A mistake I made: thinking my game was so outrageous and newfangled that it couldn't be ignored. You can easily be ignored. Don't assume press, even indie gaming press, will cover your game.
@@DrWho2008t101 It doesn't matter how good your idea if you can't execute it. Thomas Edison didn't conceive the lightbulb or even the tech to make it, he got one working and was able to market it. He was also a huge gaping asshole but that's beside the point...
"It's a conversation, not a broadcast." Great line! And a piece of advice I really need. I don't use a lot of social media, and I tend to just "post" but not discuss, not ask a lot of questions... or even reply to comments necessarily. I'll try to be more engaging in the future!
I can tell you this, earlier in the video when you referred to two of your other videos related to marketing, my brain went straight to "Ok, I'm going to have to watch those next because I'm interested". Basically, I was already interested in what you had to say about marketing right off the bat, because I've already witness your ability to make waves so to speak, but then I realized "Shit, he literally just marketed two of his other videos to me in this video without even trying", lol, well played Tim, well played. Marketing is definitely important, and everything you've said on this video makes a lot of sense, especially the part about experimentation, what works for you and your games, may not necessarily be the optimal method of marketing for me and my games, or John Doe and his games, etc..
1. Not thinking about marketing 2. Thinking marketing starts on launch day 3. Assuming a good game is good marketing 4. Thinking developers are your target market 5. Building a store page on a whim 6. Not working out loud 7. Not using visual mediums 8. Forcing a monetization model 9. Underpricing 10. Not engaging on social media 11. Relying only on social media 12. Blindly following without experimentation
This should have more views. This is a great video about marketing. Not even just for game development but marketing in general. Ive been studying marketing for the past year and a half and marketing is a rinse and repeat process. Everything from writing letter and blog posts to even video content. It's a thing you defiantly need to experiement with and the more formats you use for you marketing the better. One of the best ways I've noticed is "word of mouth". Talk about your game in scenes that have a lot of potential customers. E-mail also is a great way. E-mail publication's and see what they can do for you. And another marketing tool: "MAKE FRIENDS IN THE INDUSTRY" This is the most powerful tool you can use while trying to get your game out there or anything you're trying to sell for that matter.
Loved it. We are just starting and the first mistake, while testing traditional media range, was to think exposure meant downloads. We had 14 thousand views on each daily post, but only 250 downloads on our app. The test was just a week, but it was a good wake up call for the need to be very clear on what we need people to do, and focusing our message on that alone. Next time, while giving paper interviews, I'll make sure I'll be saying the word download on every single sentence :)
Hey man, thank you very much for sharing your experience. I really appreciate. Do you have any suggestions about a landing page for a mobile game? What are the best, easiest tools to use to make a beautiful page?
I noticed where in google play store, big companies photoshop screenahots, so nobody would see the real gameplay, only photoshopes images with tons of graphics elements... i dont know if its working but i ususaly do not download game where i cant see real gamrplay from screenshots... igs called screenhots not without reazon
Hey Tim, nice video man. The mistake I did for one of my product ( a jobsite ) : I did use only social media as a marketing platform and it wasn't a hit product. Although, I am going to change that now & would use several other mediums plus "Find out where the Target audience is and make them play my game & buy stuff" ..
Could you do a video explaining how iteration works in marketing? I honestly never really knew how to do it all. I've watched your other videos on marketing which is informative but the actual iteration process you always talk about still stumps me.
Disclaimer: My only knowledge comes from Tims videos and thinking along of them The iteration is simply put: take a small bugdet and test a thing; see if it works and if it seems like that try to make it work better, if not -> start again with something else Eg: take some money and buy facebook ads, experiment with the targetfilters and such -> see if it made any impact for your game/website/WhateverYoureAdvertising - if yes, do it again and try to improve something( the banner shown? the targeting filters? the landingpage/target they get brought to via that ad) - if no, try to move on to .. google ads? youtube ads? maybe contact indie-youtuber? Also( Tim mentions that somewhere) try different designs, like - if someone clicks your ad and comes to your landingpage, select one of different designs and in the end look which one worked best and use that Those are all just examples, the tl;dr version is just: experiment on a small scale and make the best working try bigger and better
Awesome video! I feel like marketing is always and will always be a grey area... from my point of view, it almost seems like marketing keeps changing and evolving faster than tech.
