Promoting your indie game: the most important nuances that nobody knows about
Greetings
This material contains the best tips for novice game developers. Some of these tips helped me a lot with the work, especially those related to the preparation of emails for gamers. The material will be interesting both to those who already have experience and want to analyze it, and to novice indie developers in order to avoid the most common cliches and mistakes.
A long time ago, indie game developers recognized marketing as unnecessary and almost completely ignored it. But now, most developers recognize its necessity and make some efforts in this direction, but their knowledge is not enough to really stand out. In this article, we will look at the art of marketing and describe how you can use it to increase the visibility of your game.
Developers of indie games will remember 2008 forever, because around this time some innovative developers began to produce genre masterpieces. Games like Braid and World of Goo helped us recall the original meaning of game development: creativity, passion, and, most importantly, going beyond. Add to this the launch of the App Store in July 2008 - and now, millions of coders and game development studios have embarked on this path, absorbed by the prospect of wealth and fame.
')
Most of these novice developers took time to hone their skills, since the games they released attracted little interest precisely because they were not good enough. It is clear that such developers have not earned a lot of money.
However, later worthy developers appeared who created good and sometimes great games. In fact, their games were so good that the developers expected the gaming community to accept them with open arms and buy their products like hotcakes.
It should be said that many such developers remained at the broken trough.
If they can, why can't you?
So what's the problem? The catch is that almost everyone started developing games, which made this area blessed and damned at the same time. Since a lot of games are released every day, it became very difficult to get fame and recognition, regardless of the quality of the game. In short, having put a lot of effort into game development, most developers failed to conduct proper marketing - the same thing we often see today.
Before going into details, it is important to dispel the myth that marketing should begin only after the release of the game. As you probably already know, most sales of the game take place in the first few weeks and even days after release. If they do not know about you and your game until they are released, your sales during this period will suffer.
Thus, instead of waiting for some incomprehensible right moment, we advise you to follow one general rule:
You should report everything that deserves attention: whether it is some kind of completed stage of work, a screenshot from Photoshop program or a small demo where the “chips” of your product are shown - it is important to stir up a stir. From this point you need to consistently demonstrate the progress of the development of your game.
Tip: Although we recommend starting marketing as early as possible, the last thing you need to do is start publishing screenshots of your unfinished game wherever you can, especially if you are in the software design phase. Google doesn’t like to delete such images, so believe me, after such publications, you will be paid increased attention during the entire development cycle of your game.
What should each development team do
So you decided to start your marketing campaign before the game’s release date. Good. And now what? Let's start with the main thing. You need:
There aren't many trailers. For games and videos of the AAA category, dozens of teasers, short and full-length trailers are released, and there it is justified. If you decide to release several videos, you can easily ignore the previous rule and in each video represent one aspect of the gameplay. For example, in one trailer it is possible to demonstrate battles, in the other - the game world and history, and to devote the third trailer exclusively to the main character. Be sure to distribute them - this is the best way to create hype.
You can create websites, developer blogs, and distribute trailers around the world, but if no one knows who you are, then it's no good. Perhaps the most difficult thing in marketing a game is to inform the audience about its existence. After they find out about you, everything else will be quite simple. Naturally, this “trifle” will really help, as really ... a good and interesting game.
Let's see how you can make people talk about your game without coercion.
So, I have an account, but why does nobody follow me?
Social media
We have already said that social media is an integral part of a marketing campaign. But how to become an Internet superstar from a nouneyma?
Tips for posting on Twitter
Of all the social media sites, Twitter provides developers with easy and direct access to their potential fans, members of the press and other developers. Use Twitter, learn and hone technology work with him. And as a bonus, some tips:
A few more tips on social media:
To illustrate the last point, this tweet is great:
Or look at the post-reflection:
Despite the strong myth that game developers are vampires who live in dark cellars, going out and attending various events is one of the most reasonable ways to promote your game. I promise you won't turn into ashes.
But in order to get a stand at such major events as, for example, RAX, you need to allocate some funds from your budget for travel and accommodation. If you have money, everything is fine. But if you have a limited budget, consider the possibility of cooperation with Indie Mega Booth. With the help of these guys, decent game developers can get the opportunity to participate in the Arts for just $ 500 - a great deal.
