Pitch Template

Welcome!
You want to pitch a video-game. This template pitch-deck is here to help.
• This deck was created as part of Levelling The

Playing Field, Rami Ismail’s newsletter for
independent game devs. You can find the newsletter
online - it’d be much appreciated if you subscribe
there, too. It’s free & it really helps!
• If you haven’t yet, read the Levelling The
Playing Field articles on Budget Viability,
Milestones, Anti-Bullet-Points, and A Good Pitch.
These are good primers to keep in mind as you're
writing your pitch and can generally help you
understand the process of pitching.
template from ltpf.ramiismail.com
Hidden Slides
For the structure of this presentation, there will be hidden slides that include context for you.
• These slides are set to hidden and the background

color of these slides is gray.
• Obviously, you should remove these if you decide to
use this deck as a template. I would recommend you
use this structure as a guideline, then build your
presentation from the ground up to fit your game’s
mood & aesthetic.
• You can remove the watermark in Powerpoint via
View→Slide Master. In Keynote, it’s Edit Master
Slides. In Google Slides, it’s Slide→Edit Theme.

Considerations
Here’s some general recommendations I have learned over the past decade of doing
this.
• Keep it readable & focused above all. 10 - 14 slides • You can use the “notes” section for additional
should be enough, with up to 15 minutes of spoken context. In Slides, enable View→Show Speaker
content. Notes Powerpoint, click View →Notes. In Keynote,
• Your goal here is to sell the business case – not the View→Show Presenter Notes.
game. The game is the product, but you’re selling • Pretty works. It really does. Spend time & resources
the collaboration between you & the funder, which on making it look memorable.
results in them selling your game. • Use bright, bold colours, backgrounds, & fonts for
• Many publishers ask you to send the pitch deck to bright, bold games. Soft, pastel colours,
them before you get the chance of presenting it. backgrounds, & fonts for soft, pastel games. Style
Your presentation should work without you. the presentation to the game’s style.

Structure
We’re going to be following my “Who, saw which opportunity, to make what, how can you
benefit, & what do we need?” structure.
• This structure is designed to optimize your chances • I do not recommend moving the “what do we need”
of landing a pitch towards a publisher looking to segment. Ending with the budget means the
fund game development of a game in progress. publisher has a full view of what you’re offering
• It assumes your biggest weakness is relevant before they start adding the money to their thought
experience, and thus starts by trying to show process. A great pitch will have them going “perfect”
whatever experience you have. at your budget, not judging every slide you show
• If you are more experienced, you can move the with the money they know you’re asking for.
“Who” section to after the “How Can You Benefit”
section.

Icons
You will see several icons on chapter structure pages in the
top-right.
• These icons act as guidelines to warn • ⏱: How many minutes the segment, when presented,
you if common errors exist on certain should take.
segments. • 📑: How many slides the segment should contain.
• There is no set formula for a good • 🧩: How in-depth your segment should be.
pitch. There are, however, general • Concise: focus on moving the presentation on.
things that make a bad pitch. • Medium: take time to emphasize strengths.
• In-Depth: take time to elaborate or explain.

OK, let’s go!
Let’s make this pitch, and let’s try and get some video games
funded.

Gray boxes like this are informational
context and can be removed. Slides with a
white background like this slide are meant
to be part of the pitch presentation &
should be adjusted with your content.
Our Game Title

Accompany with a beautiful key-art image of your
game

⏱1-3 📑 1-3 🧩medium
Who
The “Who” slides are to establish trust or report with the presenter, to contextualize the
pitch.
• For young studios, the biggest risk a funder • We’re not discussing who is on you team
can identify for your project is going to be now – we’re discussing who will be on your
you. You’ll want to reassure the funders that team if it was funded. If you have
you know what you’re doing, and that you’re commitments from people, include them.
capable of shipping. • If you have notable work, place the “Who”
• If you don’t have any relevant experience, slide with Games before the People ones. If
you can still pitch, but you’ll have to show you have no relevant existing work, delete
through your prototype, your budget, and that slide.
your time timeline that you’re realistic and • Relevant here means “of similar or
capable. aspirationally similar scale”.

