What Is Pitching?

pitch¹ (pĭch)

v. pitched, pitch ing, pitch es

v. tr.

1. A form of words used to persuade.

2. To attempt to promote or sell, often in a high-pressure manner.

3. Set or aim at a particular level, target or audience.

Almost every industry has to pitch for work in some way, shape, or form, and this applies particularly to creative industries, in which companies compete against others in their sector for key accounts and contracts.

Pitching is the established way for a client to evaluate exactly what an individual, team, or company can offer them in terms of services and skills by allowing them to prepare a highly specific presentation containing not only details of any relevant products, but also important peripheral aspects such as background and company history, staff profiles, and previous work samples.

In the case of videogames, publishers have limited budgets and resources allocated for each quarter, so even if their game concepts are different, developers are still competing for a slice of the same pie as well as regularly pitching directly against each other for "work for hire" deals, usually based around publisher-owned intellectual properties (IPs) or licenses.

Numerous pitch types take place within the videogame industry, ranging from middleware vendors touting tools and technology, to publishers selling in their latest lineup to retail, but in this article we will concentrate on the most nebulous of pitch type: developer deals.