Hi Tim, Very informative video as usual. I am an artist currently developing a game with my brother. I have quite a few followers on some art community sites. I have done some fanart in the past which went viral. I plan on doing some more fanart and having a link in the description to my game's website. Do you think this is a valid way to market a game?
Not Tim, but you should think about opening an Instagram and Facebook page for your art. Then search around Instagram for people with similar art styles and try to trade likes and subscribes. Look into the people commenting on their posts as well. A good idea is to look into influencers and do fan art of them to try to get them to @ your art instagram. Focus on branding your art and when the time comes to launch the game, you'll have a good platform to share it. I'd also REALLY suggest looking into paid advertisement when the game launches. Talk to a few gamers and offer them the game and some bucks so they'll try and comment on your game. Use the standard facebook and instagram ads, they're REALLY cheap. You get TV levels of exposure on a budget you can afford. I'd also suggest making some sort of free content, like Tim is doing here. Small videos where people can see you make the art of your game in fast forward would be really interesting for instagram shorts. Reddit and other community websites are interesting ideas that work. But they're very "luck" based and unreliable. You can get a lot of attention from them and it's a fantastic way to get people interested. But having constant content that give people a reason to keep following is always the best way to keep that attention. TL;DR create an instagram and a facebook, possibly a youtube channel if you're into that. Create free content (work out loud) for people to see what you're doing. Get people excited. Paid ads aren't evil, they fucking work. Use community websites for a free initial out reach, but have a way to keep the people you get interested.
Thanks Rui, all sound advice. Before I started making games I was solely focused on concept art and digital painting and would share my work often, but since being so busy actually making a game I haven't been posting much work. I need to start engaging the community more. Thanks Again.
I have often made the mistake of been so worn out when I get to release...that the release get the least focus and work...which is just super stupid! Another thing, that I think many indie game devs go wrong, including myself, is that you don't value your own game. It's just the game, you played it 1000+ times, you been there all the way, know how it all work. So, the game is kind of boring. We/I often forget, players don't know all that stuff - to them it's new. So I'm really trying to keep being able to see my current game from a players perspective - meaning as an entertaining and fun game :)
Hi o/ It's been awhile since you Make that comment, but I Just clicked on the link to see it, and seeing the screenshots I thought "hmm, looks interesting, but actually, How is this make, let me look for a video, ir maybe a gif". So, put some motion there o/
I see this is an old comment but I figured I would address it. Probably best to find people who play the genre or something like the genre of game you develop and use hashtags related to your game in your posts. Find youtubers who play similar games or games with a similar style at least and send them a message about it and see if they would like a stream key or demo. Same goes for the game blogs you send a press kit to. Make sure they cover simular genres or at the very least they cover games on the same console. You can reach people with game vlogs on youtube by putting the genre of game in the title and tags of course and then tell them to follow you on other social media so that your community builds organically and you're not 100% relying on ad marketing until you have funds to do so. Good luck!
Amazig tips boss tim, im planning to start my dev vlog soon (after my exam) hope it will turn out positive,boss timcan you make vids on how to know your target market please?i find it hard to look for my target market
Tim: "I'm not an expert" Me: "Ok, unsubscribe..." LOL, just kidding. I got what you were trying to say. There's not a "formula" that goes like "ok do this and this and this and... PROFIT." Marketing stuff takes a lot of experimentation because I've seen that what worked for one game you make may or may not work for your next game.
Awesome to see you thriving in your path, mate. Fighting those outer dissent voices is one huge battle, but when you're able to do it, you're confronted with an even greater enemy: the inner voice - Smash that sucker!