Who
Introduce your studio & yourself, and specifically focus on relevant people.
• We’re trying to • The main goal is to • Think carefully about

establish what make clear why the what achievements
pre-existing funding party should are relevant to your
experience makes listen to what you funder.
you the only right say • Don’t overshare.
person for this • Mention shipped Keep it short and
project. titles or work focused.
experience.

Who
If there are more people, continue describing them. Try not to spend too much time here.
Name Name Name

Title Title Title
Biggest title/credential Biggest title/credential Biggest title/credential
Name Name Name

Title Title Title
Name Name Name

Title Title Title
Name Name Name

Title Title Title

Who
Introduce your studio & yourself, and specifically focus on relevant work.
• If your studio/your • On mobile, KPI’s are • Projects that show

team have existing important. experience on
commercial titles, Otherwise, unless additional and/or
list them with any you’ve had a massive relevant launch
relevant statistics. hit, don’t focus on platforms are extra
• Listed games do not sales. useful to list.
need to be • If any of your • Projects with
successful! Having launched titles external funding are
shipped is good directly relate to your also extra useful.
enough. current project, list
them here. template from ltpf.ramiismail.com
⏱1-2 📑 1-2 🧩concise
Saw which opportunity
The “Why” slides are to establish a “central problem” or “opportunity”,
and acts as a bridge.
• You’re trying to establish why you’re making this

game and trying to get your audience to follow your
logic (and hopefully agree!)
• This section should probably feel very logical as a
i.e. If you’re taking the “RTS” example,
th going back and changing your “Who” slides
bridge. If you made 4 arcade games, an 5 makes
to also list your team members favorite RTS
sense. If your team played RTS games all their lives, games can support this slide & make the
an RTS makes sense. Adjust your “Who” slides to transition more seamless.
support these slides if needed.

• That said, a “strange” bridge also works here – if
your team has no experience but curiosity, that
works too.
Saw Which Opportunity (the “artistic why”)
Introduce why your team is making this project, and why specifically this project.
• Establish why you’re making this game, and

how you got to making this project.
• Try not to go too easy on yourself on this
question: you could be working on any project,
but for some reason you chose this one. What
made this one a better fit for you?
• Usually this flows fairly simply from “Who”: if
you’ve established yourself well, it should be
fairly obvious why you and your team making
this specific project.
Saw Which Opportunity (the “business why”)
Introduce the opportunity of the project: what is so special about this project?
• Focus specifically on the opportunity: why your

work does or will stand out, build on existing
success, fill a market opportunity (ie. platform
fit), or attract a niche or genre opening.
• In a way, this is the central point of the
story-telling of your pitch: you’re introducing
the “problem” your work is going to solve, and
next you’ll explain why your work will solve this
problem & turn a profit.

⏱2-5 📑 2-5 🧩in-depth
To Make What
The solution to the problem: your project.
• In this part of the presentation, you are • Lean into your game’s strengths.
proving several things, focusing on the • Aim to pitch something people could hate. If
game: your goal is to make everyone love the game,
• The dream: That your work will stand you dull its strengths to be more agreeable.
out, and how it is enticing to the Play up your strengths so much that it’d make
audience. people who wouldn’t like your game hate it.
• The proof: That you are capable of That way, you’re leaning into your works’
creating this work. strengths most.
• The work: How your work operates, and • This segment usually is 3-5 slides.
that you have understanding of it. • It is an important segment, so make every
image and word count.

To Make What: The Dream
How to sell a Dream
• Your game will usually have something familiar, and something new.
• To present your game, take the same approach. Quickly establish what the game is and who it is
for through the recognizable, familiar aspects of your game – genre, mechanics, systems, stories,
characters, or art-styles (ie. “a futuristic cel-shaded first person shooter” or “a top-down pixel art
life simulator”). Then wow your audience with what is unique about it.
• Try to keep focused on “what” and “why”.
• It’s very easy to want to explain everything – instead, focus on just two things: what is it doing,
and why it matters. Unless the “how” is transformational –and I mean incredibly so- the
publisher won’t care or understand how you do it. They just need to know what it means.
• If you have a trailer, here’s a good place to put it.
• Include the video file in the presentation - do not rely on online video hosting like YouTube.

