How to approach a company with an idea?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is gonna sound dumb, but… I’ve got this idea.

It’s a game concept, a variation on an older game adapted for a new use. The way I see it, it could be a major source of revenue, provide millions of people with hours and hours of fun, improve the health of the population in general, and possibly implement world peace. Maybe.

I’d love to propose this concept to a particular company, the owners of the original game. They’re well-positioned to implement the game that I’ve got in mind, for various reasons.

Howver, I have no connection to the gaming industry. No contacts, no experience, no reason for anyone to take me seriously. No idea how to get this to anyone’s attention.

Also, I have no concept of how I could get anything out of this; if I just give them the idea, and they manage to make millions off of it, I’d like to get a small cut. But… how?

This has been bugging me for months. I want this game, I want to play it, and I think it’d revolutionize the gaming industry in a major way. I just have no idea how to go about getting my concept out there, and still retain some sort of credit for it.

Any ideas?

2

Most companies do not want to hear about your great idea or invention. Seriously. But do not take this personally.

This is the reason:

Let’s say you invent a really neat gadget, and you approach Acme Industries with the idea of them building & selling it while you get a percentage of the sales. They look at your gadget, and to their horror they realize their R&D department has been working on a similar concept the past few months.

Acme is now in a lose-lose situation.

If they accept your idea, then they will have to pay you something for it. But why should they? After all, they have been working on a similar idea independently for a few months.

If they tell you to go away, you will sue them as soon as their product hits the market… you will claim that it was your idea, and they stole it. Acme will claim (honestly) that they had been working on the idea for a few months before you approached them.

See the problem?

Because of this, most companies do not want any outsider approaching them with “new ideas” for future products. It just sets them up for future litigation.