You have great content, my wife has a request, can you sit back from the camera, I have you on a 42 inch screen and your head is kind of on the huge side on my screen :-) Secondly..... its a conversation not a broadcast is an entire philosophy. This is more than advice its a business plan. Great statement
Hey tim, can you please make a video practically. You have worked in a marketing company. So you know that how it works. Can you please make a video practically showing how much to invest and where, how to do, how to attract users etc... Please
David is correct; There is no one-size fits all A few things I can tell you that might help early, is to focus on your brand. Without branding, you don’t really have an identity to sell to a predestined audience. Which leads to the next point, which is that you need to create a target audience, for said branding. You can’t promote gore-based content on a children’s publication, just as you wouldn’t air Barney commercials on adult swim. This is why you need your audience. This also extends to your gameplay, so that you have a predetermined value to fall back on when you have to decide between cutting crafting and cutting a slow time mechanic. Is my game targeted to rpg gamers, with slight action elements, or is it targeted to action-based gamers with slight rpg elements? That’s a big decision to make, and would be much easier made with a target audience in mind. Furthermore: Build a website; Post content regularly; Get a MailChimp account (all your email marketing needs for the time being / See: Automation, Landing Pages, A-B Testing, HTML based Email Designer) ; Be consistent on social media Start creating excel sheets and scouring the internet for peoples emails. After you have stuff to show, try throwing out emails and promotional keys. Create a presskit() before you contact a media network. You can google what that is, but it’s essentially a way to keep track of your press release content. Like David, I’m not marketing expert; I’ve only got an entry level position, but much of this I learned from Tim There are other things to consider, such as SEO (search engine optimization), which would help immensely, as well as targeted ads, but like I said earlier..... entry level :)
You need to educate the crowd to buy your marketing if you have a clever marketing strategy, it is not a solution, it is a goal experimental marketing should not just follow the crowd but should not be so experimental that no one get its sales are tough but if you got the heart someone will know about your work just give it love, chick diggs if you give them some love love don't come easy but just don't following the blind marketing agency start your love by giving some love you will find love in the most obscured places but don't buy me love can't buy me love buy your own work buy in to your own talent love will come - but you need to have a great concept in the first place just don't give up chick will digg your love love yourself LOL
I have been marketing my game but im having difficulties finding my target audiance. I have a very niche game. Its a tactical turn based game with real time simulation moments. its sort of like frozen synaps but also very different. Its a very celebral game. I have no clue where to finde my target audiance. Any advice on the matter would be very apriciated.
I released a game called GAIN two years ago (its shit) -- store.steampowered.com/app/458450/GAIN/ I learned quite a lot too, Here are my top 3 tips 1. You cant sell a shit product if you're indie. There are so many games that you're competing with. If you don't have a quality product, you wont even have the chance to go viral 2. Press is overrated At one point, rockpapershotgun or IGN made a huge difference to your game sales, not anymore.. A review by them may get a few thousands impressions more, but nothing great will happen unless there is interest from the fans already. 3. Be careful of UA-camrs/twitch streamers. A lot of youtubers are requesting keys and reselling them on sites like G2A. Dont hand over a key just because someone request it. It doesnt always lead to more sales, sometimes its the opposite since the your game can be bought so cheaply that its seen as worthless. Check the youtuber's history with indie games in general and their reputation with the fans. There are loads more but in short, do your research and make a great game. Marketing is easy if you have a quality product on your hands.
When people put their game on Itch as pay you want, do people abuse this and only pay a penny? I've had no experience on this but as I get closer to releasing something, it's on my mind, as I would like people to genuinely pay what they think it's worth.
GrimDjim In my experience, people usually won't donate, especially on itch.io since you are asked to donate before trying the game. But it may differ between countries and cultures and It depends on the game itself. In my opinion, setting a minumum price and asking if they can pay more might be better.
yaser alosh totally agree... but when you notice DDLC: the game is free but absolutely worth at least $10. The fanpack includes a soundtrack and some wallpapers and art and sells for $10. Obviously ovwrpriced but people love the game so much and want to support the developer for releasing it for free, so they are willing to "buy" it even though it's really a donation.
fl333r Yeah this is a very good idea as well, gamers might feel they are getting something useful out of the donation (apart from supporting the developer)
If people talked about their games and their journey as much as they talked about their usually ill informed political opinions, they'd be making a lot more money on their games.
Thing about pricing may not be accurate anymore, as more and more people actually complain about games costing TOO much than costing too little. A game with 2-3 hours of content that costs $5 will be more well recieved and less controversial than if you sold the game for $20. Look at Firewatch, a 1-2 hour game, sold for $20 and how it started a debate over cost, it likely LOST sales over it's price. People don't look at a cheap game and go, "it sucks". Now people look at a 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 dollar game and go "it sucks". Gamers are horrifically unpredictably and picky in ways many fail to realize.
