Johan Toresson of Raw Fury spoke with us for this week’s Publisher Profile, talking about the publisher’s search for developers with unique visions and bold ideas, and what they intend to do to help them succeed.
Who are you?
Johan Toresson, Raw Fury: Johan Toresson, Chief Say That Again Officer. I keep watch over what comes in and make sure that we sign games that make us mouth “DOPE” silently into the air when we play. Or stuff that makes me cry and question my reality. Anything that makes us really feel what the game is going for.
Can you tell us a bit about your company?
Raw Fury is a boutique publisher, which basically means that we’re like the people who would find cool unknown bands and bring them to whatever small town you were living in. It all started out with Jónas, Gordon, and David back in 2015, and now we’re a bunch of happy weirdos trying to help developers make the games they want to make and ideally make enough out of it to keep on making games.
What work do you do to help developers reach an audience? How do you make developers’ lives a little easier?
We have a bunch of amazing people in-house that can handle the whole shebang, from social media to writing copy that will make Mona Lisa look wryly uninspired. Sometimes we work with partners to run campaigns, sometimes we run them ourselves but, regardless, it is all based on the soul of the game. Figuring out what the developer wants the game to be and figuring out how to talk about it is a collaborative effort.
As for making the lives of developers easier, we basically try to take away all the things that are not directly related to making the game itself so that devs can focus solely on making their projects be the best that they can be. That can be anything from QA to porting to helping figure out the production schedule of said game, etc etc. It’s all based on what the developer wants.
What is it that you’re on the lookout for (genres, content, etc.)?
We don’t have a portfolio strategy. We have a feelings strategy. Any game that can blow our minds is welcome. That being said, I can tell you what we are not looking for. Generic things, asset flips, and stuff that isn’t out to be meaningful in some way, shape, or form. A niche publisher for niche devs making niche games for niche audiences. Did I mention we want powerful experiences that, through meaning and emotion, make us feel things?
What do you look for in the games you choose to publish? In the developers you want to work with?
Integrity, boldness, and a willingness to build the specific game that only these developers can build. Nothing more, nothing less.
Is there anything developers do to make themselves more appealing to publishers? Anything they do that makes them less appealing to publishers?
Don’t try to make someone else’s game – build yours. That doesn’t mean you must invent the wheel, but you must make the thing that is inside of you. If that’s a Dungeon Keeper-inspired game about romance in the early 90’s Norwegian Black Metal Scene, then that’s great (call me).
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