Melvin Frank: "We aim to approach publishing with flexibility and a creator-first mindset."

By founding Sidekick Publishing, Instinct3 has confirmed its intention to remain active in the publishing sector. We spoke to Melvin Frank, co-CEO and co-founder of Sidekick, about initial experiences, big plans, and how they stand out in the sector.

When it comes to game publishing, Instinct3 is here to stay. Over the past few months, the Berlin-based influencer, creative and marketing agency has successfully established itself in this sector. Shortly before gamescom, the company announced the next logical step in its journey: the establishment of Sidekick Publishing, a new full-service publisher for indie and A to AA studios. Its first release under the Sidekick Publishing label is Deadly Days: Roadtrip, developed by Pixelsplit. Therefore, the new division will handle all publishing matters from Instinct3's existing game portfolio in future.

Sidekick was created to fill a gap in the competitive publishing landscape by combining global publishing expertise with Instinct3's knowledge of creator-driven marketing, storytelling, and community building. This new venture is part of Instinct3's holding group, Gute Gesellschaft, and is headed up by industry veterans Jasmin Oestreicher and Melvin Frank. We spoke to Melvin Frank, the co-CEO and co-founder of Sidekick Publishing, about their first experiences as co-publisher, their vision for the company, and the potential role of influencers in this.

GamesMarkt: Instinct3's first foray into indie publishing with TerraScape and Megaloot was quite successful. 9 Kings got off to a strong start, and interest in Deadly Days: Roadtrip is also very high. How did you come up with the idea of combining indie game publishing with content creation?

Melvin Frank: "To be honest, the initial spark didn't come entirely from us! We actually had indie developers reaching out after their games were picked up by Instinct3's creators before. As they noticed an uptick in traffic and engagement, some asked whether we'd consider a closer collaboration or even publishing. We declined at first, since our main focus within the agency is and was on content and marketing. But the idea stuck with us. After giving it some thought, we developed a model that allowed us to combine our content expertise in a way that made sense for us and added value for developers."

GamesMarkt: Instinct3 recently launched Asgard's Fall - Viking Survivors in Early Access together with developer Soulpotion and co-publisher Assemble Entertainment - both from Germany. How would you rate the launch?

Melvin Frank: "We're really happy with how Asgard’s Fall launched! It was exciting to collaborate with Assemble, especially since we've known the team for a while from our agency-work. The early access phase started on a strong note and developer Soulpotion has an ambitious roadmap ahead, with a new major update last July. All in all, it's a very solid foundation for a successful full release next year."

GamesMarkt: Could you please evaluate the Early Access launch of 9 Kings, and describe your collaboration with Hooded Horse?

Melvin Frank: "9 Kings has been our most successful launch to date - with over 500,000 copies sold within the first six weeks of Early Access. We're incredibly proud of everyone involved and especially happy for the Developers Sad Socket, as to our knowledge this is one of the biggest launches ever from an indie studio out of Brazil. The collaboration worked so well because everyone brought their strengths to the table, and Hooded Horse's deep expertise in the genre was a perfect fit.

We announced the signing with 9 Kings at our I3 Indie Expo and started working on the game around Steam Next Fest in February, when the attention for the game suddenly skyrocketed globally. As Hooded Horse showed interest, we knew that the three-party setup could elevate the project even further. The developers had planned from the beginning to handle some publishing responsibilities themselves, which made it easier to divide roles cleanly and efficiently, allowing us to focus on what we do best and stick to what we had already planned for the game."

GamesMarkt: As a publisher, what makes Sidekick different?

Melvin Frank: "In general, we aim to approach publishing with flexibility and a creator-first mindset. All of our titles are selected with content creation in mind. That doesn't mean we focus on one genre - quite the opposite. As long as a game has strong potential for content and streamability, we’re open to it.

By spinning off Instinct3's publishing into its own entity Sidekick Publishing, we underline our transition to a full-service publisher. We are already acting globally as of today and we plan to expand our portfolio, all while having the advantage of a critically acclaimed in-house creative agency next door with deep roots in the creator economy. We acknowledge that our company heritage gives us a unique advantage when it comes to understanding modern marketing and building hype organically."

