Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

Alright, got my first game sponsored. Here goes:

Arcade Cabin +++ & 1/2
Game sponsored was Pyrotec 2

After contacting several sponsors Arcade Cabin gave me the best offer of the bunch. After about a week of exchanging emails with Ralph, the owner, we got everything worked out, payment and all.

Seriousness +++
He knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to ask for it, but never came off as strict or demanding. A fairly easy-going guy.

Money ++++
Good, but not spectacular. For the amount of work put into the game I couldn't really get much better than what he offered.

Efficiency ++++
This category is a bit of a problem for me since I'm currently going to school in Australia and the time difference made it hard for a hasty reply. Had I been back at home in the US, though, I'm certain his replies would have occurred in a more timely manner.

Social +++
Pretty much all talk was business, though he seemed like the kind of guy you could chat with about pretty much anything.

The biggest problem I had was with the amount of links he wanted in the game. If you'll notice I have a preloader, intro, and links plastered all over. That seems a bit much, which is why they get a 3 1/2 instead of 4.

Hope this helps.

I mailed 2 new lesser games to about 12 websites, once I figure out which one is sponsoring me I'll post em all + reason why they did or did not sponsor me in the end.

DO NOT get sponsored by freeonlinegames.com
We just got sponsored by them. They payed 500, but asked for the fla and said they were just gonna add highscores and whatnot.

Heres a list I made of what they did:

They CHANGED THE NAME to "Bubble Shift" which makes no sense at all, since the game has nothing to do with shifting bubbles.

They said "By Freeonlinegames.com"

The COMPLETLY changed the menu. They changed the text, fonts, bg, and the buttons.

They changed the game background.

They changed the music t o some old time piano music that doesnt fit the game at ALL.

They changed the end of level screen to have highscore boards.

They said they'de say it was by us. What did they do? The said "By: Freeonlinegames.com" "A game by the studios of freeonlinegames.com" and you seriously had to SEARCH to find where it said "Designed by Kyle Thompson and st1k" WTF!? DESIGNED BY? Designed by sounds lkike we fucking made a rough sketch of the game on a piece of paper. THATS designing something. We made the game. We coded it, we drew the graphics, we made 40 levels, and a bunch of other stuff. What credit do we get? A little thing that says we DESIGNED the game.

Not only does it say "By freeonlinegames", but you can't miss it cuz its branded on the bottem, and it NEVER leaves the bottom of the game screen.

Added some "freeonlinegames" highscore board and took out ours.

In other words... NEVER get sponsored by them. THey seriously changed EVERYTHING.
-Kyle

i agreee fully :/ sorry freeonlinegames

But wait! Theres more!
They made it so if cant be hosted anywhere other than their site, you can put it on yours with html, but I cant put it on ng or anything, so Im gonna just decompile and make it so I can.

They also dont know how to make music loop so it plays for 5 seconds and stops.

Ok, this was my first game ever sponsored, but since I used this thread to get the sponsor, I might as well review him.

FlashNinjaClan.com++++
I had spent a while learning flash, and making a first, simple game, and after learning about sponsorship I decided I might as well try and make some money off of it. I first sent emails to the biggest sponsors, and when they understandably didn't reply due to the firstness of my first game, I did some serious googling , and found this site among others. Flash ninjaClan sent me an email within 30 minutes of my contact, and I decided to set stuff up with them.

Seriousness+++++
They were very professional, not much else to say here.
Money++++
I didn't really expect to get anything for my game, so the 200(I may get an extra 35 if it gets frontpage on newgrounds) was great, but after reading through the thread, and seeing the thousand someone else got for their game, 200 did seem a bit small.
Efficiency+++++, and if I could add a 6th I would
Every email I sent him was replied within an hour, and we closed the deal(and sent 60 emails between each other) in about 2 days. I just got paid, and we are finishing the highscore table as I type this up.
Social ++++
he didn't really socially talk, although he was very helpful with all of my newbie questions.

At 8/13/07 01:48 PM, ToasterDemon wrote: But wait! Theres more!

Do you still have the original version? I would like to see it

At 8/13/07 01:48 PM, ToasterDemon wrote: But wait! Theres more!
They made it so if cant be hosted anywhere other than their site, you can put it on yours with html, but I cant put it on ng or anything, so Im gonna just decompile and make it so I can.

They also dont know how to make music loop so it plays for 5 seconds and stops.

That sucks. Wow.

At 8/13/07 01:48 PM, ToasterDemon wrote: But wait! Theres more!
They made it so if cant be hosted anywhere other than their site, you can put it on yours with html, but I cant put it on ng or anything, so Im gonna just decompile and make it so I can.

Man, what cockasses, they sound like idiots. Do you mean they wont let you put it on newgrounds because of their "sponsorship" rules? Yeah do you still have the original?

