PC
Mobile
PlayStation
Xbox
Nintendo
16
Oct
Oct
How Do Indie Games Get Popular?
ASK INDIES, WHERE WE ASK INDIE GAMES DEVELOPERS ONE QUESTION RELATED TO INDIE GAMES. WE ASKED, HOW DO INDIE GAMES GET POPULAR?
Making Indie Games ain’t easy, pretty sure that’s a Country and Western song, but it’s also very true. One of the biggest challenges once you have an incredible game is getting it played and making it popular. Do you need mega budgets? Does it just happen? Is it witchcraft? We put it to the indie developers, how do indie games get popular? The Ask Indies series is a great chance to get the answers straight from the experts on indie games. It’s also an opportunity for indie devs to update the community on their projects and progress. If you are interested in putting a question to the community then make sure to leave a comment, we’d be happy to put it to the devs. If you’d like to join our community of devs to answer Ask Indies in the future, drop us a line. So let’s put it to the guys who will know: How do indie games get popular?Karl Kontus, Co-founder of Video Game Insights. We’re currently working on providing a free market research and games data platform for indie devs.
“I would say the answer is almost entirely marketing. Everyone aims to make a good game in terms of gameplay and visuals. Sure, you need to meet a minimum requirement for the game to be playable and engaging which means being visually appealing, having an engaging gameplay mechanic and getting rid of major bugs. However, it’s marketing that really makes the game stand out. That means building a community and starting in a pre-development phase. The fact that a successful game will promote itself is a complete myth and believing that is the biggest reason behind failing indie games. Overall success is typically largely driven by the success during launch. Launch success is almost entirely driven by the initial momentum you gain from the existing wishlists and community. That fuels word of mouth, extra media coverage and, ultimately, helps you end up in trending lists. If you want to succeed, you need to know that there are enough fans behind you ahead of the launch.”Dan Bernardo, Playtra Games, Grid Fight – Mask of the Goddess, CEO – Game Designer. Currently working on Grid Fight – Mask of the Goddess
“That’s a question that we are trying to answer right now haha. As we approach the launch date of our first game we are spending quite a lot of time testing what works with which type of indie gamers (and there’s a lot of types out there).
As an indie gamer myself, I think we are looking for gamers that challenge our preconceived notion of what a game is is.
I think that if an indie developer can:
A) Create something really innovative and genre-defying, and
B) Rise above the noise of thousands of gamers being developed
It will definitely find a crowd and be popular.”
JULIA NOLAN, INTEGRAL STUDIOS, GAME DEVELOPER. CURRENTLY WORKING ON: EIDOLON.
“Don’t we all wish we knew! My guess is that it’s a combination of factors. A great game helps, as does a great marketing strategy. In addition, I think the games that go viral have something almost compels people to share them. That might be a unique concept that’s never quite been done before, a clever way to sum up the game in a sentence, an intriguing premise, adorable art, or a quirky sense of humor. There’s just something that stands out about the game in a way that makes people love it, but that quality can vary from game to game.”
SOFI NAYDENOVA, CREATOR OF HAPPYDOGGOSTUDIO, I CREATE GAMES ON MY OWN AND I WRITE ARTICLES SOMETIMES. CURRENTLY WORKING ON: A new game, which doesn’t even have a name yet! But there will be one soon.
“Through Social Media, indie games have communities of great supporters, through blogs, they could be marketed on any platforms (for example a game called Hundred Games, could be marketed on a wine themed blog/website…:-) So, there is much more flexibility!”
BRADLEY SMITH, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER AT MIRACLE TEA. CURRENTLY WORKING ON MAKING A STARGAZING GARDENING GAME CALLED ALULA.
“I feel like there’s no magic solution to make your game popular. Games get popular for many different reasons and I don’t really believe that it’s something developers have a whole lot of control over, though they probably like to think that they do! One would argue there are things you can do to increase the chances of popularity like having decent community managers, designing it in such a way to appeal to streamers, or finding a demand in the market. Often timing, cultural relevance or gimmicks can sometimes play a part in all of this too. There are no guarantees and there’s always exceptions to the rules, if it happens it happens.”JAKE SCOTT, COMMUNITY MANAGER, REALITY GAMING GROUP. WE’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON OUR NEW EMOJIBLES TRADING CARDS AND EMOJI CLASH GAME FOR MOBILE & PC.
“Lacking the big marketing budget and colossal development teams of AAA publishers, indie studios have to produce an innovative and most of all FUN game/product that stands out in the crowd. Fall Guys is a fabulous example of a relatively small studio creating a game that may seem simple but has taken off as it is innovative and most of all FUN. Forming a community around a fun product is easier than ever – with social channels, video content and blog posts making it a simple task to educate your users and give them access to other gamers.”
HARRY COLE, EDITOR OF Into Indie Games. CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Into Indie Games
“Making a game popular is a huge challenge in a very crowded market. I would always think player first and even develop your game with a sharing element included. When I think of the games that have succeeded without big budgets, I think of kids in a playground sharing a game on a mobile device or watching each other play, that kind of enthusiasm and interest is just what you need to grow in popularity.”Thanks for reading our article How Do Indie Games Get Popular? For more interesting articles on the indie games industry, check out the links below.
INDIE DEV INTERVIEW: NICK FOKIAS, DOPE GAMES – DEFINITELY NOT FRIED CHICKEN
LAIR OF THE CLOCKWORK GOD WALKTHROUGH – CHAPTER 1