Note for large investors: private (non-glbse) arrangements are possible. PM to discuss.
THE IPO:Battalion: Genesis, a 3D video game set in 2252 AD needs you! Well, investors, that is. This Initial Public Offering is a serious attempt aimed at raising funds to support this real world project, with an estimated 12-18 months of development remaining.
Ticker? BTGN
Date? Some time in September 2012, possibly early October.
Price? 10,000 shares are going up for grabs initially, so for a 1% stake in net profit you would be looking to own 500 shares. The IPO (on GLBSE) will offer shares at the following rates:
3000 @ 0.95 btc per share
4000 @ 1.00 btc per share
3000 @ 1.05 btc per share
Each share entitles the holder to a monthly payment of 0.002% of net profits from unit sales of the project, for no less than 3 years after official release, plus at any time prior to official release.
So what are the details?This IPO of 10,000 shares will be allocated 20% of total net profits from sale of the game for no less than 3 years after release (0.002% of total net profit per share). It is expected to sell in the vicinity of 100k units, with an expected net income of around $10/sale should it appear on Steam, and $15 from direct sale, both based on $24.95 purchase. There is definitely potential for 1m+ sales, and a break-even requirement of approx 60k units. This genre (space) is picking up speed and interest, and is still looking for a modern killer app. The reason for the 3 years, is that since this is a project investment and not a business investment, and the vast majority of sales typically occur in the first 12 months of a game's release, 3 years is the time expected to generate nearly all of the revenue. Should revenue still be strong after 3 years, there is no reason for this to stop - I just want to be able to lower my maintenance if income diminishes to a trivial amount (eg $100/month). There will possibly be an arrangement made to purchase outstanding stock at this time, and shut down returning all remaining liquid equity to shareholders. Investment in this project does not give the investor any rights to the Intellectual Property of the game, as they are owned by myself and given to the project while it exists.
I am seeking funding to cover regular bills (via salary), software licenses, equipment and any outsourcing or contractor hire over this time. Should enough funding be made available, further developers will be hired to either speed or increase production value. Any further issued shares will be exactly matched by an increase in the portion of net profits allocated - that is, if 10,000 more shares are issued after the initial 10,000, 40% of net profit will be allocated to all shares instead of 20%. This means there will be no effect on the ROI for existing shares (0.002% of total net profit per share), and there is an ultimate cap of 50,000 shares, but selling all of those would leave nothing for me. I intend to sell a 20% stake of my future earnings on this game to achieve the above, and will sell more if necessary to hit deadline.
I am only issuing 10k shares on GLBSE, and not 50k while keeping 40k myself, to save unnecessary overhead (paying myself dividends). I intend to keep my portion of income in a mixture of fiat and btc, and I don't want to unnecessarily waste money in exchange. This also means I cannot sell my own offline share of future earnings on the open market, and I will not be personally profiting directly from this IPO, except for the ability to regularly draw a salary as lead developer. All funds raised in this IPO will belong to the project and will be accounted for. I will also be paying all dividends in btc via the GLBSE interface.
I have been working on this both full time and part time so far, with approximately 1 year full time equivalent development under my belt, and would like to continue full time but to do so I will now need investor support. I have been producing this under my own steam so far and was ready to continue, but due to a significant one-off event in my personal life, my finances have been drained too much to be able to achieve this sensibly. I have a very clear vision of the final product, and the innovative gameplay I am going to offer, so instead of wasting time and momentum working elsewhere to save and self-support again, I'm seeking capital on GLBSE or through investors and offering a cut of profits in return.
The Game ItselfThe best way to describe the gameplay, is to imagine if Battlezone II, Homeworld and Tie Fighter had an orgy spawning an awesome ninja space faring offspring, you would be playing this game. Also he was mentored by Chuck Norris. It is a FPS/tactical RTS set in Newtonian space in a conflict between Earth and human colonized Mars, and is currently pre-alpha. This is also your chance to own a piece of it before everyone knows about it.
I am dedicated to completing this task, and all of the ground work already laid has been produced under my own steam. I also expect to be fully verified on GLBSE (I have already submitted all info), and will keep the relevant financial details available on google docs. There is not much to show right now, but this will go online soon. By investing in this project, you are helping to bring to life an exciting piece of the explosive video game market, as well as sharing in it's rewards. This IPO is
not a stake in future projects, but in the earnings from this specific project. Should I setup a business producing games, I may sell shares of that in the future.
More details of the game already under production, including screenshots, videos and even a test download can be found at:
http://www.blisteringdevelopers.com/blog/For a more detailed background storyline and gameplay description, see here:
http://www.blisteringdevelopers.com/blog/about/Risks that may affect ROI1) Space is "in" but may soon be "out" - There are several games set in space that have been released recently, as well as a few on the horizon, and most aren't selling well. How will this effect BTNG?The lack of space games has indeed driven the production of several games recently. However, all games so far have tried to recapture old ground (4X or Sandbox), and none have been set in our own solar system. BTNG's storyline is based around a local conflict between Earth and Mars, after Mars has been colonized. The gameplay is also unseen on the market, so its innovation will be an advantage. I am not looking to steal market share from these other games, but to offer such a unique experience that people would want both. I've also been studying this topic furiously over the past two years. I believe I am bringing a unique product to market, and as is common with such things, time is of the essence.
