Tate Multimedia shifts from development to publishing

Tate Multimedia, once a development company, has transitioned to a full-time publisher. The company was founded more than twenty years ago and has released its own titles for the past nine years. They recently launched an in-house developed title, Kao the Kangaroo, on six different platforms – digital and physical – worldwide. Now they plan to share their experience with others.

Paul Leskowiz, VP and founder of Tate Multimedia, has been in the industry for over two decades. I had the chance to talk to Paul through an online meeting and ask a few questions about his past and future of Tate†

GamesBeat: How did you get into publishing?

Paul Leskowicz: My first experience was in San Diego, California, where I was trying to help a local team finish a game. I was a producer then. It was 20 years ago and I was working for the group formed by Virgin Interactive and Titus.

I was sent to San Diego to help finish a game that had been pending for years. That’s how I got into publicity myself. After that, the Titus group collapsed along with the other companies, including interplay. I started developing twenty years ago, and nine years ago I decided it was the right time to start self-publishing. And that’s what we did. Nine years ago we started self-publishing our own titles.

GamesBeat: So you’re going from some development to just publishing?

Paul Leskowicz: Yes, full publication. The idea was an evolution, you know? Over the years we have started publishing our own titles. We’ve had over 10 self-published PC and console games in the last nine years. Then we started thinking about publishing third-party developers so that we can share our good and bad experiences, our successes and our failures. Things we wish they wouldn’t do and things we wish they would do better than us, you know?

GamesBeat: You humans are in the unique position of having worked on both sides of the fence. Do you feel that your publishing experience has helped you bridge the gap?

Paul Leskowicz: Absolute. We just published Kao the Kangaroo about a month ago. I’m one hundred percent convinced that without the nine years of publishing experience we have, there’s a very slim chance we could have released this game on the same exact day, both retail and digital, worldwide, on six consoles. † That’s what we did. It’s quite an achievement for my team.

GamesBeat: Besides experience, what incentives do you offer developers to join your team?

Paul Leskowicz: I think the most important thing, the most important thing, is that we invest in the project very early. Even before the vertical cut. This requires a joint approach with these developers. They were careful and we were careful about how we would choose each other. Because if we’re not a good match, well, I’m not saying marriage, but it’s a long way to share if we, if we start arguing. That’s why we decided that the IP will stay with their company, because the whole idea is not that we excel, it’s that they excel. In short, they build their own house, their own dream team.

The developers we work with are quite young. They are passionate, they take risks because they also give up many comfortable situations like jobs, etc. to fulfill their passion. So this is basically what we decided. They keep the IP. We share the proceeds from day one. We invest with our equity, which I would call quite unique these days. I think that also creates commitment from ourselves.

We are here with a group of 15 to 20 people, so everyone needs to be hands-on. I would say, like in sports, I can be a head coach, but the team has to play together and play nice. I really liken this to basketball because I’m a basketball player. Or at least I used to be. I started playing in San Diego. My first experience when I started there, well it wasn’t easy. I was young, very young indeed, and I noticed the boys there playing basketball at lunchtime. I was not very welcome then. Because I was an outsider. A young child, trying to teach them how to finish a game. I started playing football with them and building relationships. This is how I got them to share and work with me. We played ball every day for the 6 months I was there.

GamesBeat: You mentioned that the best place to invest in a studio is between $500,000 and $2 million. That investment happens early, so you’re investing in every part of the development process. Do you do a lot in-house to control costs?

Paul Leskowicz: Of this 500,000 to 2 million, half will go to marketing, manufacturing, support, localization, QA, focus testing and test marketing research. So we do some of those things in-house, and we outsource some of them.

GamesBeat: How did you come up with the concept of letting developers keep their IP?

Paul Leskowicz: Based on my experience, I have not seen a single example in the industry of an IP that was not developed by the original developer to really succeed. Unless it’s triple A and you’re pouring out a lot of money. That’s the first. The second is how can developers feel ownership if I start to take the IP address or demand that they give me the IP address? How can I be completely honest when I start saying ‘if you fail, I’ll take your IP’, you know?

GamesBeat: That can be a lot of pressure.

Paul Leskowicz: Absolute. I know we take risks, but it’s part of the game. We work with developers who see that we take risks. They may be young and inexperienced, but the new generations know very well what it is to take risks with money. That gives leverage to our mutual partnerships that they don’t pretend, and they work hard to deliver as well, you know?

GamesBeat: What would be the perfect project for your company?

Paul Leskowicz: The perfect project for me would be to expand and create another IP, big or small. I think all developers want to make something that will stand the test of time, both their company and their games. So that would be nice to achieve. To make a game that would get DLCs that would expand, and that would be greater than just a one-time opportunity.

GamesBeat: as a franchise.

Paul Leskowicz: Yes. Everything I do takes time, so I am concerned with the longer commitment as a person. My team is the same. I expect them to own their projects. That’s why I talk about ownership, quality and involvement. That’s just how I was made.