It's really strange that they changed all of that and pretty surprised that they even payed you the money. The real lesson from this is not just don't get sponsored by them, it's don't ever give up the fla of your game, and not so much when it's small time stuff, but when you're making good stuff, keep the swf under wraps too because decompilers work a lot better than some people give them credit for.

Man, what cockasses, they sound like idiots. Do you mean they wont let you put it on newgrounds because of their "sponsorship" rules? Yeah do you still have the original?

It's really strange that they changed all of that and pretty surprised that they even payed you the money. The real lesson from this is not just don't get sponsored by them, it's don't ever give up the fla of your game, and not so much when it's small time stuff, but when you're making good stuff, keep the swf under wraps too because decompilers work a lot better than some people give them credit for.

Yeah , they changed like all the graphics just about , and acted like they owned the game...
then we asked for the swf , he wanted us to use the HTML... what an ass.

At 8/15/07 10:44 PM, st1k wrote: Yeah , they changed like all the graphics just about , and acted like they owned the game...
then we asked for the swf , he wanted us to use the HTML... what an ass.

But do you still have the original/can you host it or something?

*laughs at all those poms worried about exchange rates*

pom = Englishman for America's sake

i love sunny Australia :P

Anyway i LOVE this thread and its helped me out exceedingly. Im looking to get my current project and future Ragdoll Minigames sponsored, and this is exactly the info i need ^_^

Im looking at ArmourGames. I think a lot of people who read that article and flame AG forget that unless you read every word on that page including all the comments then youre just ignorant. I laugh at the fact it takes over half of bickering comments to notice Dan from AG responded to them, and they still took almost no notice of his words.

At 8/15/07 10:53 PM, Coaly wrote:

At 8/15/07 10:44 PM, st1k wrote: Yeah , they changed like all the graphics just about , and acted like they owned the game...
then we asked for the swf , he wanted us to use the HTML... what an ass.

But do you still have the original/can you host it or something?

Yeah we have the original fla. Here (I know the game isnt amazing btw):
http://denvish.net/ulf/300707/54358_bbly .php
I think the newest fla has a couple very small changes, but I didnt feel like reuploading.

I'm trying to get my new game sponsored, which one do you recomend? I have a feeling it's not AG or CMG material, but I'm sure it can be others.

I'm not sure how to ask for a sponsorship...

What do I have to send over email?

Looking for a sponser?! Check out the sponser links thread!

I had a bad experience with Mo from MoFunZone.com. When I made the game "Quickling" for him he had me sign a contract and never mentioned I wouldn't get credit for the game. When the subject came up, he refused to allow my name in the game, even though I told him it was more important than any bonus he had to offer.

Later the whole thing blew up and he agreed to collab me on Newgrounds. However, when I decided to try out Mochiads to explore other options with my puzzle game "Blue," he accused me of stabbing him in the back and submitted the game to Newgrounds without giving me credit. So I literally have no proof the game is mine. He said he would write a signed recommendation for me, too, but he never did, and I doubt he ever will now, especially because I would like to work with ArmorGames and he absolutely hates them with a passion.

I don't mean to whine, I'm just posting this as a warning. NEVER sell your rights for a game. It isn't worth it, because you can keep your rights and probably get paid the same somewhere else.

Personally I wouldn't recommend working with Mo because he requires way too much runaround work and likes to put branding on the screen during game-play, which is really ugly and is likely to turn a lot of people away, in my opinion. The reason I decided to go on my own with Blue was because 4 weeks after the game was done, Mo still had "suggestions" on things to add and refused to publish it.

He will only publish games on Fridays, and if the next three Fridays are already claimed, it'll be a whole month before you see money or get to publish your game. He also gets to dictate where and when you submit games, even though he'll tell you that you keep your rights and can post it anywhere. Finally, he won't let you implement the Kongregate API so you can get a little extra ad revenue for your game.

If you ask me, that's pretty restrictive.

You have to be careful what you sign or agree to. Also, don't let a sponsor be pushy, because it's likely they want something more than they're paying for.

At 8/18/07 03:54 AM, Kajenx wrote: I had a bad experience with Mo from MoFunZone.com. When I made the game "Quickling" for him he had me sign a contract and never mentioned I wouldn't get credit for the game. When the subject came up, he refused to allow my name in the game, even though I told him it was more important than any bonus he had to offer.

Later the whole thing blew up and he agreed to collab me on Newgrounds. However, when I decided to try out Mochiads to explore other options with my puzzle game "Blue," he accused me of stabbing him in the back and submitted the game to Newgrounds without giving me credit. So I literally have no proof the game is mine. He said he would write a signed recommendation for me, too, but he never did, and I doubt he ever will now, especially because I would like to work with ArmorGames and he absolutely hates them with a passion.

