I Direct Games That Sell
I work out who your game is for, then build the game that wins them and the pitch that gets it funded.
Game Director — EA Playground · EA Sports Active · Trolls Pop · Meta Apes
- Based
- Toronto, Canada
- kyle@clayhouse.studio
Most games don’t fail on craft. They fail on audience. Solve that and you have your pitch.
Without direction
The game gets made for the team making it. The deck gets written the week before the meeting. Publishers pass and nobody tells you why.
With direction
You know who the game is for and how many of them there are. The deck says it in ninety seconds. Publishers either fund it or tell you exactly what’s missing.
Three ways in.
Game Audit
I tell you what a publisher will see before they see it.
- Who the game is for, and whether that’s enough people
- The three things that will kill it, ranked by how fixable they are
- A one-page pitch spine
Publishing Readiness
The pitch, built and rehearsed.
- The deck and the ninety-second narrative
- A list of publishers and investors who fund games like yours
- Rehearsal, with me asking what they’ll ask
Embedded Direction
I hold direction through your milestone.
- Pillars, scope calls, and the audience read on every big decision
- Weekly build review with written notes
- In the room on pitch calls
Sound familiar?
The game’s good. We don’t know if enough people want it.→ Game Audit
We’re pitching publishers next month and the deck isn’t landing.→ Publishing Readiness
We’ve been turned down twice and nobody will tell us why.→ Publishing Readiness
We’ve got the team but no shared direction.→ Embedded Direction
We need a senior director but not a full-time hire.→ Embedded Direction
The work.
Games I created or directed, and the deals behind them.
$8M+ raised
About.
I started at EA at eighteen, in QA. Ended up a designer, then a lead, on franchises across sports, racing, action and fitness. Created EA Playground from scratch. Built EA Sports Active into EA’s number-one Wii title.
Then I left and started three companies. Raised $8M+ and closed publishing and IP deals with DreamWorks, Universal, Sony, Nintendo and FIFA. I’ve read a lot of pitches from the funding side.
Both jobs come down to the same question. Who is this for, and are there enough of them?
Also building Publitz A free publishing audit for indie Steam developers. Pricing, store page, competitors, timing, and a Publishing Score. No account, no cost. publitz.netMade at Clayhouse, my studio. Toronto.
Let’s talk about what you’re building.
Most teams I work with know something isn’t right but can’t quite name it. A short conversation is usually enough to figure out whether I can help.