Role of a games publisher

It's possible that a game project you'll be working on will have a publisher other than your studio. The relation between the publisher and the studio can either be internal (in which case they own the developer) or external (the publisher is connected to the studio).

Whatever the relation to the developer, the publisher will not only release the product under its own name and market it, they are also very likely to cover all of the costs of development. Deals and royalty structures vary greatly, but in most cases, publishers are the ones who keep the cash flowing between all involved parties and are the ones who are set to gain (or lose) the most. Publishing can get very complex; sometimes more than one studio will work on a single game, other times an external owner of an intellectual property (IP) will be involved (the IP itself can be a brand, a book, video game, or movie universe).

When a publisher is engaged in the project, the detailed milestone structure mentioned previously will be of paramount importance as it will carry financial outcomes for the developer. Publishers will have to approve the GDD and provide feedback on each and every milestone; this can, of course, limit the flexibility of the developer, but it will also help ensure the project stays on track and has a chance of being released. Sometimes, publishers also take care of initial ideation and seed the game pitch to the developer.