Even better, send your game to IndieCade for only 80 bucks. This is not a guarantee of participation in the festival, but if you are approved, the effect of this with a reserve will override all your initial costs.
Even if you can not afford to have a stand at the exhibition or you were refused at the festival - do not despair. Start using social opportunities extensively: hand out flyers, CDs with a demo version of your game, flyers with the words “Buy my game” - all to attract gamers' attention to your product.
You understand, being a game developer, it is very important to be in contact with other developers, but even more important is to contact people who will play your game. Various game meetings will help you to achieve this, as by meeting with your target audience, you will be able to draw attention to yourself and your game. In addition, at such events, gamers will be able to play your game, and you can get adequate feedback.
Crowdsourcing is usually seen as an opportunity to get a budget for creating your game, but it can be effectively used for marketing purposes. Our project Hiro Fodder: A Blue Hope, which we are currently working on, with the help of this tool won in several directions.
First, we had to create a video and make a detailed description of our product. Secondly, our page was visited thousands of times within a month. And although our project supported only 300 people, a lot of people learned about our little RPG. And finally, even though we didn’t expect it, we communicated a lot with other developers, registering even with programmers for one project, which had 1500 supporters. We worked together with the developers of Echoes of Eternea and helped them to make their game a reality.
If we knew from the very beginning how much time it takes to develop a 20-30 hour RPG! But do not worry, we are already ending!
Kickstarter: a great option to make friends and raise money.
The most pleasant thing is that a huge number of journalists work at such sites, who follow new projects. Several journalists wrote articles about Hiro Fodder without even asking us. Now we have established quite good relations with these authors and, of course, we will turn to them when we approach the release date of our game.
You can write a separate article on working with the press. This is such an important part of the marketing campaign that to neglect it means only one thing: you will put your game at a disadvantage in advance. But just to inform the press about your game is not enough - you need to do it effectively.
We have prepared some tips for you:
People do send such emails, but you won't do that.
When communicating with the press by email:
By the time the alpha version of your game appears, you should consider several possibilities for further advancement:
Really great for indie games.
Here we come to summarizing. So, the marketing of the game is no less important than its debugging and testing. Without marketing, you are completely dependent on those players who learn about you on their own, because you don’t tell them anything. Of course, if you win in some well-known competition, or some large distributor chooses you - no questions, it is likely that you can do without marketing. However, everyone else can not do without it.
It is not necessary to comply with all the points that we have listed in this article. But at least we recommend that you:
If you do at least this - the chances of successful promotion of your brand will definitely increase. Good marketing!
The only remark that Twitter is more suitable for communication with foreign colleagues and journalists. In the CIS, social networks Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and Facebook are still stronger.
This material contains the best tips for novice game developers. Some of these tips helped me a lot with the work, especially those related to the preparation of emails for gamers. The material will be interesting both to those who already have experience and want to analyze it, and to novice indie developers in order to avoid the most common cliches and mistakes.
A long time ago, indie game developers recognized marketing as unnecessary and almost completely ignored it. But now, most developers recognize its necessity and make some efforts in this direction, but their knowledge is not enough to really stand out. In this article, we will look at the art of marketing and describe how you can use it to increase the visibility of your game.
What is the problem?
Developers of indie games will remember 2008 forever, because around this time some innovative developers began to produce genre masterpieces. Games like Braid and World of Goo helped us recall the original meaning of game development: creativity, passion, and, most importantly, going beyond. Add to this the launch of the App Store in July 2008 - and now, millions of coders and game development studios have embarked on this path, absorbed by the prospect of wealth and fame.
')
Most of these novice developers took time to hone their skills, since the games they released attracted little interest precisely because they were not good enough. It is clear that such developers have not earned a lot of money.
However, later worthy developers appeared who created good and sometimes great games. In fact, their games were so good that the developers expected the gaming community to accept them with open arms and buy their products like hotcakes.
It should be said that many such developers remained at the broken trough.
If they can, why can't you?
So what's the problem? The catch is that almost everyone started developing games, which made this area blessed and damned at the same time. Since a lot of games are released every day, it became very difficult to get fame and recognition, regardless of the quality of the game. In short, having put a lot of effort into game development, most developers failed to conduct proper marketing - the same thing we often see today.
