different sources, like Kickstarter or authorities grants – an method that Spilt Milk’s Nicholas Lovell used to great effect for the development of Trash Goblin.

Cavander agreed: “There’s simply bits all over the place,” he mentioned, pointing in the direction of authorities pots just like the BFI International Display screen Fund and the UK Video games Content material Fund, in addition to angel buyers and casual funding teams fashioned of high-net-worth people or households. Piecing collectively funding like this may supply a extra enticing different to going all in with a writer. “Loads of what we’re listening to is that individuals are attempting to keep away from publishers and transfer to self-publishing the place they will, as a result of the phrases aren’t so nice proper now.”

Cavander additionally had one other advice: “Barclays has Eagle Labs – it is type of an incubator for artistic and media corporations – and it is an incredible place to community and run into individuals who could also be trying to make investments.”

Curran famous that enterprise capital (VC) companies are price for funding alternatives, given the latest shift in the direction of mission financing. “A couple of VC that I do know of that was specializing in fairness funding has pivoted or is pivoting to do mission finance as a substitute, which may make much more sense contemplating the type of exits that at the moment are doable on this market.”

Past VCs, Curran beneficial contacting profitable impartial recreation builders “who’ve an extra sum of money and do not know what to do with it,” pointing in the direction of Outersloth and Evil Landfall as examples. She famous that individuals within the indie scene are typically pleasant and keen to assist one another. “If certainly one of your folks makes it massive, then by all means see in the event that they’d prefer to spend money on your recreation,” she mentioned.

What are buyers on the lookout for?

Discussing tendencies amongst publishers, Curran mentioned we’re now seeing extra of a concentrate on particular genres from completely different publishing homes, slightly than all of them chasing the style of the second. That mentioned, she pointed in the direction of incremental idle video games and tidy-up video games as present sizzling tendencies. “However that does not essentially imply that it is best to run out and make an idle recreation,” she mentioned.

“I believe one barely miserable development is publishers being most drawn to video games that already have some traction in advertising or participant base, and solely investing then,” she continued. “The factor is, your common writer will get about 2,000 or so pitches a 12 months, after which they will publish perhaps 10 video games a 12 months, to allow them to afford to be choosy. It simply signifies that it is simply actually exhausting for indie recreation builders to discover a writer, as a result of there’s simply a lot competitors.”

By way of courting fairness funding from VCs, Ding mentioned that a very powerful factor to keep in mind is that the VC can be on the lookout for the potential for a 10x return inside round ten years. “If you consider the economics of the way it works in enterprise capital, the entire enterprise mannequin is VCs would obtain cash from LPs – restricted companions – and usually a fund would exist for about seven to 10 years. On the finish of that fund’s lifetime, they should return the cash to the LPs. So which means in case you are pitching the studio to VCs, you in all probability need to suppose, if I had been the investor, how can I get the cash again on the finish of the lifetime of the fund?

“For those who inform them, ‘I’ll construct a franchise, the primary recreation can be in 5 years’ time, the second recreation in 10 years’ time, and the third recreation will actually hit massive in 15 years’ time’, numerous the VCs can be turned off by that. They’re going to be like, ‘Effectively, that payback interval can be means too lengthy’.”

He mentioned on this case, corporations want to consider methods to supply some form of recouping mechanism to supply a option to return the cash sooner, slightly than them having to attend for a “liquidation occasion”, resembling the corporate being acquired, merged, or launched on the inventory market.

However Curran pointed in the direction of the rising development for mission financing amongst VCs, like the $100 million fund launched by Griffin Gaming Partners. Given the slowdown in mergers and acquisitions within the video games trade prior to now few years, project-based financing is changing into extra enticing to VCs than fairness funding, since if there may be little probability for a corporation to be offered or floated on the inventory market, there may be much less probability of them seeing a return on their funding.