I don't mean to whine, I'm just posting this as a warning. NEVER sell your rights for a game. It isn't worth it, because you can keep your rights and probably get paid the same somewhere else.

Personally I wouldn't recommend working with Mo because he requires way too much runaround work and likes to put branding on the screen during game-play, which is really ugly and is likely to turn a lot of people away, in my opinion. The reason I decided to go on my own with Blue was because 4 weeks after the game was done, Mo still had "suggestions" on things to add and refused to publish it.

He will only publish games on Fridays, and if the next three Fridays are already claimed, it'll be a whole month before you see money or get to publish your game. He also gets to dictate where and when you submit games, even though he'll tell you that you keep your rights and can post it anywhere. Finally, he won't let you implement the Kongregate API so you can get a little extra ad revenue for your game.

If you ask me, that's pretty restrictive.

You have to be careful what you sign or agree to. Also, don't let a sponsor be pushy, because it's likely they want something more than they're paying for.

I disagree, and would say that's untrue. You get a choice to do have whatever you want done to your game - your games can either be sponsored, or have the game fully bought out for a higher price if you wish. No-one gets forced to do anything, and you DO keep your rights. Branding is a very simple process (takes me around 5 minutes). And if you ask me in my opinion, Mo is one of the easiest sponsors to work with. And, keep in mind, I've worked with ArmorGames, CrazyMonkeyGames, RustyGames, GalactiGames, and a few more. Payment is a quick process, and can I quickly add. If the game you have is done, but 'wouldn't get released for another month', you would get paid as soon as you ask. If Mo has the final swf which is pending swf, just ask for the money, no problem.

About the Kongregate API - If you were to intergrate that API into any sponsored game, then you're looking for non exclusive sponsorship. Plenty of sites out there willing to do this.
Anyway, my note to readers uncertain about Mofunzone and whether they can be trusted, I'm not forcing you to have my opinion on this, but I'm saying its a perfectly great company to work with.

A question for Kajenx - you say you wouldn't reccomend working with Mo, so who would you reccomend working with? I can't see any sponsored flash games on your account!

I've just released Rocket Car 2 which shall be coming to Newgrounds shortly, and may I add it was a damn simple process!

Just noticed a quick mistake, small typo. I meant

"If Mo has the final swf which is pending release , just ask for the money, no problem."

You will see on MoFunZone the game Exterme Particle Suite has the Particlasm intro screen which is the other game I made for MoFunZone, if you really need proof or don't believe I worked for him.

I'm sorry if I was ripping on Mo too much if you've had good experiences with him, because the intention of my message was meant to be more of a warning about contracts and proprietary rights. I guess I'm still just a extremely bitter about the whole situation. I honestly had no idea I wouldn't get any credits for the game when I signed the contract, as it wasn't specifically in there. There was a section stating that all content of the game was up to MoFunZone, and credits fell under that. I let Mo know countless times how important it was to me and he never seemed to take me seriously.

However, for the record, I was paid for the game.

Anyway, I guess you would know more about compairing sponsors than I would, but I wasn't exactly lying about anything I said. I really did have to wait weeks, and I just got fed up with the whole situation. Then Mo went back on a promise he made to me because I decided to go a different route with a game.

hmm... even though he may not do it to everyone its somthing to be afraid of... thanks for the heads up. www.thegamehomepage.com sounds like a nice guy , I havnt sponsered with him yet. But have talked to him on msn and he sounds like a nice sponser.

I would write a review for the game homepage, but nothing has happened so far.

He was fast at replying like half an hour ago, now he isn't XD.

Hallpass.com +++

The game sponsered by hallpass was my brand new game , 360 Defence , it was a new style defence game coming to newgrounds later today. I really only contacted a few people and he was the first to really lay and offer on the table. Im not so patient so I didnt wait for another.

Seriousness +++++
Rhys (reese in english) seemed very professional. He seemed like he knew what he was doing , but he was still very friendly. And willing to do what you wanted and wasnt pressuring you into doing anything you didnt want to.

Money +++++++
He gave me WAY over what i expected all i have to say is SPONSER,SPONSER,SPONSER with this guy. He offers amazing sponserships for your games.

Efficiency +++++
I didnt have to wait that long considering we talked live right over msn. So it was a great deal for both of us. And it only took a few hours to get a responce that they would sponser over email.

Social +++++
He was a very nice guy. He was social but professional at the same time. I enjoyed talking to him.

I would really recommend sponsoring with www.hallpass.com!