No it still works, Firewatch was a hit indie game that too the sweet ride of pewdiepie and others with them. For the other 95% of games that don't get big, pricing is a huge factor. Not many people buy the cheapest games when they're off sale, I do it all the time I look for the £2-4 games over the 70p ones. comparing the AAA £40 market is unfair because we do expect more from those games, nobody in the history of man has expected 50 hours of content from an indie for £20 or less.
A mistake I made: thinking my game was so outrageous and newfangled that it couldn't be ignored. You can easily be ignored. Don't assume press, even indie gaming press, will cover your game.
How is it called?
@@qwertykonrad Patchman, I guess... ua-cam.com/channels/nVUmbtytNZc9ngdsvkgjig.html
everyone thinks their ideas are good.
@@DrWho2008t101 It doesn't matter how good your idea if you can't execute it. Thomas Edison didn't conceive the lightbulb or even the tech to make it, he got one working and was able to market it. He was also a huge gaping asshole but that's beside the point...
@@Jesse-um1pz i agree execution is key.
"It's a conversation, not a broadcast." Great line! And a piece of advice I really need. I don't use a lot of social media, and I tend to just "post" but not discuss, not ask a lot of questions... or even reply to comments necessarily. I'll try to be more engaging in the future!
I can tell you this, earlier in the video when you referred to two of your other videos related to marketing, my brain went straight to "Ok, I'm going to have to watch those next because I'm interested". Basically, I was already interested in what you had to say about marketing right off the bat, because I've already witness your ability to make waves so to speak, but then I realized "Shit, he literally just marketed two of his other videos to me in this video without even trying", lol, well played Tim, well played. Marketing is definitely important, and everything you've said on this video makes a lot of sense, especially the part about experimentation, what works for you and your games, may not necessarily be the optimal method of marketing for me and my games, or John Doe and his games, etc..
1. Not thinking about marketing
2. Thinking marketing starts on launch day
3. Assuming a good game is good marketing
4. Thinking developers are your target market
5. Building a store page on a whim
6. Not working out loud
7. Not using visual mediums
8. Forcing a monetization model
9. Underpricing
10. Not engaging on social media
11. Relying only on social media
12. Blindly following without experimentation
This should have more views.
This is a great video about marketing. Not even just for game development but marketing in general. Ive been studying marketing for the past year and a half and marketing is a rinse and repeat process. Everything from writing letter and blog posts to even video content. It's a thing you defiantly need to experiement with and the more formats you use for you marketing the better.
One of the best ways I've noticed is "word of mouth". Talk about your game in scenes that have a lot of potential customers. E-mail also is a great way. E-mail publication's and see what they can do for you. And another marketing tool: "MAKE FRIENDS IN THE INDUSTRY" This is the most powerful tool you can use while trying to get your game out there or anything you're trying to sell for that matter.
Really enjoying your videos! This is exactly the information I’m looking for at this moment. Thank you!
Right on time for our release! :D
Thanks for the sharing on twitter btw. Keep it up!
great pieces of advice!!! really it changed a lot of wrong ideas stuck in my brain!!!! thanks
Great tips! I'm glad to find that most of these tips are things that I already keep in mind but there were some that I never thought about before
So much effort has put in the video! Great tips, Tim! Thanks!
That was a really nice video Tim!
even though this video is old this has been eye opening to me thank you!
What do you mean we don't get blessed by the sales fairy...
Interesting video :) thanks for the tips!
good stuff. thanks for the video.
what type of hastag should i use on twitter?
Loved it. We are just starting and the first mistake, while testing traditional media range, was to think exposure meant downloads. We had 14 thousand views on each daily post, but only 250 downloads on our app. The test was just a week, but it was a good wake up call for the need to be very clear on what we need people to do, and focusing our message on that alone. Next time, while giving paper interviews, I'll make sure I'll be saying the word download on every single sentence :)
Hey man, thank you very much for sharing your experience. I really appreciate.
Do you have any suggestions about a landing page for a mobile game? What are the best, easiest tools to use to make a beautiful page?
Love the marketing tips, thanks!
oh .. i did everything wrong on my first games.. Thank you SOO MUCH! Sooo usefull tips thank you Tim!