When to start marketing your game
Before going into details, it is important to dispel the myth that marketing should begin only after the release of the game. As you probably already know, most sales of the game take place in the first few weeks and even days after release. If they do not know about you and your game until they are released, your sales during this period will suffer.
Thus, instead of waiting for some incomprehensible right moment, we advise you to follow one general rule:
Start your marketing campaign when you already have something that displays the main base and design of your game.
You should report everything that deserves attention: whether it is some kind of completed stage of work, a screenshot from Photoshop program or a small demo where the “chips” of your product are shown - it is important to stir up a stir. From this point you need to consistently demonstrate the progress of the development of your game.
Tip: Although we recommend starting marketing as early as possible, the last thing you need to do is start publishing screenshots of your unfinished game wherever you can, especially if you are in the software design phase. Google doesn’t like to delete such images, so believe me, after such publications, you will be paid increased attention during the entire development cycle of your game.
What should each development team do
So you decided to start your marketing campaign before the game’s release date. Good. And now what? Let's start with the main thing. You need:
- Website: Regardless of which site you have: one for all your games or for each game has its own site, you need to make it convenient and constantly updated. On the main page, we recommend placing an extended description of the game, interesting screenshots (by the way, it’s not always interesting to watch UI images) and relevant links. It will not be superfluous to create a separate page for the media, where images and video will be stored.
- Working with social media: Sorry, of course, but without it, nowhere. At a minimum, you have to create a page on Facebook and Twitter - this is quite enough if you have a small game. But in general, we recommend creating pages in all major social networks. A little more about this, we will tell below.
- Developer's blog: Often there is much less benefit from blogs than from a website or pages on social networks, but for some reason gamers and developers like to read about achievements and victories on the way to creating a game. A blog should be kept alive, as if addressing its readers - and you will get feedback. Create publications as needed, but avoid posts where you describe fixes for the slightest bugs or other trivialities. The purpose of such blogs is to demonstrate that the game is evolving.
- Trailers: Of course, trailers cannot be done at the initial stage, but this is probably one of the most mandatory steps that you must take in order to attract people's attention to your game. Do not overload trailers with titles and do not think that in order to create a successful trailer, you must be an expert cinematographer. Focus on showing every aspect of the gameplay at least once in your trailer, displaying your company name (you have it, right?) And reduce the number of animated screensavers.
There aren't many trailers. For games and videos of the AAA category, dozens of teasers, short and full-length trailers are released, and there it is justified. If you decide to release several videos, you can easily ignore the previous rule and in each video represent one aspect of the gameplay. For example, in one trailer it is possible to demonstrate battles, in the other - the game world and history, and to devote the third trailer exclusively to the main character. Be sure to distribute them - this is the best way to create hype.
Be public!
You can create websites, developer blogs, and distribute trailers around the world, but if no one knows who you are, then it's no good. Perhaps the most difficult thing in marketing a game is to inform the audience about its existence. After they find out about you, everything else will be quite simple. Naturally, this “trifle” will really help, as really ... a good and interesting game.
Let's see how you can make people talk about your game without coercion.
So, I have an account, but why does nobody follow me?
Social media
We have already said that social media is an integral part of a marketing campaign. But how to become an Internet superstar from a nouneyma?
Tips for posting on Twitter
Of all the social media sites, Twitter provides developers with easy and direct access to their potential fans, members of the press and other developers. Use Twitter, learn and hone technology work with him. And as a bonus, some tips:
- Do not use Twitter to search for random journalists - no one likes to waste their time in vain. Consider this site as an opportunity to find out which genres of games most attract the press. Do not be afraid to respond to their tweets, but do it only when you have something to say, essentially. If you're lucky, the journalists and the press will sign up for you, and then when you begin to tweet about your game, you have a good chance that they will see your tweets.
- If the press liked your tweet and someone retweeted you, it means you are doing everything right. Of course, this does not mean that you should immediately publish your half-finished game, but this is an indication that after your game is ready, someone will react to it with genuine interest.
- Publish information about updates to your game during peak hours, ideally from 11.00 to 23.00. Even better is the publication of news twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. (If you publish the news in the middle of the night, then by the time your subscribers wake up and check their news feeds, your message will be practically killed by other messages).