I am back again, haven't been online much the last week. Anywho, a little while ago I got a game sponsored by Hallpass but haven't written a review for them yet but I will do sometime soon. I would instead just like to give my opinion on Mo which was one of the interested sponsors.. Mo was definitely one of the most social sponsors I have spoken to, he seems like a really nice guy. However, I'm not really sure if this is just the image he's using in order to get people to trust and like him when they really shouldn't. I wont speculate more in this, I will just give you some info about the conversations we had and let you judge.

I sent a mail to him about the game I wanted sponsored, this was what he replied:

I'm always interested in new talent Erik, and will for sure pay whatever you ask. Not just that, but I also look forward to hiring/sponsoring you for future projects.

The conversation then continued on MSN, and my first impression of him was very positive as he was very polite. He helped me with suggestions for improvements on the game and pointed out some bugs. At one point where I stumbled upon a very tricky bug he said this:

If you can fix this bug, rest assured that I will beat all other offers for sure

..and so I did. This, along with what he wrote in the mail made me almost certain that Mo would end up sponsoring the game.. But no, once I got my first concrete offer which was decent he immediately backed out. I confronted him and asked how that could be considering the promises he had made, and I found his explanation hilarious; he blamed it all on a misunderstanding, he claimed that he meant that he would beat all offers for future games. I wont call him a liar or anything, it is of course very possible that this was what he meant (actually it isn't, but look at my quotations of him above and think whatever you want).

This was my experience with Mo, I will probably contact him for future sponsorships but I will always be very careful when settling anything with him and I advice you to be as well, people's experiences with him seems to vary a lot, but better safe than sorry..

Also, a quick note on FreeOnlineGames.com. They didn't reply to me until after the deal was closed with Hallpass, and when I told them that it was already taken they asked me if I could make a version with a different name so that they could sponsor it?! Of course this was not an option as it would be very unfair on Hallpass, and this combined with the things said about them a couple of posts above this one (and also the ugly and loud logo they use) makes sure that they will never sponsor any of my games.

If you dont mind me asking how much are these... in average

+
++
+++
++++
+++++

?

thank you...

At 8/18/07 06:51 PM, Mehrdad14 wrote: If you dont mind me asking how much are these... in average

Who are you asking, and what do you mean? ^^,

I still need to know, how do you get a sponsorship from hallpass?

Do you contact them? or do you submit a game? I'm not sure D:

At 8/18/07 07:16 PM, Freestyle808 wrote: I still need to know, how do you get a sponsorship from hallpass?

Do you contact them? or do you submit a game? I'm not sure D:

Always look for 'contact' section...

Say that you have a game you want sponsored and upload it to Denvish, Imageshack or similar and link them to it. Never submit your game to sites where it's public before it's sponsored.

I as well had a game sponsored through Mo from MoFunZone. From my experience he was fine, maybe a little different than other sponsors, but different doesn't make him worse.

MoFunZone ++++
Really communicates to you as a person rather than a machine. Laid back, has experience, has good looking branding materials for your game (e.g. preloader, site button). His one downfall is that he is controlling. Personally, I am a take charge kind of guy so it was hard for me to say Okay to all of his orders, but it wasn't impossible, and it paid off in the end.

Seriousness++++
He runs a website for games, he sponsors games, he takes pride in what he does. He has a knack for being casual while productive which I find to be a good thing; I don't like to picture my sponsors as big business men in ugly suits.

Money+++++
Excellent money especially for such a small game. When no one else would sponsor my game, Mo was there to offer me more than I originally expected. Another plus was that he paid me on the spot, before the game was even on the web.

Efficiency++++
Since most communication was done through instant messengers, it only took a few days to get everything settled. He lost one plus because his manner of doing things may seem foreign to those who have sponsored through the bigger names.

Social+++++
Pleasant to talk to. I still chat with him every once in awhile about the flash scene.

Overall
I don't know if I would sponsor a big game through Mo just because if I'm holding the game close to my heart, I want as much control as possible. For small games I would definitely go back to him. Great money, and quick sponsoring make for a winning combination for mini games.

How long does it take them to answer, the wait is killing me lol. I only waited 2 days for armor, and 1 day for hallpass. It probably takes 4 or 5 days to answer right?

Relax Arcade +++

I PMed him here on the forums and received a PM back same day.
The payment amount was agreed upon easily and I made some required changes to my .fla (i.e. Intro and Link).
The whole business took around 3-4 days.

Seriousness +++
He was definitely serious about getting sponsors as he has just started.

Money ++
The money wasn't too much but I felt it matched my games quality, I think he could have gone higher if I had pressured.

Efficiency ++
The time between each PM was small while he was online but the time difference meant that I usually had to be on until 3-4 in the morning. Thats just an issue for me really.

Social +++
It was quite relaxed but always to the point.

Overall it was a decent first sponsor for me and I would likely go back with future games.