I contacted about 5 companies that posted ads on Gamasutra advertising art outsourcing. All 5 ignored me. I also contacted about 5 developers regarding licensing their models. 2 replied, one of which ignored me after I sent the NDA over to be signed.
I don’t understand why this is so difficult. Admittedly I’m not EA, but I am offering tens of thousands of dollars for what amounts to a very small amount of work. Why bother posting an ad only to ignore customer inquiries?
This is a good thing when I think about it. If a company treats a potential customer this way, imagine how they treat customers who have already paid, or have some investment at stake? Whoever I ultimately pay to do the artwork needs to have my game as the first priority and being ignored doesn’t indicate to me that is the case.
It might work out for the best if I just hire someone after Christmas. At least that way I control the ultimate quality. With a 3rd party developer, they don’t have my best interests at heart.