Great video! Thanks!
most people in gamedev don't seem to understand the value of marketing, great video
very important video....
thamx tim
Excellent video! I can definitely see some room for improvement even though I post to Instagram and update my Itchio devlog daily.
thanks for the great info
I noticed where in google play store, big companies photoshop screenahots, so nobody would see the real gameplay, only photoshopes images with tons of graphics elements... i dont know if its working but i ususaly do not download game where i cant see real gamrplay from screenshots... igs called screenhots not without reazon
Hey Tim, nice video man. The mistake I did for one of my product ( a jobsite ) : I did use only social media as a marketing platform and it wasn't a hit product. Although, I am going to change that now & would use several other mediums plus "Find out where the Target audience is and make them play my game & buy stuff" ..
an expert is a person that knows a little more than the average person. i think you're semi expert on the subject. thanks for the video.
3:08 CRICKETS XD
=)
I can create some nice screenshots and promotional material, but how do you get people to see it?
Could you do a video explaining how iteration works in marketing? I honestly never really knew how to do it all. I've watched your other videos on marketing which is informative but the actual iteration process you always talk about still stumps me.
Disclaimer: My only knowledge comes from Tims videos and thinking along of them
The iteration is simply put: take a small bugdet and test a thing; see if it works and if it seems like that try to make it work better, if not -> start again with something else
Eg: take some money and buy facebook ads, experiment with the targetfilters and such -> see if it made any impact for your game/website/WhateverYoureAdvertising - if yes, do it again and try to improve something( the banner shown? the targeting filters? the landingpage/target they get brought to via that ad) - if no, try to move on to .. google ads? youtube ads? maybe contact indie-youtuber?
Also( Tim mentions that somewhere) try different designs, like - if someone clicks your ad and comes to your landingpage, select one of different designs and in the end look which one worked best and use that
Those are all just examples, the tl;dr version is just: experiment on a small scale and make the best working try bigger and better
Thanks man!
can u make like a guideline or a checklist for us to use please? :)
Well said GFU haha thank you
Will you / have you spoken about Early Access?
11:09 can you tell me the name? I want to follow more of these ppl :) Very motivating :)
Awesome video! I feel like marketing is always and will always be a grey area... from my point of view, it almost seems like marketing keeps changing and evolving faster than tech.
dude u real af
Hi Tim, Very informative video as usual. I am an artist currently developing a game with my brother. I have quite a few followers on some art community sites. I have done some fanart in the past which went viral. I plan on doing some more fanart and having a link in the description to my game's website. Do you think this is a valid way to market a game?
Not Tim, but you should think about opening an Instagram and Facebook page for your art. Then search around Instagram for people with similar art styles and try to trade likes and subscribes. Look into the people commenting on their posts as well. A good idea is to look into influencers and do fan art of them to try to get them to @ your art instagram.
Focus on branding your art and when the time comes to launch the game, you'll have a good platform to share it.
I'd also REALLY suggest looking into paid advertisement when the game launches. Talk to a few gamers and offer them the game and some bucks so they'll try and comment on your game. Use the standard facebook and instagram ads, they're REALLY cheap. You get TV levels of exposure on a budget you can afford. I'd also suggest making some sort of free content, like Tim is doing here. Small videos where people can see you make the art of your game in fast forward would be really interesting for instagram shorts.
Reddit and other community websites are interesting ideas that work. But they're very "luck" based and unreliable. You can get a lot of attention from them and it's a fantastic way to get people interested. But having constant content that give people a reason to keep following is always the best way to keep that attention.
TL;DR create an instagram and a facebook, possibly a youtube channel if you're into that. Create free content (work out loud) for people to see what you're doing. Get people excited. Paid ads aren't evil, they fucking work. Use community websites for a free initial out reach, but have a way to keep the people you get interested.
Thanks Rui, all sound advice. Before I started making games I was solely focused on concept art and digital painting and would share my work often, but since being so busy actually making a game I haven't been posting much work. I need to start engaging the community more. Thanks Again.
good points
Great video overall. I think that the music, even in those few seconds, is too loud and covers your voice partially :(
I have often made the mistake of been so worn out when I get to release...that the release get the least focus and work...which is just super stupid!
