Introducing Publisher Pathfinder: A Novel Tool for Developers to Discover Ideal Publishing Partners and Investors

Veteran games industry expert Alyssa Kollgaard has launched Publisher Pathfinder, a groundbreaking resource designed to guide developers in finding publishing partners and investors that align with their game's specific requirements. The tool adopts the format of a retro text-based adventure game, where developers respond to a series of questions about their game, including target platforms, content, and desired funding. Upon completing the interactive experience, Publisher Pathfinder generates a tailored list of publishing partners, investors, and service providers from its vast database of nearly 800 companies. As the current COO of Akupara Games, Kollgaard previously played a key role in leading The Indie Houses, a collective of publishers that includes Raw Fury and Fellow Traveller. "The experience of sharing information and resources as part of the same team was truly rewarding," she shared with GamesIndustry.biz. "A comment was made about creating a sorting hat website for the seven Indie House publishers, and the idea stuck with me. I decided to expand it to include all publishers and adopt a unique theme, as I firmly believe it will be a valuable asset for the community." The result of months of meticulous work, Publisher Pathfinder was created by compiling and verifying publisher resources. Kollgaard began by merging and consolidating three existing databases: Alan's Gamedev Resources Sheet, Seyed's Publisher & Investor Database for Indie Devs, and IndieGameBusiness. "These databases already included most publishers and a significant amount of vetted information," Kollgaard explained. "I added my own set of criteria, such as pillars and additional services, and also included venture capitalists and investors from two senior leaders in the games industry who are currently fundraising their companies on a large scale. "It took approximately 100 hours over five months to fill in the missing details using publicly available and verifiable information from official sources. It was a challenging but rewarding process." Kollgaard hopes that Publisher Pathfinder will prove to be an indispensable resource for developers. "The game-publishing ecosystem deserves the same level of clarity, craftsmanship, and design thinking as the games themselves," she stated. "Having experienced firsthand the overwhelm of game financing and publishing, I aimed to create a playable, searchable resource that would make the complex business of game funding more transparent, actionable, and enjoyable." In addition to the Publisher Pathfinder website, Kollgaard has established a Discord server for users and is also present on Bluesky and X.