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Producing a game is risky business.

It sounds to me, like you think you have the great "idea" to produce a game that basically profits from an existing fan base. Add some actual professionals and the product will sell.

That's not an idea. It is business as usual for actual existing professional publishers and studios. Success of the original IP does not automatically translate into success as a game. Your youtube fans that nitpick over the source material might not be the ones that would even play the game. Or they would be the ones ripping the game apart for it's flaws.

Chances are, that someone already has the rights to the "underrated" IP for creating games, even if none was made yet. And you do need those rights to create material based on that IP.

But maybe I misread and you only want to create a "spiritual" successor. Like gotta catch them all principle and make a game out of that. That means the risks are even higher. Just because the original has some die hard fans years later does not translate into success of a similar concept in a different media. Or a new franchsise that copies core ideas.

What do I do?

Do not throw away your life savings onto such a high risk project. And do not go in debt for this. You described some red flags here about your future business partners.

If you have budget to spare you can fool around with it, of course. If you aim for crowdfunding, that is a long process anyway. Maybe you can recruit people from the fan base. Fan games are a thing.

> But maybe I misread and you only want to create a "spiritual" successor.

Yes you did. :D

> That means the risks are even higher. Just because the original has some die hard fans years later does not translate into success of a similar concept in a different media.

I believe that risks here are acceptable. I have not seen any show this loved that would be also this little known. The producer shared the same opinion. So I can probably bootstrap a demo with some upfront money and then crowdfund the rest leveraging the connections of the producer, which will make me spend as little of own money as possible.

> Do not throw away your life savings onto such a high risk project. And do not go in debt for this. You described some red flags here about your future business partners.

I don't believe it's that bad. My investor friend agreed to draft a non-binding letter of intent just to help me connect with the producer. He also has reputation for hard work and keeping his word. It only backfires at me because he can't find any spare time, physically.

The producer, however, acts really weird.

> If you have budget to spare you can fool around with it, of course.

I don't. That's the whole point: to create even a convincing demo, I need monies. I don't know where to get them so far.