FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We’ve answered the most commonly asked questions below.

GENERAL FAQs

  • We have three main models of funding for developers - self publishing, white label, and finishing funds.

    We believe developers should stay in full creative and business control of their game – but we are always there to guide you through the whole process no matter the model.

    Every game is different and requires different support, so we prioritize flexibility and the right deal for everyone above fitting perfectly into one of our models. We like to be creative to find the best plan for everyone involved.

    No matter what, all teams get a full go-to-market plan covering production, business development, marketing, post-release strategies and more.

  • With self-publishing, we fund your development, marketing, and any other game expenses you might need to release the game successfully, with you being responsible for the execution of everything involved - marketing, QA, localisation, etc. You have the internal capacity to do so or are building for it (e.g. you have a marketer in house, have ideas for your QA partners, etc).

    We still create a full go to market strategy for you, make suggestions, give feedback, support on bizdev, and find hidden opportunities or needed resources and collaborators. We dig in to get our hands dirty when you need it, and leave you be when you don’t.

  • White label publishing is for teams who aren’t ready to self publish, or simply don’t want to. Like self publishing, we aren’t the focus but we act more like a traditional publisher behind the scenes.

    You might not have capacity or desire to scale, hire, or manage additional people internally. We come on board as additional hands for your team.

    Beyond the go-to-market strategy, we support with influencer campaigns, paid advertising, content creation, business development, PR and more. You approve all budget spend on all activities - keeping you in control.

  • Finishing funds are for teams who are super close to release, but simply need a little more money and help to make the most of their launch.

    You’re within a year of release (or less), and we focus on helping you convert your players at launch rather than long-term wishlist and audience building, as well as giving you well-timed advice to succeed.

PITCHING FAQs

  • Our pitch process is managed entirely through an online submission form. There’s no secret conversation or magical email to find - just a public form.

    We do not take pitches via email nor on social media. This approach streamlines the process for everyone. We know it’s tough to wait, so we try to get back to you with an answer within a month and a half.

    We ask for a playable build, your budget breakdown, a one-pager or pitch deck, and the roles/pronouns of each member of your dev team. That’s all you need to be ready to pitch.

    Due to the volume of pitches we receive, we don’t provide feedback to unsuccessful projects.

  • If you have a question that isn’t answered here, you can contact us via email (contact@wingsfund.me) and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. If the question you send is answered in these FAQs, you won’t receive a reply.

  • We understand you’ll cofound with the people who make sense for your studio. It’s totally okay if your founding team has additional people on it who are not women and/or gender marginalized individuals - so long as you are a stakeholder with the same (or more) amount of decision making power.

  • While this might seem like the best of both worlds, this model rarely benefits you as the developer. Because both publishers and WINGS work on revshare, it’s unlikely there’ll be enough profit left for your business with this kind of split. We want you to benefit first and foremost.

    With our models, we can perform all of the same support and tasks you might be after from a publisher, so the overlap can also ultimately be more confusing than helpful.

  • WINGS is not a charity, NFP or grant organization, so we don’t fund games we think don’t have a likelihood to be profitable, even if they otherwise fit the criteria of our mission. This could put the developer in a dangerous financial position, and impact our ability to fund more projects. We also don’t fund:

    • Paper Pitches (we need a playable)

    • VR/Mobile Only Games

    • Porting a mobile first game to PC

    • Games out in Early Access

    • Free to Play Games

    • Pay To Win Games

    • Casino Games

    • NFT Games

    • Entirely AI-Generated Games

    • Educational or Serious Games

  • All eligible submitted games are reviewed by our committee to see whether they think it’s innovative, interesting and potentially profitable. If we feel we need some extra information to appropriately review the game, we’ll reach out to you. We know it’s hard to wait for an answer, so we try to get you next steps or a clear no within 1-2 months.

    If you’re successful, we get in touch to have a call and talk more about the project. We usually will meet with you in person as well to talk through any questions. Then we set up the contract together, and hit the ground running!

    Because we get so many pitches, we can’t give feedback on your project via email if unsuccessful.

  • If the game or budget has meaningfully changed since your last pitch, you are able to pitch again. This may mean there’s been a significant change in the design, audience, spend, or significant progress on the build that means the project is measurably different, and can be reassessed.

  • We fund premium PC games of any genre, size, format, or length. We look for games that are fun and have potential to sell, that fit our studio founder criteria. We like excellent content, innovation, and market appeal, and teams who will be fun to work with.

    We also frequently open opportunities for prototype funding with our Elevate program. We run the annual Women’s Day Sale on Steam, as well as the WINGS award at major indie games events around the world. We share these opportunities on all social media when they come up.

  • Regardless of what model you’re working with WINGS under (self publishing, white label, or finishing funds), we’re here to let your studio and game shine. We’re always available with advice and support, but that is never a part of the budget we recoup. This means we’re happy to hand over responsibility, contacts, or step in with extra hands when needed.

    All teams receive a full go to market strategy, but we can also run influencer campaigns, business development, PR, paid advertising, localization, and find the right partner for QA & porting.

    If you want to talk to any of our developers about their experience working with WINGS, you’re more than welcome to reach out to them or we can put you in direct contact.

  • Our mission is to provide women and gender marginalized people with funding to develop compelling, profitable indie games.

    We use this terminology to be broadly inclusive to individuals who have faced a lack of opportunities and access to funding, conversations, and more due to their gender.

    We recognize there are many other intersections of marginalization and barriers to funding exist for many people. If you are from other marginalized groups, we recommend looking into resources and funds such as:

  • You can pitch us games with a total budget of USD 500K (including marketing expenses.) Your budget needs to include everything you need for release.

    If your budget is bigger than 500K USD, we need a confirmed finance plan for the remaining budget to move forward.

    Pitch with the budget you feel you need to complete the work, and we can always discuss the details.

  • If you must! Please email us (contact@wingsfund.me) with your request and we can send you our template mNDA for your review.