- Among game developers, there is a tendency to subscribe to everyone who makes indie games. Such "serial subscribers" often pursue the goal of mutual follow-up, and are not interested in your developments. But if you do not subscribe to them in response, believe me, they will unsubscribe from you so quickly that you do not have time to blink an eye.
- Do not become a "serial subscriber." Subscribe only to those you are interested to read. For example, developers of indie games that you like are a great choice for a subscription, as are indie game websites. In the beginning, it’s acceptable that the number of people you subscribe to exceeds your subscribers, but it’s still much better to be subscribed to 500 people and have 1000 subscribers than subscribe to 2500 people and have 3000 followers. If you belong to the second category, chances are high that you became a “serial subscriber,” understand?
- The hashtags #gamedev and #ScreenshotSaturday should be your best friends.
A few more tips on social media:
- The IndieGaming subforum on reddit.com is a great place to put together your YouTube trailers, thumbnails, reviews and demos. Locate the Steam Greenlight link r / greenlight quality. But whatever you do - do not start your publications with “cheap” words that tell nothing to the readers. For example, I can not say anything about the game, posted in the publication titled "Innovative 2D RPG with the latest game mechanics and an epic storyline."
- Your site must be linked to your social media accounts. Your Twitter feed should have links to your Facebook page and your site. On your Facebook page ... well, you get the idea.
- It is better not to have any website and social networking pages at all, than to have a website with outdated information and a social media page that has not been updated for weeks. Keep them up to date.
- If you want to report on the Internet about your mistakes - do it with humor. The same principle works with ads.
To illustrate the last point, this tweet is great:
After two years of work, sleepless nights and ignoring our wives, we finally release a demo version of #EchoesofEternea. #gamedev
Or look at the post-reflection:
The difference between creating a two-hour platform game and a 20-hour RPG: 62 gray hairs, 7 doctor visits and 2,000 hours. #gamedev
Exhibitions and gaming events
Despite the strong myth that game developers are vampires who live in dark cellars, going out and attending various events is one of the most reasonable ways to promote your game. I promise you won't turn into ashes.
But in order to get a stand at such major events as, for example, RAX, you need to allocate some funds from your budget for travel and accommodation. If you have money, everything is fine. But if you have a limited budget, consider the possibility of cooperation with Indie Mega Booth. With the help of these guys, decent game developers can get the opportunity to participate in the Arts for just $ 500 - a great deal.
Even better, send your game to IndieCade for only 80 bucks. This is not a guarantee of participation in the festival, but if you are approved, the effect of this with a reserve will override all your initial costs.
Even if you can not afford to have a stand at the exhibition or you were refused at the festival - do not despair. Start using social opportunities extensively: hand out flyers, CDs with a demo version of your game, flyers with the words “Buy my game” - all to attract gamers' attention to your product.
You understand, being a game developer, it is very important to be in contact with other developers, but even more important is to contact people who will play your game. Various game meetings will help you to achieve this, as by meeting with your target audience, you will be able to draw attention to yourself and your game. In addition, at such events, gamers will be able to play your game, and you can get adequate feedback.
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is usually seen as an opportunity to get a budget for creating your game, but it can be effectively used for marketing purposes. Our project Hiro Fodder: A Blue Hope, which we are currently working on, with the help of this tool won in several directions.
First, we had to create a video and make a detailed description of our product. Secondly, our page was visited thousands of times within a month. And although our project supported only 300 people, a lot of people learned about our little RPG. And finally, even though we didn’t expect it, we communicated a lot with other developers, registering even with programmers for one project, which had 1500 supporters. We worked together with the developers of Echoes of Eternea and helped them to make their game a reality.
If we knew from the very beginning how much time it takes to develop a 20-30 hour RPG! But do not worry, we are already ending!
Kickstarter: a great option to make friends and raise money.
The most pleasant thing is that a huge number of journalists work at such sites, who follow new projects. Several journalists wrote articles about Hiro Fodder without even asking us. Now we have established quite good relations with these authors and, of course, we will turn to them when we approach the release date of our game.
Press contacts
You can write a separate article on working with the press. This is such an important part of the marketing campaign that to neglect it means only one thing: you will put your game at a disadvantage in advance. But just to inform the press about your game is not enough - you need to do it effectively.