GamesMarkt: Instinct3 often acted as co-publisher, with the exception of Deadly Days: Roadtrip. Could you give us an insight into how the tasks are shared when it comes to co-publishing, perhaps with specific examples?

Melvin Frank: "It really depends on the project. Each collaboration is tailored individually. In some of our earlier co-publishing setups, we focused on specific territories - e.g. in the case of Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot, we cover the Western markets, and our Co-Publisher GamerSky Games manages the distribution in Asia. In other scenarios, it’s not based on territorial responsibilities, but we focus mainly on marketing and streamability strategy for the titles.

We've built our approach to be as flexible as possible. This allows us to create setups that benefit all parties - the devs, co-publishers and of course the game itself. We think starting with that and then constructing structures based on the needs of the game is what we prefer instead of trying to make a game match our own structures."

GamesMarkt: Sidekick wants to establish itself in the international indie and creator scene as a reliable partner for developer studios and at the same time as a catalyst within the creator economy. That sounds like a pretty confident approach in what is still a fairly new area? How fast do you want to scale this area?

Melvin Frank: "It's true - it's a relatively new space, and we're excited to be among the ones shaping it. We see other creator collectives and individuals exploring similar models internationally, but everyone brings a different angle to the table. Right now, we're in a good spot. Our lean setup allows us to stay flexible and pick the right projects at the right time, shifting resources between projects only when necessary. That said, we are preparing to scale further and broaden our services."

GamesMarkt: How do you select the games that you publish, and how much influence do the preferences of Instinct3's creators have over this process?

Melvin Frank: "Our scouting process starts with a deep dive, as we play the games extensively ourselves. What makes our approach unique is that we bring in selected content creators early on to get their feedback too. This gives us even more insight into streamability and helps us think about creator fit and marketing strategy right from the beginning.

Of course, we also value feedback from our own creators. They're experts in their field and can offer valuable perspectives, some of whom have been playing games for a living for over a decade. But the final publishing decision is independent and based on a broader set of criteria."

GamesMarkt: Authenticity is one of the key currencies of influencers. How do you try to combine the business of publishing games with the credibility of your creators in a trustworthy way?

Melvin Frank: "One of the key principles we follow is freedom of expression. Even our creators are never told what to say - we don't work with 'talking points' or placement-logic if they play games from us. If they like a game, they'll show that. If they don't enjoy something, we encourage them to speak openly about it. That kind of honest feedback is not only the most authentic - it's also the most valuable for us and the developers. But due to us involving creators very early on, I think we naturally enhance the chance of creators and game being an organic match in the first place."

GamesMarkt: Instinct3 likes to go off the beaten track. What do you think of the I3 Indie Expo in this respect? Can you imagine such events happening more often?

Melvin Frank: "The I3 Indie Expo really developed a life of its own, haha. What started as a simple idea for a showcase stream in our studios, quickly evolved into a full-blown event. And our community-driven approach works best when we create spaces that bring creators and players together - both for entertainment and real game announcements. So we made it happen!

As we were very happy with the results, we can definitely see ourselves becoming more active with offline events. We deliberately skipped a few event opportunities this year because we want to make the next iteration really count. When we bring it back, we want it to make a splash."

GamesMarkt: So far you have limited yourself to PC games. Can you imagine moving to consoles and/or mobile?

Melvin Frank: "Absolutely. In fact, we're already in the process of porting some titles right now. The strong response to certain PC releases has also created demand on other platforms, and we consider it part of our role to support our developers in expanding their IPs. While we'll likely always be PC first, helping them to bring their projects to additional platforms is a natural extension of our collaboration - and one that can significantly extend a game's lifecycle."

GamesMarkt: Can you imagine publishing titles with an esports character, as this would create even more synergies with your sister companies…

Melvin Frank: "Synergies are something we always look for within our network – and we've definitely had some discussions in that direction. I'll keep it at that for now. :)"