"It's already beyond just the indie space" — Akupara COO Alyssa Kollgaard talks about new dev tool Publisher Pathfinder

Recently, Akupara COO Alyssa Kollgaard brought a new idea to light in Publisher Pathfinder. This resource is a website made to assist developers trying to find a route for their game to be published, but not constructed in the classic manner. Instead, it somewhat follows a point-and-click adventure, making it a fun experience. We took a moment to ask Alyssa some questions about the site, with some great responses.

GamingTrend: What inspired the idea for Publisher Pathfinder?

Akupara COO Alyssa Kollgaard:

Publisher Pathfinder was originally a "Wouldn't it be cool if" idea. We originally conceptualized it when we were part of the indie publisher organization The Indie Houses - Raw Fury, Akupara Games, Toge Productions, Fellow Traveller, Those Awesome Guys, Whitethorn Games and Neon Doctrine (RIP). We thought it might be to do a "Sorting Hat" website that would match developers to publishers, but were originally thinking about it being limited scope to only the 7 Indie Houses publishers. I hyperfixated on the idea for the last several years and have continued compiling data in the interim, so decided to retool the theming and expand it to ALL known publishers and investors.

GT: The RPG-like twist is pretty cool, why go that way compared to a traditional method?

AK:

Developers of all levels from first time solo devs to highly experienced Game Directors and studio founders with multiple huge IPs under their belt have all expressed the same thing to me - financing and funding is one of the least enjoyable and most stressful parts of the game development experience. It's really hard to even know where to start, and it takes a ton of time - time that could instead be put into development.

I wanted to help democratize all the information I have gathered over my career and also make something fun that actually also yielded meaningful results. I've been on both sides of the publisher / developer relationship many times, and I know how hard it is when you find yourself partnered with someone who doesn't share your goals, workstyle or values. The criteria outlined on the site aren't things everyone thinks about by default when looking for a partner, but they really should. By putting things like pillars and portfolio fit front and center, it helps find alignment before the contract phase.

That being said, people can still use the website in the more traditional manner - they can browse all the publishers and resources and do their own investigation (which they should regardless) - but the Quest provides them a targeted primary hitlist as a starting place. We are working on making a searchable database that can be queried as a V2 as well, if developers want to find all partners who fit specific criteria.

GT: What specific parties are you aiming to assist with Publisher Pathfinder?

AK:

It should hopefully be helpful to most people in the industry - I've shared the resources with industry superstars with their own Wikipedia pages and people in school or working on their first game jam, and it has been equally well received by both. Projects that need financing or organizations who want to provide financing, developers who want to find the right publisher or publishers who want to find the right games to publish. We're trying to make it a more open and collaborative and less of a transactional experience.

GT: How has the response been so far?

AK:

Response has been excellent! We've grown our Discord community and had great conversations, folks from all over the world and industry have reached out to say what a valuable resource it is, and putting it into a fun gamified package has made it more accessible and stickier. I've organically seen it pop up in a bunch of different development communities, mailing lists, Discords and Slacks.

GT: Do you see this growing into a major player in the indie space, or do you prefer staying small?

AK:

It's already beyond the indie space - some of the data provided was from very very very experienced industry players who fund projects in the 7 and 8 figure tiers. Some of the verified publishers are also from the AAA space. And the database includes 800 entries, so I don't consider it small to begin with, but I do hope it helps level the playing field a bit for indies.

We'll continue to grow if there continues to be need or demand. Hopefully the Discord community can expand into some events like digital pitching feedback sessions or roundtable discussions. I'd also like to do some in-person networking and events in LA in 2026.

GT: Lastly, are there any fun stories you have for us that occurred during the planning and launch for Publisher Pathfinder?

AK:

I wish. Making the site and compiling the data for the database wasn't fun; it was a ton of super tedious R&D and manual labor. But the experience of the site itself is fun! That was sort of the point, anyway - to take something that sucks and make it fun. I'm really glad the hard work is done.

Our thanks to Alyssa for taking the time to speak with us! You can find Publisher Pathfinder via this link to learn more about this great resource.