Pantaloon Unveils Micro-Indie Publishing Venture to Spotlight ‘Small Games with Powerful Themes’
By Indie newsletter and resource center Pantaloon has unveiled a publishing label to create a “sanctuary for outcasts.”
The organization stated it aims to bring unique and unconventional games to market within the micro-indie sector.
Pantaloon will provide comprehensive brand-led marketing campaigns, launch management, store optimization, production and quality assurance services, pattern financing, and more.
“Pantaloon operates within the micro-indie sector, intending to establish a brand of small games with significant appeal. Currently, our development budgets range from $30k to $100k, but we strive to maintain flexibility in this area,” according to an explanation on the Pantaloon website.
Pantaloon searching for an “offbeat quality” in projects
“Pantaloon isn’t restrained to a specific genre. We do look for a theme, however. A visual style. An elusive offbeat quality that simply makes your game peculiar. We want to venture into uncharted genre territories and discover new combinations of systems that haven’t been merged before.”
The label will generally offer a 70/30 profit split favoring developers, but is open to taking a smaller share. Developers who partner with Pantaloon will maintain full ownership of their intellectual property and will not be trapped in a contract due to using open termination clauses. Additionally, Pantaloon clarified that it will never impose a recoup on its partners.
The organization is optimistic that these terms will “restore the shattered power balance in the indie publishing landscape.”
Pantaloon’s current publishing lineup includes Sub-Verge from New Zealand-based developer Interactive Tragedy and Occlude from the UK studio Tributary Games, which will be managing the Steam launch of Puzzletrunk.
Founder Jamin Smith remarked that the industry “likely doesn’t require another indie publisher,” but he hopes Pantaloon can achieve success by adhering to a positive set of principles.
“With an existing awareness platform and terms that provide new agency and security to development partners, we intend to actively seek out risk, discovering unique or experimental games that can navigate uncharted or tumultuous genre waters,” he added.
“‘A sanctuary for outcasts’ is more than simply a slogan; it’s a rallying cry for games that don’t conform to conventional publishing frameworks.”
About the Author
News Editor, GameDeveloper.com
Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the gaming sector. His byline has been featured in numerous print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events such as GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and more.