To Make What: The Dream
Selling the Dream of what is going to be, not of what is.
• You’re establishing what the final version of your

game will be like. This is not a place to talk about the
current state of the prototype or vertical slice – it’s
better to show mock-ups than screenshots of an
early prototype. Sell the dream – in the end, that’s
what the publishers is buying into.
• Slides about the dream usually feature key art,
concept art, and –depending on the strengths of the
project- narrative or user journey-style descriptions
of the work.

To Make What: The Proof
How to prove the dream
• Show existing work.

• Talk about the prototype that you’ve created, or the vertical slice.
• Nothing on the ‘Proof’ slide needs to be speculative. Keep to the facts and certainties.
Explain how they prove out things you promised in the “Dream” slide.
• The less you have here, the more likely it is the response from funding sources is going to
be to come back later. That’s not a bad response (it’s better than a “no”, but it something
to keep in mind for your funding timeline.

To Make What: The Proof
Selling the Work.
• Show what you’ve already made to

support your dream.
• On this slide, show evidence of your existing
Prototype Target progress.

Screensho Mocku
t p
• Existing progress does not have to be at
vertical slice or production level. If it is,
include those. If not, include prototype
screenshots and target mock-ups or renders.
• Use the text to describe what elements of
Prototype Target your game your prototypes are meant to
Screensho Mocku
t p prove.
To Make What: The Work
How to sell the Work
• Here’s where we’re going into how the game works, and how it delivers the
things you’re promising.
• Again, use early mock-ups of the final game. The more junior your team is, the more
important it is that you really show what you can do to your audience here. Short videos
and/or GIFs work better than images.
• Numbers are not interesting unless they’re really remarkable. 1 billion characters is
remarkable. 12 levels is not. Instead, tell us how they differ.
• This is where you go in-depth on mechanics, loops, or systems in your game that stand
out or identify your work. As every game is different, I’ve included some sample slides you
could use. None, some, or all of these could apply to your work. Choose one or two that fit
your project best, or make your own.
Example slide: various. Mix & match as you see fit.
Unique selling Story beat with a

point with a key mock-up render of
image of a main the dialogue. Then a
character. Then a short description of
short description of what the story beat
Cool mechanical Beautiful location
why that’s a unique might evoke for the
thing with a gif with a piece of
selling point. player or character.
showing it above. concept art. Then a
Then a short short description of
description of why what the location is
that’s cool. and means,

Example slide: gameplay loop for mechanical games. Adjust as needed.
Step 1
• This is the first step.
Subloop #1
Step 4 Step 2
• This is the fourth step. • This is the secondMain
step.loop Subloop #2
• This step achieves certain
goals.
Step 3
Subloop #3
• This is the third step.
• This step achieves certain
goals, too.

Example slide: character/location overview for narrative. Mix/match/adjust as needed.
Main character and early Faction and identifying trivia,
motivations, and a description maybe including relation to a
of their unique ability. character, location, or other

factions.
Beautiful location with Story beat and set-up or

identifying traits, background repercussions thereof, so that
information, and reasons the the audience understands
player will visit it. what’s happening.

Example slide: retention goals for live-service or longer games. Adjust as needed.
The players do The players do The players do
Long term
Short term
Medium term
these things in the these things in the these things in the
short term. medium term. long term.
• This is what they’re • This is what they’re • This is what
focused on. focused on. they’re focused
• This is why they’re • This is why they’re on.
focused on that. focused on that. • This is why they’re
• This is what they • This is what they focused on that.
expect to gain from expect to gain from • This is what they
it. it. expect to gain
from it.

Example slide: tech stack for new technological developments. Adjust as needed.
Technology Name
The first module of the technology The second aspect of the technology The third element of the technology
•Clear example of the immediate benefits •Clear example of how it works and the •Clear example of what it does and the
immediate benefits. immediate benefits
Results
The result of the technology The other result of the technology
• Clear and immediate benefits •Clear and immediate benefits

⏱1-2 📑 1-2 🧩concise
How Can You Beneﬁt?
Let’s prove to our audience that this is an opportunity.
• If everything is OK, you’ve just completed explaining what the game is and
proven that you’re capable of making it.
• Your game is a foundational part of the pitch, but ultimately the target here is to convince
our audience of the business case. This is where it really gets serious.
• We’re going to do an honest comparative analysis based on the Levelling The Playing
Field article with comparable games that proves that we believe that there is a viable
market for this game. The funding party does their own analysis – your analysis is to
prove that you’re aware of the market, competition, and financial realities.
• Nobody cares that Minecraft & Among Us made a lot of money. They’re not comparables.