We have prepared some tips for you:
- Be realistic: Before contacting the leaders of gaming communities, determine what you want to achieve. You probably will not ask IGN to write about your Match-3 game, but you can always turn to smaller magazines that write mostly about indie games. If your game is already reported by quite a few not very large editions - do not stop there. What is wrong if you tell about your future game in Kotaku or Joystiq?
- Choose the right websites: This is obvious, but still repeat it again: if you are targeting mobile devices, do not contact magazines that write about PCs. You might be surprised to learn how often developers make such mistakes: for example, they write to PC Gamer about their revolutionary new game for Android.
- Be yourself: you are not writing a cover letter, so when dealing with representatives of the press behave a little differently. Such a beginning of the letter as “[Company X] proudly presents you an innovative game, which has no analogues ...”, believe me, it repels. Start with something simple, like "Hello." Tell us who you are, what game you have done, provide some links to the media information about the game or its demo version. If you want to add something briefly - feel free to add. Remember: journalists receive dozens of similar emails from developers every day. So do not be impudent, talk about business and never hear, never talk about how you like their site or publication. Podliz do not like.
People do send such emails, but you won't do that.
When communicating with the press by email:
- Remember to send press copies of your game to the press.
- Do not impose your opinion on them. It may seem to you that your game is fun and entertaining, but let them form their own opinion.
- Do not forget to indicate the uniqueness of your game, its distinctive features. Usually they talk about the mechanics of the game. For example, our uniqueness is that the game has the ability to transfer the accumulated Bonus Points to the following levels, with the help of which you can carry out aggressive attacks when a threat to your hero occurs. Is it revolutionary? Not. But unique, yes.
- Do not wait. Reviews are unlikely to help you if they come out after 3 weeks from the day the game was released. Best of all, if in the press your game will be mentioned several weeks or even months before the release date.
Late marketing stage
By the time the alpha version of your game appears, you should consider several possibilities for further advancement:
- Alpha Fanding: Medium-sized online distributors, such as Desura, offer a service that allows those who like your game to play an unfinished game and monitor its development. Plus, they can contribute money to its development. This is something like Kickstarter, except for one detail: you have to give your fans a great game. This is a really interesting tool that will make your fans look forward to your release date.
- Steam Greenlight: When we first started writing this article, it was quite difficult to get into the Greenlight. Now there are so many games being taken there that only one problem remains for developers: to stand out from the mass of games offered. But this does not mean that you should not place your game in Greenlight. Quite the contrary: this site is visited by tens of thousands of gamers, and you are guaranteed to get a few fans of your game, who will definitely get it on your personal site or on another portal, and not on Steam. Of course, the degree of prestige of this service has decreased, but still we do not recommend giving up the possibilities of Greenlight.
- Press Releases: Press releases will not be very effective if you have few followers. But if you launched a powerful marketing campaign, you should pay attention to press releases. The main target distributors, such as PRWeb and smaller portals and publications, are still oriented towards indie games, so you should write a press release at least one week before the release date of your game.
- Other options: If you are an active streamer in Twich or are registered on the forums - now is the exact time to inform people about the imminent release of your game. Just do not register on such sites for the sole purpose of advertising your game - this is immediately perceived negatively.
Really great for indie games.
findings
Here we come to summarizing. So, the marketing of the game is no less important than its debugging and testing. Without marketing, you are completely dependent on those players who learn about you on their own, because you don’t tell them anything. Of course, if you win in some well-known competition, or some large distributor chooses you - no questions, it is likely that you can do without marketing. However, everyone else can not do without it.
It is not necessary to comply with all the points that we have listed in this article. But at least we recommend that you:
- Create a website
- Create an account and regularly post to Twitter
- Post your game trailer on YouTube
- Contact several game reporters who have shown prior interest in your game (Remember, you need to make your letters short, informative and personal, and not just a newsletter).
- Post the game on Steam Greenlight (this is definitely not superfluous).
If you do at least this - the chances of successful promotion of your brand will definitely increase. Good marketing!
The only remark that Twitter is more suitable for communication with foreign colleagues and journalists. In the CIS, social networks Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and Facebook are still stronger.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/257379/
All Articles