Another thing, that I think many indie game devs go wrong, including myself, is that you don't value your own game. It's just the game, you played it 1000+ times, you been there all the way, know how it all work. So, the game is kind of boring. We/I often forget, players don't know all that stuff - to them it's new.
So I'm really trying to keep being able to see my current game from a players perspective - meaning as an entertaining and fun game :)
I've been watching you for a while and just got my first prototype up on Itch.io, would it be inappropriate to plug it here to ask for opinions?
robodudegames.itch.io/rdgs-botbattle-the-prototype well, here it is anyways.
Hi o/
It's been awhile since you Make that comment, but I Just clicked on the link to see it, and seeing the screenshots I thought "hmm, looks interesting, but actually, How is this make, let me look for a video, ir maybe a gif".
So, put some motion there o/
Please text MAIN IDEA on screen when you speak, it easy to summary your sharing.
1. Mistake 1....
2. Mistake 2....
haha i been binging your videos and they are super insightful and helpful and you are funny as fuck
Any thoughts on finding out more information about one's target audience, besides engaging in social media (especially if the audience feels obscure)?
I see this is an old comment but I figured I would address it. Probably best to find people who play the genre or something like the genre of game you develop and use hashtags related to your game in your posts. Find youtubers who play similar games or games with a similar style at least and send them a message about it and see if they would like a stream key or demo. Same goes for the game blogs you send a press kit to. Make sure they cover simular genres or at the very least they cover games on the same console. You can reach people with game vlogs on youtube by putting the genre of game in the title and tags of course and then tell them to follow you on other social media so that your community builds organically and you're not 100% relying on ad marketing until you have funds to do so. Good luck!
Amazig tips boss tim, im planning to start my dev vlog soon (after my exam) hope it will turn out positive,boss timcan you make vids on how to know your target market please?i find it hard to look for my target market
Making a few of these mistakes right now :(
Making the mistake is not the problem, knowing you make the mistake and make it regardless is the problem!
Tim: "I'm not an expert"
Me: "Ok, unsubscribe..."
LOL, just kidding. I got what you were trying to say. There's not a "formula" that goes like "ok do this and this and this and... PROFIT." Marketing stuff takes a lot of experimentation because I've seen that what worked for one game you make may or may not work for your next game.
Awesome to see you thriving in your path, mate. Fighting those outer dissent voices is one huge battle, but when you're able to do it, you're confronted with an even greater enemy: the inner voice - Smash that sucker!
A really bad piece of marketing I remember... *Augment your pre-order!*
Prior to marketing, its a good idea to get all the copyrights and trademarks in place.
My question would be how do you market a game that is very casual about sexuality to people without offending those that are prudish?
You have great content, my wife has a request, can you sit back from the camera, I have you on a 42 inch screen and your head is kind of on the huge side on my screen :-)
Secondly..... its a conversation not a broadcast is an entire philosophy. This is more than advice its a business plan. Great statement
My thoughts is at least start thinking about your pricing before any polish
Hey tim, can you please make a video practically. You have worked in a marketing company. So you know that how it works. Can you please make a video practically showing how much to invest and where, how to do, how to attract users etc... Please
David is correct; There is no one-size fits all
A few things I can tell you that might help early, is to focus on your brand. Without branding, you don’t really have an identity to sell to a predestined audience. Which leads to the next point, which is that you need to create a target audience, for said branding.
You can’t promote gore-based content on a children’s publication, just as you wouldn’t air Barney commercials on adult swim. This is why you need your audience. This also extends to your gameplay, so that you have a predetermined value to fall back on when you have to decide between cutting crafting and cutting a slow time mechanic. Is my game targeted to rpg gamers, with slight action elements, or is it targeted to action-based gamers with slight rpg elements?
That’s a big decision to make, and would be much easier made with a target audience in mind.
Furthermore:
Build a website; Post content regularly; Get a MailChimp account (all your email marketing needs for the time being / See: Automation, Landing Pages, A-B Testing, HTML based Email Designer) ; Be consistent on social media
Start creating excel sheets and scouring the internet for peoples emails.
After you have stuff to show, try throwing out emails and promotional keys. Create a presskit() before you contact a media network. You can google what that is, but it’s essentially a way to keep track of your press release content.