Comparative Analysis
With the comparative analysis, we prove there’s a market out there, and justify our budget.
Game Title #1 Game Title #2 Game Title #3

• This game should have about • This game should have about • This game should have about
70% of your budget as 130% of your budget as 300% of your budget as
estimated revenue. It should estimated revenue. It should estimated revenue. It should not
not have less than 50% or not have less than 100% or exceed 500%.
more than 100%. more than 200%. • Describe units sold, revenue
• Describe units sold, revenue • Describe units sold, revenue estimated.
estimated. estimated. • Your game should believably
• Your game should be clearly • Your game should be clearly have a chance of achieving this
superior. There should be no competitive with this title. level of success.
doubt. template from ltpf.ramiismail.com
Comparative Analysis: Grid
Optional slide if your game falls in a busy genre. Adjust the grid & axis as appropriate.
Short
Sessions
Strategic Fast-Paced
Long
Sessions
⏱2-3 📑 1-2 🧩medium
What Do We Need?
Now for the closing point, we’re going to make our ask.
• This is where the pitch really comes together.

• The audience will have listened to your credentials, your pitch, and your business case – and
based on that & their experience they’ll have a feeling for timeline and budget. If our estimates
somewhat align, you’ll have done a good pitch with a potential for further discussion.
• If you end up too high – there’s room to negotiate. If you end up too low, you’ll fail the pitch
immediately.
• We’re going to focus on our ratios – or how our timeline and budget are distributed. This is a gut
feeling practice, and something you only learn through experience or insight: that’s why a lot of
scouts/publishers specifically look to see if the ratios are realistic.

Timeline Tips
How to make a healthy timeline
• Your timeline is going to be judged as a metric of your ability to produce the

game. A realistic and viable timeline can be the difference between funder
interest and loss of interest.
• Most competitive indie games will need 1.5 - 2 years to be completed after signing.
• If you need help with timeline estimations, check the Levelling The Playing Field article
on it.
• Ensure you have healthy margins – 30% margin per milestone tends to be safe.

Timeline
The timeline is here to explain how much time we need, and to prove our ability to produce the game.
+ 3 months + 10m + 21m + 24m
Production Production
Prototype Now Vertical Feature Launch

Slice Complete
Content
Complete
For the timeline, ratios are mostly evaluated between “Vertical Slice”, “Feature Complete”, “Content
Complete”, and “Launch”. Think of the genre you’re working in: in an RTS, you’d expect Features to take most
of the work – and Content to be shorter. In an open-world RPG, you’d expect Features to be done fairly
quickly, but Content to take most of the time.
Good things to keep in mind: project pitches are most likely to succeed if you start pitching between
Prototype and Vertical Slice. For most games, “Content Complete” to “Launch” should be three months.
Timelines between 9 months and 2.5 years are generally viable. As with everything else, it’s better to come in
too high than too low.

Budget Tips
How to make a healthy budget
• Your budget is going to be judged as a metric of your ability to produce the game. A
realistic and viable budget can be the difference between funder interest and loss of
interest.
• Please read the Budget Viability article on Levelling The Playing Field. You might’ve already read
this for the Comparative Analysis a few slides ago. If not, now’s a good time.
• Too high is better than too low. Funding parties can attempt negotiate down a relatively high
budget. Any form of low budget just shows you are not qualified to make the game.
• Ensure you have healthy margins – 30% margin tends to be safe. Do not mention the margin as a
separate entry in your budget – calculate it into your expenses.
• Let the funding party be the one pushing the number down if they need it to. Your job is to offer
a safe budget for your development. That way, everyone is doing their part of the dance.

