How much are you worth
When you’re in the lovely position of being offered some freelance game design or development work, you are usually asked to quote for the job. But how do you know what to charge? Here are some things to consider, which might help.
All the photos in this article are from the launch event of Adventures in Friskies World – a game I designed for Purina about cats exploring a theme park.
How much are you worth?
You are being offered design work because of your expertise. This is not entry-level work. It is not something that just anyone can do. You’ve put in a lot of time and effort to get to where you are and you should be paid accordingly. Establish an hourly and daily rate for your services. For shorter jobs, or ad-hoc work you may share this with clients. But for bigger projects, a project fee is usually better.
When determining your daily rate, consider the fact that when working for a client, your other work will be put on hold. You are probably keen to move your own projects forward, so that you are ready to pitch at specific events – this time has value and should be reflected in your rate. So frame the question in your mind as ‘How much am I worth’, rather than ‘How much will they pay me’ – this helps you approach pricing discussions with confident pride, rather than apologetic trepidation.
How long will the job take?
It’s important to make a decent estimate about how long the work will actually take you. Of course, this can be difficult to calculate. You need to fully understand the scope of the job in order to estimate the time it will take – so ask lots of questions to build up the picture.
As we’re all aware, with board game design, sometimes the ideas come quickly and easily. Sometimes the first idea you have is brilliant and everything falls into place quickly. But other times, you get stuck, no idea seems right and the whole process takes a whole lot longer. There are two ways to deal with this disparity when pricing up. 1) ‘Invest’ a bit of time up front (before quoting) to brainstorm ideas and get a sense of how easily the initial design will come to you. You can always add this time to the project fee when you quote, knowing, of course, that you might not be awarded the contract. Even so, I almost always do this, because it dispels the panic that I may not come up with any ideas for the job at all. 2) Estimate the time expecting the worst – assuming you’re going to have to come up with multiple ideas and do a fair amount of development.
How much do you want the work?
If you are excited about the prospect of doing the job and it is something you can’t wait to get started on, you might decide to lower your price a bit to ensure you are awarded the contract. But do this with caution. Clients often refer other clients and may share your prices, so you may find this rate is expected by others. And crucially, you don’t want clients to undervalue you. People often associate low prices with inferior quality. Remember, you’re an expert. On the flip side, if the work is not something you have a burning desire to do – perhaps because you think the client might be difficult, because you have other work you want to prioritise, or because the actual work could be tedious or frustrating – you should increase the fee.
What else are they offering?
Some clients may offer more than the project fee. If the game you’re working on will be commercially available, you may be able to negotiate a royalty, even if you’re being paid a ‘work for hire’ rate. Some publishers will offer a hybrid of the two – an up front development fee and a small royalty. You can also get a credit for the game – your name on the box, rulebook and in publicity. But beware the client who offers a royalty but has no track record of producing games. That royalty may end up being a big fat zero.
You may also perceive that this work could lead to more, either with the same client, or through referrals. Making connections and growing your network has value. You can make a decision about how this should affect your price.
What price are you at peace with?
Ultimately, I think it’s important to set a price that you can be fully at peace with. A price that reflects the fact that the job might take you longer than you are expecting and may put other projects on hold. You don’t want to take work on, just to resent the fact you are doing it. It may just be a one-off job with no referrals for more. What price would you be happy charging under those circumstances?
Game design projects are very much swings and roundabouts. Some are great. Others are tricky. If you price yourself properly every time, you can much more easily take the rough with the smooth.
Some tips for negotiating contracts
- Get a written contract: Unless you are working with a company that you know and trust (and often even if you are) – make sure you have an actual contract with the company and check the terms and conditions properly.
- Take 20-50% of the project fee up front: Call it a commencement fee if you like. Legitimate clients will never mind paying part of the fee up front. You will immediately get a sense of whether the client will pay in a timely fashion and you won’t spend any time on projects that you’ll never get paid for.
- Be explicit about exclusions: Make sure you state what your fee does not include. Some (non-board game) companies may assume that you are doing all the graphic design or artwork. You will probably provide draft rules, but could make it clear that the final rules will need to be edited by a rulebook expert, for example.
- Map out milestones and deliverables: Explain what you will provide the client with and when. State how many meetings you will attend and how often you will share work-in-progress. Give timescales for the clients feedback and state the number of rounds of revisions you’re prepared to do.
And finally… don’t be afraid of saying no. If a client is trying to negotiate a price that is just too low, or if this is work that you really don’t want to do, then walk away. If you regularly take on work that you’d rather not do, you can easily get more and more referrals for this kind of work. You can even become known for it. The worst case scenario is that you have to turn away a project you’d love to do, because you’ve over-committed to other work. Instead, build up a network of industry folk that are keen to take the work you’d rather not do (or don’t have the skills to do). Be generous with your referrals.
When you get an enquiry that you will probably refer on to someone else, it’s still very much worth arranging a call with the client. Get back to them quickly, even if you have no intention of taking the work. Many non-gaming companies won’t really know what they need. You are an expert and can advise. It’s possible that the project may turn out to be something that you’ll be excited to work on. If not, you will have more information to pass on in your referral and it will give you the opportunity to explain to the client where your own expertise lies – which may be useful to them in the future. You never know where a 30 minute conversation will take you.
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