Like David, I’m not marketing expert; I’ve only got an entry level position, but much of this I learned from Tim
There are other things to consider, such as SEO (search engine optimization), which would help immensely, as well as targeted ads, but like I said earlier..... entry level :)
You need to educate the crowd to buy your marketing
if you have a clever marketing strategy, it is not a solution, it is a goal
experimental marketing should not just follow the crowd but should not be so experimental that no one get its
sales are tough but if you got the heart someone will know about your work just give it love, chick diggs if you give them some love
love don't come easy
but just don't following the blind marketing agency start your love by giving some love you will find love in the most obscured places
but don't buy me love
can't buy me love
buy your own work buy in to your own talent
love will come - but you need to have a great concept in the first place just don't give up chick will digg your love
love yourself LOL
I have been marketing my game but im having difficulties finding my target audiance. I have a very niche game. Its a tactical turn based game with real time simulation moments. its sort of like frozen synaps but also very different. Its a very celebral game. I have no clue where to finde my target audiance. Any advice on the matter would be very apriciated.
I released a game called GAIN two years ago (its shit) -- store.steampowered.com/app/458450/GAIN/
I learned quite a lot too, Here are my top 3 tips
1. You cant sell a shit product if you're indie.
There are so many games that you're competing with. If you don't have a quality product, you wont even have the chance to go viral
2. Press is overrated
At one point, rockpapershotgun or IGN made a huge difference to your game sales, not anymore.. A review by them may get a few thousands impressions more, but nothing great will happen unless there is interest from the fans already.
3. Be careful of UA-camrs/twitch streamers.
A lot of youtubers are requesting keys and reselling them on sites like G2A. Dont hand over a key just because someone request it. It doesnt always lead to more sales, sometimes its the opposite since the your game can be bought so cheaply that its seen as worthless. Check the youtuber's history with indie games in general and their reputation with the fans.
There are loads more but in short, do your research and make a great game. Marketing is easy if you have a quality product on your hands.
Hi guys We are developing game for xbox one who can give me a advice
"Test it out and see if it works" --> 99% of game development
The music between the points is quite distracting. I'd advice on changing or removing it completely in next videos!
When people put their game on Itch as pay you want, do people abuse this and only pay a penny? I've had no experience on this but as I get closer to releasing something, it's on my mind, as I would like people to genuinely pay what they think it's worth.
GrimDjim In my experience, people usually won't donate, especially on itch.io since you are asked to donate before trying the game. But it may differ between countries and cultures and It depends on the game itself. In my opinion, setting a minumum price and asking if they can pay more might be better.
yaser alosh totally agree... but when you notice DDLC: the game is free but absolutely worth at least $10.
The fanpack includes a soundtrack and some wallpapers and art and sells for $10. Obviously ovwrpriced but people love the game so much and want to support the developer for releasing it for free, so they are willing to "buy" it even though it's really a donation.
fl333r Yeah this is a very good idea as well, gamers might feel they are getting something useful out of the donation (apart from supporting the developer)
probably another "sin": not knowing english well enough to present your game on the biggest market.(for not native english speakers)
If people talked about their games and their journey as much as they talked about their usually ill informed political opinions, they'd be making a lot more money on their games.
Thing about pricing may not be accurate anymore, as more and more people actually complain about games costing TOO much than costing too little. A game with 2-3 hours of content that costs $5 will be more well recieved and less controversial than if you sold the game for $20. Look at Firewatch, a 1-2 hour game, sold for $20 and how it started a debate over cost, it likely LOST sales over it's price.
People don't look at a cheap game and go, "it sucks". Now people look at a 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 dollar game and go "it sucks".
Gamers are horrifically unpredictably and picky in ways many fail to realize.
No it still works, Firewatch was a hit indie game that too the sweet ride of pewdiepie and others with them. For the other 95% of games that don't get big, pricing is a huge factor. Not many people buy the cheapest games when they're off sale, I do it all the time I look for the £2-4 games over the 70p ones. comparing the AAA £40 market is unfair because we do expect more from those games, nobody in the history of man has expected 50 hours of content from an indie for £20 or less.
Your content is really good, but why do you always look too sleepy...
First.
i get bored watching your video because you only talk about what not to do. please tell us some hands on tips on what to do!