For budgets, the ratios are between the
Budget disciplines. For a traditional platformer,
you’d expect less programming work but
How much do we need more content. For a complex multiplayer
RTS about time-travel, you’d expect more
design & programming but less content.
• Total Asking Budget: US$123.456

• Game Target Price
• Break-even units calculation (divide the total
asking budget by 70% of the game target price)

Budget
Optional: advanced breakdown.
Team Monthly Cost Months FTE Flat Fee Cost
Game Developer A $ 3,456.78 6 0.70 $ 14,518.48
Game Developer B $ 1,234.56 12 1.00 $ 14,814.72
Game Developer C $ 2,345.67 6 1.00 $ 14,074.02
Game Developer D $ 14,500.00 $ 14,500.00

$-
$-
$-
$-
Other Expenses $ 30,000.00 $ 30,000.00
Asking Budget $ 114,279.38

Summary
• Game Name
• Asking budget
• Genres / Tags
• Projected Release Date
• Desired Platforms
• Engine Used
• Links to builds / additional content
• Contact information

Thank you!
Accompany with a beautiful key-art image of your game
you@yourgamesstudio.com

Now what?
When your pitch is done, it’s time to reach out.
• If you’re going for publishing, use “Alan Dang’s • When you e-mail publishers, keep it to the
List” to make a list of publishers to reach out to. I point. Your topic is “Game Title – Looking for
generally recommend finding your five favourite Publisher”. In the e-mail body, include a short
publishers, excluding them, and then e-mailing description (similar to what you’d include on a store
everybody else that publishes on your platforms page, not entire paragraphs). If you have playables
of choice. Don’t filter them, let them filter you. or trailers, include the links in the e-mail. I
recommend uploading the presentation somewhere
where you can swap out the file if you make updates
& linking to it from your e-mail.

Good luck!
I hope that helped. Some final thoughts:
• Try your pitch on some industry people you know • Pitching is iterative. Don’t try and wait until you
to see if they can follow it. Ask them what parts have everything perfect. It’s important that you get
stood out - take note of what they don’t to gauging whether there’s interest in your game as
remember too. early as possible.
• If you need someone to practice your pitch on or • This deck was created as part of Levelling The
to review your pitch or business case, I offer pitch Playing Field, Rami Ismail’s newsletter for
practice & review services over at my consultancy. independent game devs. You can find the newsletter
online - it’d be much appreciated if you subscribe
there, too. It’s free & it really helps!

My goal is to make games,
pay rent, and help others
do the same.
If your goal is similar to mine, Levelling The
Playing Field exists to answer the questions I
get most frequently from my consultancy
clients, and to help you avoid the issues I solve
most often in their work or business.
Join thousands of games

industry subscribers!
Level up your game development career with

the lessons, processes, and tricks I learned
across a decade of successful game
development!
Subscribe @ ltpf.ramiismail.com

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Welcome!

You want to pitch a video-game. This template pitch-deck is here to help.

• This deck was created as part of Levelling The

• These slides are set to hidden and the background

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

Our Game Title

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• We’re trying to • The main goal is to • Think carefully about

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

Name Name Name

Name Name Name

Name Name Name

Name Name Name

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• If your studio/your • On mobile, KPI’s are • Projects that show

• You’re trying to establish why you’re making this

support these slides if needed.

• Establish why you’re making this game, and

• Focus specifically on the opportunity: why your

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• You’re establishing what the final version of your

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• Show existing work.

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• Show what you’ve already made to

Prototype Target progress.

Unique selling Story beat with a

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

Main character and early Faction and identifying trivia,

motivations, and a description maybe including relation to a

of their unique ability. character, location, or other

Beautiful location with Story beat and set-up or

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

The players do The players do The players do

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

Game Title #1 Game Title #2 Game Title #3

• This is where the pitch really comes together.

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• Your timeline is going to be judged as a metric of your ability to produce the

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

+ 3 months + 10m + 21m + 24m

Prototype Now Vertical Feature Launch

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

• Total Asking Budget: US$123.456

template from ltpf.ramiismail.com

Team Monthly Cost Months FTE Flat Fee Cost

Game Developer A $ 3,456.78 6 0.70 $ 14,518.48

Game Developer B $ 1,234.56 12 1.00 $ 14,814.72

Game Developer C $ 2,345.67 6 1.00 $ 14,074.02

Game Developer D $ 14,500.00 $ 14,500.00

Other Expenses $ 30,000.00 $ 30,000.00