How important is the power of a publishing label?

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How important is the power of a publishing label versus self-publishing? That was a question posed by KJJM games and entertainment consultant Jordan Mirrer, gaming and entertainment strategist during a panel at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco 2026.

The panel was part of the Global Trends track that saw Helika and Avalanche host sessions and the Helika Accelerator Demo Day during PGC.

Anshar Publishing chief publishing officer Jakub Kwinta said the power of a publishing label can be huge. For example, Hooded Horse is a publisher with a strong focus on strategy games which it’s recognised for.

Kwinta said that in specific genres, being solely focused on a category can be beneficial.

When it works and when it doesn’t

Avalanche Studios Group chief publishing officer Emma Farrow discussed the issue from a business and consumer perspective. For B2B, she said, a publishing label can give developers inroads to platforms via existing relationships, while there could potentially be a shared community studios can pull from if they’re working with a partner in the same genre or space.

From a B2C view, however, Farrow said it’s less important, as players care about the game first and foremost.

CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson explained that if a developer is working on a game as a product / commodity, a publishing partner is an option. If a team is focusing more on a service or experience, then self-publishing could work.

For example, he said it’s very hard to think of there being a publisher for LinkedIn or Facebook. “When you’re in that domain, publishers are perhaps not a great fit.”

He added that a publishing partner could work for tactical elements like discovery. “But for an experience, I don’t know any other way.”