2) You don't have a large team working on the game, what if it never finishes?This is an understandable concern, considering I'm essentially doing this on my own at the moment. I have been working on the game both part time and full time over the last two years, and I have been logging the hours during this time. From this I have a good idea of my pace and can reasonably estimate a return on investment by December 2013 if I can apply my craft full time. I am personally committed to seeing this completed and it has become somewhat of a personal challenge to see this through. Previous to this I set up and ran a simmer sauce manufacturing business (
www.ameetshomestyle.com) on a dime, so I do have experience in organizing complex problems into more manageable chunks to create a cohesive, commercial grade whole, all on a deadline. I am also looking for a significant amount of investment, mainly because I believe that under capitalization is a sure fire way to going nowhere quickly, and should I need outsourced expertise (especially artwork/modeling/texturing), capital will allow me to hire the required talent.
3) BTC volatility, what if the BTC price plummets / sky rockets in the 18 months it takes to develop?Unfortunately there's not much I can do about that. I have considered only selling the game for btc, but I'm quite sure I would be crippling total sales if I do that (steam payments will be in $USD, which is an estimated 50 million customer strong game buying market I want to get in with). The game will be for sale in BTC should a customer prefer that option, but the price will be based on fiat conversion. Since I expect most income to be in the form of fiat, I will mostly be looking to profit (and pay local taxes) in terms of fiat, and I suggest investors do the same. Accounting will thus be done in fiat, but will be paid in btc *maybe* based on a 30 day average price for btc during the month of income (calculated on the last day of the month). If anyone has any better ideas on this last bit, I'd love to hear them. Should the game become profitable, it will at least provide a demand for btc beyond what was removed.
4) What's to stop you just taking my money and running?I'm just not interested in that. I'm married with a family, and I want to do some good business. I wouldn't be putting up this IPO unless I absolutely had to, because I believe so strongly in what I'm doing that I would sacrifice (and have been sacrificing) my own money to do it, but I will stick to the terms I'm promising here because I do need help to finish it sensibly. I have also submitted all requirements for verification on GLBSE, and I'm just waiting on that to be finalized. This is not a black box magic business, but a genuine attempt to produce something of lasting interest, as a catapult to more interesting things. I won't take a bank loan for this, because of risk number 6. I would have tried Kickstarter if I lived in the US, but perhaps this ability to easily provide patronage is one of the truly great things about bitcoins.
5) What's to stop you just taking my money and dying?Ek...ok well I suppose as much as this is uncomfortable to think about, it's a valid concern. I have been looking for a local programmer I can trust to partner with on this, but haven't had much luck yet. Until I find one, I will ask my wife to ensure the continuation of the project and payments in the case of my demise. I realize this isn't the most ideal solution because of the emotional attachment, but for now I don't have a better solution for this. I do at least trust her to maintain the integrity with which I will host this IPO. Perhaps she can put a member vote to either close all production and return remaining project funds, or continue with her in charge or something should something happen to me.
6) What if you make a really shitty game that doesn't sell any copies?This is a true risk that you face as an investor, and something that all game investors face. I've had a hardcore, mostly mainstream taste in games for 20 years, and believe I'm self aware enough to know when I'm enjoying something because it's fun, or I'm playing something because I've been skinner boxed. I believe this has helped me tremendously during the game design process. I'm also a member of Mensa, so I have the brains to technically back up my commitment, and I'm relying on this to produce outstanding results. I may simply be wrong about what I can achieve, or how much fun people will have, and that will suck for anyone who has invested in this project, including myself. In this unlikely case, I cannot pay anything back so both my reputation and your money will have been squandered. However one can try to spin it, games are unfortunately a form of artwork, and as such, I cannot make any guarantee of return except to promise to do my best. This is also why I believe video games are still such a lucrative business when you have a winner.
7) Break-even point - at what point will I ever see my money again?Using the above average price of 1.0btc per share, and 10,000 shares, I hope to raise 10,000btc with this IPO. This will be kept in a mix of cash and btc. Should the price of BTC rise strongly I will take advantage by exchanging some for $ (since most bills will be paid in $). Any profits from such arbitrage, however, will remain project assets to be used to produce a better game and these profits will not be actively sought (this is not a trading fund). Going by current market value, if investors were to purchase all shares on opening (not what I expect, but who really knows), break-even for the game will be 60k steam sales, or 40k direct sales. While the number of BTC returned will vary depending on the varying exchange rate, this break-even amount should not change much.
The Rewards - What could make the risk worthwhile!1) Net Profit - this is more of a definition than a reward, but since it's still reward related here it is:I intend on paying local taxes, so:
net profit = sale income - operating expenses - taxes withheld. Why am I paying taxes? Because I want to run this legitimately, to avoid jeopardizing future opportunities. Should the game be accepted on Steam, much of the income will have a large paper trail that would be remiss to ignore. I will be drawing a salary only until my income from dividends is higher than my regular salary from the project for three consecutive months, after which I will cease drawing a salary from the project fund permanently. This is mostly because I am the primary provider for my family and have responsibilities that must be met.
As for actual expected net income per unit, I will be releasing the game at a $24.95 price point, with the option of going to $19.95 should it prove more suitable to market. The expected gross income via steam will be $14-17, with the first 500 sales per month roughly covering expenses (developer salaries, etc), after which net income after taxes will be around $8-$11 per unit sold. Direct sales will provide between $13-$16 net profit.
2) Expected SalesSince I started this project, I have been expecting somewhere in the region of 100-150k sales, based on my research over the years. I will consider this a project a resounding success if it breaks 100k sales, and outstanding if it breaks 200k sales. These solid numbers should see investors suitably rewarded by returning double or quadruple their investment within 2-4 years. Should the game become a runaway success and hit the magic 1M+ sales marks, well, you can do that math for that yourself.
If you've made it this far, I commend you! If you're interested in investing (or just have questions) feel free to post them and I'll do my best to answer them.