“A lot of luck and many contacts”: How small Swiss publisher Treecer tackled pitching Microsoft to create the Zoo Tycoon board game
Approaching large companies to use their IP in board games can be a daunting task - and they don't come much bigger than $3tn computing giant Microsoft. That didn't put off two-person Swiss board game publisher Treecer, though, whose successful pitch ended up with more than 5,000 backers committing about $600,000 to the Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game Kickstarter. Treecer co-founder Marc Dür took time out from managing the crowdfund for the game's New Shores expansion - which has raised almost $500,000 itself so far - to tell BoardGameWire how his company went about securing the licence, how their approach to crowdfunding has changed over the years, and lessons they learned from the original Zoo Tycoon campaign.