GA M E AUDIO NETWOR K GUILD
MAKING THE MOST OF AN UNSHIPPED GAME BY ADAM FLIGSTEN
I WROTE MUSIC FOR A PROMISING INDIE GAME WITH TALENTED DEVELOPERS, GOOD FUNDING, AND A GREAT CONCEPT IDEA, ONLY TO REALIZE THAT IT WOULD BE SHELVED. – ADAM FLIGSTEN In 2016, I was contacted by a small independent game development studio who were working on pitching their biggest project to date. They had previously shipped a few mobile games, but were feeling much more ambitious this time around. They had found some of my music on the Unreal Asset Store and were using it as temporary music in a prototype to pitch to investors. I agreed to help them out as they needed music for a trailer and a few more custom cues for the prototype. Fairly quickly, they found an interested publisher and were in talks about getting the game development funded.
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Because I was on the project early, I was included as a line item in the budget to the publishers. Often music and sound are somewhat of an afterthought this early of a stage in development, but I was able to negotiate a reasonable deal for the music. “EVEN THOUGH THE GAME NEVER SHIPPED, SOME OF WHAT WE AGREED UPON STILL MATTERED QUITE A BIT.”
I was given a lump sum fee, which would be paid as they hit their milestones of development. 50% was up front and 50% about halfway through the project. The idea of this would be that it would be money to live on, as well as any music related expenses for the game. Even though it was a reasonable fee, over the course of development, I could not have afforded rent and basic expenses on this fee alone. So, like all freelancers, this was not my only project at the time.
GAME AUDIO NETWORK GUILD • THE AUDIO SOURCE MAGAZINE • WINTER 2020 • ISSUE 02
