The Marketing Guide for Game Developers
Thus it covers 4 aspects:
I. The Game Itself
II. Communication/Promotion
III. Price
IV. Distribution
(additionally there is also another section called V. Experiences)
I. THE GAME ITSELF
The Game Itself builds the foundation on which all the other marketing stuff is built upon.
Is the game interesting enough that people who are into the genre would like to play it?
(“more from the same…but different”)
1. Core Quality of the Game
2. Differentiating Factors of the Game
3. The Name of the Game
4. Updates for the Game
II. COMMUNICATION / PROMOTION
how well implemented is the overall communication/promotion strategy for the game?
how visible is the game (steam, websites, youtube, social media, events…?)
does the website/screenshots/videos etc. present the game well?
1. The Website
1.1 Website & Blog Creation (Domain, Hosting, Design)
1.2 List of Websites and Blogs from Game Developers
2. The Video
2.1 Screenrecording and Video Editing Software
2.2 Trailer Creation
2.3 GIF Creation
3. The Screenshots
4.The Press Kit
4.1 Content and Examples of Press Kits
5. Contacting The Press
5.1 How To Contact Press (new version 2.0 will be released in September 2014)
6. The Blog
6.1 Blogging Software + Themes
6.2 Blogging Ideas for Game Developers
6.3 List of Websites and Blogs from Game Developers
7.The Newsletter
7.1 Newsletter Tools
7.2 List of Game Developers who use Newsletters
8. Social Media
8.1 Social Media Stuff (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, IndieDB…)
9. Game Jams
10. Sales Promotion
10.1 Discounts
10.2 Cross Promotion
11. Side Projects
12. Events & Festivals
12. List of Events & Festivals
13. Advertising
13.1 Advertising
III. THE PRICE
is the price reasonable and acceptable for the customers who are into the genre?
1. Pricing Strategies
2. Discount Strategies
IV. DISTRIBUTION
is the game distributed well?
is the game easy to buy or are there any barriers? (new client required, payment method of choice not offered? etc.)
is the game available from the digital store which the customer prefers?
1. Release Date
2. Direct Distribution
3. Indirect Distribution
V. EXPERIENCES
1. Big List of Indie Game Marketing (list will be completely updated soon)
2. Interviews with Game Developers (coming soon)
How indie games get discovered, evaluated and bought
the important aspect here is to have a game that is interesting enough (for those that are into the genre).
otherwise it stops right at the discovering phase…
Factors to consider when marketing an indie game
The diagram tries to explain which factors might influence the amount of sales.
(of course it is not perfect and therefore if you have ideas to improve it consider to contact me)
Game Itself: what is the overall quality of the game? how is its name? does it differentiate itself from other games from the same genre? is it updated with fresh content after release?
Communication: how well is the game presented/promoted? does the website/screenshots/trailer/gameplay videos etc. present the game well?
Distribution: is the game distributed well? is it easy to buy? is it available in the stores that the customer prefers?
Price: is the price of the game reasonable and accepted by those customers who are into the genre?
Press: is the game interesting enough for press/youtubers for coverage? does press/youtubers know about the game? is the game covered by press/youtubers? how well received is the game by press/youtubers?
Customers: is the game interesting enough for the customer who is into the genre? does the customer know about the game? is the game easy to buy? is the price accepted? does the customer like the game enough to recommend it to others? does the customer like the game enough to possibly buy the next game from the same developer?
Market: what does the market for the genre look like? how big is the demand for the genre? is the market saturated already?
Competition: How does the game look like compared to the best from the genre? Is the game of better quality than the genre kings or same quality or worse?
Other: stands for all other possible factors such as zeitgeist/trend, timing, new technology…
Amount of sales: all factors considered might influence the amount of sales… shorter explanation might be: eyeballs * conversion rate = amount of sales
