To start
Review
A practitioner's eye on your document before a committee or a publisher reads it: schedule, budget, application, deck.
€350 excl. VATDeducted from the quote if a project follows.
Freelance producer · indie studios
Ship your game without drowning in production
Always feel like you're racing the clock? Never any time for marketing, you go by gut feeling, and nobody really knows what has to be ready for the next festival. In games, 28% of developers report crunch and another 25% long extra hours (IGDA, 2024). Together, we build a schedule and a budget around the dates that matter (Steam page, festivals, Next Fest, launch), with a clear goal for each one, and I warn you before things go off track.
- Île-de-France regional grant secured for Herringen. The studio: “He also knew how to challenge our decisions while respecting them.”
- Divider Dave taken from demo to Steam launch, Next Fest included
- Running projects since 2021 in data and public services, including a cross-ministry application
Free tool
Your Steam launch timeline
Enter your target launch date and get the dates you need to hit, from the Steam page to launch.
Valve publishes the exact Next Fest dates and registration deadlines on Steamworks. Next editions: 22 February to 1 March 2027 (registration until 10 January), then 14 to 21 June 2027 (until 25 April).
It is a model, and it is a living one. Steam page, shows, festivals, open playtests and betas, Next Fest: each key moment is a chance to show the game, gather feedback and collect wishlists. Knowing them in advance tells you what must be ready at each step: no Next Fest demo built in a rush, no contractor called the day before, funding that arrives when you need it. The heart of it is still your game: production and marketing are planned together, never one without the other. And if an opportunity shows up along the way, take it.
These dates assume production keeps up.In 30 minutes, we check that your schedule can hold them, and what to cut if it can't.
Book 30 minutesFunding
What funders look for
Regional grant, national fund, open call, publisher or investor: the questions barely change. These are the nine points I check before an application goes out, as I did for Herringen. Tick what you already have: the rest is your to-do list.
Put yourself in the funder's shoes. Public funding exists to create jobs and grow the industry, so the committee wants two reassurances: that the game will be finished, and that the money will pay professionals in the industry, ideally in France or the EU. A publisher or an investor asks the same question about completion, plus profitability: in the end, it is a business partner. Either way, what they ask for is not paperwork. A schedule, a budget, a go-to-market strategy and a risk list are tools you need to ship your game, funded or not.
Putting an application together is a job in itself. Lots of work, feedback rounds, paperwork, figures and research. Start early and put it in your schedule, even if someone is helping you.
See the nine points
Start with the first point: a funder or a publisher decides on the pitch before reading anything else.
Book 30 minutesServices
Services and rates
Everything starts with a free 30-minute call. The quote fits your situation (cash flow, pending grant, publisher), and everything is in writing before we start.
Funding
Funding or publisher application
We build together what the committee reads first: costed WBS (Work Breakdown Structure: the work split into costed packages), schedule, budget and cash flow, go-to-market strategy. That's what we did for Herringen, regional grant secured.
From €2,500 excl. VATFixed fee set in writing after the first call.
Production
Part-time producer
For studios that can't hire a full-time producer. I hold the milestones, warn you when scope overflows, and trade-offs get signed off with the person who carries the game's vision.
From €1,200 excl. VATPer month. Adjusted after the first call.
Two studios at most at the same time.
Projects
My latest projects
Herringen
Regional grant application · Distant Remnants studio, 2025-2026
The studio had a Steam demo out and a regional grant application to submit. Together we built the costed WBS, the schedule, the budget and the go-to-market strategy.
GameSteam demo, launch upcoming
FunderÎle-de-France Region
ResultGrant secured
What the team says
“We felt listened to. He took the time to really understand where we were and the grey areas we were facing. He also knew how to challenge our decisions while respecting them. Beyond the real, concrete help he gave us, his involvement also helped us emotionally. Thanks to him!”
Divider Dave
Production and publishing
Chancla Interactive, co-founded studio (2026).
Released on Steam on 2 September 2026
Puzzle-platformer for PC (Godot), produced by two co-founders with freelancers in art, music, level design and localization, all hired under written contracts, including revenue share.
I managed scope, milestones and schedule over 8 months. I ran playtests with a level qualification grid (keep, rework, cut), then handled the full Steam cycle: demo, June 2026 Next Fest, Valve review and launch. After launch: a cross-promotion bundle with another indie game and a booth at Guadalindie in Málaga.
Honestly: the game sold poorly. The page converted fine; traffic was the problem. Since then, we talk about the game from the prototype, not the day the Steam page opens.
Page visits → wishlists1.25% → 3 to 5%
Demo completed85%
Levels qualified in playtests57
Languages18
Duration, team8 months, 1.5 FTE (full time equivalent)
I look like a LinkedIn manager, that's just how it is, you get used to it. But I've produced a game, surprises included, and worked with indies as well as on big projects.
About
Who I am
- Since 2021Consulting, project management
- 2026Co-founder of Chancla Interactive, Divider Dave on Steam
- Since 2023Lecturer at CY Tech and IAE Paris Sorbonne
Games, unsurprisingly, came first from playing them. A data engineer who went through business school, I've been running projects since 2021: scoping, scheduling, budgeting, trade-offs. Your game needs the same thing, it's just more interesting.
I know method has a bad reputation in the industry: "it's very corporate", "why plan if everything is uncertain and nobody sticks to it anyway?"
A sailor doesn't know the weather for the next three weeks. They still set out with a heading, a route and stopovers, and correct them every day. Nobody tells them to sail without a map.
I'm not an artist, a musician or a designer, and I don't touch your game. My job is to help talented people finish what they started.
I also teach, and I'd rather teach you to fish than sell you fish (get it?). That's why my tools and sources are free here.
The project is yours. The plan, we can build together.
Free first call · 30 minutes by video
30 minutes to know what to do first
Grant, publisher or self-funding, Steam page, Next Fest: we look at your timeline and what's blocking you. You leave with three written priorities, even if we don't work together, and a proposal only if a project makes sense. If I can't help you, I'll point you to someone who can.
José-Manuel Girona MilaFreelance game producer. My background
Rather pick a time slot yourself? Book 30 minutes
Free, no call needed