What to place in a pitch

Pitching for an fairness funding requires pitching your workforce, not the mission, mentioned Curran, however pitching for mission financing requires specializing in the specifics of promoting the sport. “You can be wanting to place numerous element about the way you’re planning to go to market,” she mentioned. “So your advertising technique, for instance, which platforms you are planning to launch on, and the worth. You need to show your expertise in with the ability to deliver issues to market.”

On this case, pitching for mission financing differs from pitching to a writer, as a result of publishers will need to work out their very own go-to-market technique. For a writer pitch, Curran mentioned it is best to take into consideration issues like what platforms to focus on, “however you shouldn’t put in a complete advertising technique phase – that will truly be actually off-putting.”

“It is a actually unhealthy concept to say you are going to take over the world in three years”

For each project-financing and writer pitches, Curran mentioned that the standard of the vertical slice and demo is a very powerful factor, however they can even take a look at whether or not the sport already has traction with gamers. “Loads of publishers want it when you have introduced and you’ve got proven that you have already got a sure viewers. Generally I believe, why do these individuals want a writer? Undertaking finance is perhaps higher for these form of builders.”

As senior funding and portfolio supervisor for Artistic UK, Cavander had a distinct tackle what builders want to stress in a pitch. His agency presents enterprise debt financing – primarily long-term loans – which signifies that to start with, they’re trying on the skill of the enterprise to remain solvent.

Past that, the workforce is a very powerful factor. “We’re trying on the individuals to get confidence in who we’re investing in,” Cavander mentioned. “Then we take a look at the mission. We search for affordable forecasts and projections. I believe it is a actually unhealthy concept to say you are going to take over the world in three years. It simply does not sound credible. It is higher to be extra life like, perhaps a little bit bit extra conservative.”

“It is good to be assured and it is good to be bold, however simply mix that with some realism and practicality.”

Cavander mentioned the ultimate factor is a plan that exhibits how your organization will ship a return on the funding. “The form of return that the buyers need goes to range. In our case, it is repay the mortgage. For VCs, it is 10x.”

By way of pitching to VCs, Ding mentioned that tough proof or metrics aren’t all the time mandatory in relation to a mission within the very early phases. “Usually, simply two issues can be enough,” he mentioned. “The primary one is the workforce, after which the second is the concept of the sport.” However he warned that corporations are unlikely to have the ability to elevate an enormous sum of money for an early-stage mission.

For tasks a bit additional alongside, issues like wishlist numbers, Discord communities, YouTube followers, and playtime metrics grow to be extra vital. Buyers may even need to see how the wishlists have developed over time, and what has triggered wishlist spikes, resembling viral movies. “Folks might even say, I need you to indicate a geographic breakdown of your wishlist,” mentioned Ding.

How vital are Steam wishlists?

Whereas as soon as Steam wishlists had been thought of the final word indicator of potential success, their significance as a metric has been questioned in recent years. “The factor is, wishlists might be inflated or not likely convert,” mentioned Curran. “And there is positively been circumstances the place the developer has accomplished a marketing campaign to get wishlists from simply anyplace, and there is a mistaken perception the place it will truly convert to purchases.”

“Wishlists might be inflated or not likely convert”

Ding mentioned that wishlist numbers by themselves are usually not sufficient to go on as a dependable metric, and must be paired with different indicators resembling Steam followers, or something that may show that there is an “lively, passionate participant group which are wanting to play your recreation and prepared to pay for it.”

A Kickstarter marketing campaign is an efficient instance, he mentioned. “If there are already numerous people who find themselves prepared to pay for one thing that hasn’t even been made but, that may very well be a really, superb indication.”

That mentioned, wishlist numbers do nonetheless carry weight among the many prime ten publishers. “One of many publishers advised me particularly, ‘I am solely trying on the corporations who’ve made the highest hundred wishlists – if they are not on the checklist, I am not even speaking to them’,” mentioned Ding. “However should you’re speaking to, for instance, indie publishers, then they might be issues which are completely completely different.”