i really wanna try to make a game in a way where i post freely on socials and connect directly with fans about what's going on in development without caring about getting into press or events. i'm sure people would love this, in a "if you make a good game and talk about it freely it will succeed" kind of way but the harsh reality is that it'd probably slash the odds of success by an order of magnitude because socials just don't have the reach that even a 10-15 second slot on a major games showcase event has
we're talking the difference between just eking out 10k wishlists on steam before you launch vs like, 50k+ which is the difference between "this launch will help you settle your outstanding debts before you go find a regular dayjob" and "this launch will keep your studio afloat for years to come"
anyway it really feels like to get anything from visibility gatekeepers in the games industry you must both develop your game entirely in secret so as to not give away any juice morsels of news they can use while also proving massive fan interest, prior coverage, and 25,000 steam wishlists and they don't seem to think there's any problem with how those things are at odds with each other. it's maddening
@Zarkonnen the only way i can think of to sidestep it is to have a successful youtube channel as well. because on YT well produced videos can reach like 30k, 100k, 250k people
but "have a successful youtube channel as well as a successful game" is kind of a big fucking ask
oh and if you mostly just ignore the gatekeepers what you're likely to get is something that looks like spiderweb software (jeff vogel) or grey alien games
spiderweb's last game released in march is sitting at 61 reviews on steam. regency solitaire 2 by grey alien games released in late feb and despite outperforming expectations according to the dev is now sitting at 129 reviews
oh and if you think you can sidestep this by being well connected and having friends in high places, well, guess what, even those folks are complaining about how those connections now seem kinda worthless when compared to "Exciting Exclusives™"
it's no longer the 2010s, and as far as i can tell you can't make your indie game a success simply by going to a lot of events and making a lot of friends anymore
@eniko It seems very similar as far as I can tell to trying to make a career in music. Maybe any arts. It's incredibly difficult to carve out a space for yourself in order to make a living this way. A lot depends on being well-connected, somehow becoming an industry darling and even then still just sheer luck.
But even if it's hard, the regret of not giving it a serious try is also real. So all the power to anyone who does. Chances of it working out are slim, but if it does, it's magical.
@eniko Sigh. It was kinda like this the last time I considered giving gamedev a shot (mid 2000s, when unless you had contacts to get on PS or Xbox you were hosed), then when the wheel turned in the 2010s I was too busy with other projects and missed the window. Maybe the wheel will turn again by the time we finish this game but it sucks that there can’t be more consistent support for indies
@eniko I survived the 2000s by making game-adjacent tools instead, and mostly getting paid by non-game companies for game-like tech. I suspect that sort of thing is going to see an influx of people in the near future 😕
@sinbad@eniko I still would say that "I was shouting in the desert" when I was shouting AGAINIST this idea of "games at 69p" and/or "games for free" .. I still think "the turning point of games" started with such kind of things that completely changed the perception of value/price .. also the proliferation of "anyone doing some sort of game". Yes .. "you wanted anything easily obtainable" .. and there we are .. now you deal with hundred thousands of games of all sorts ..
@eniko promo really does feel heavily stacked towards people who are willing and able to go out and schmooze and give talks and whatnot.
Which, yeah, I appreciate that it's a skillset, and it's one I laboriously acquired, but not everyone can swan off to $randomCountry and spend three days straight wearing a mask (or not 😬) in a room full of people, with inevitably limited accessibility, being on and outgoing and interactive.
@eniko Yeah years ago when we did Penarium for T17 my higher-ups were given the option to have it shown at E3 but they declined because it was 'too soon' or something silly (I'm still mad!) but another T17 game DID take that slot and the internet just lit up when it was on there in a way that eclipsed all my tweeting and posting.
@eniko serious question: what do you think the ideal "fair" scenario could be? because even what you described (associating promotion with one talking about one's game in a social network) will bias success towards people with an active social presence and many followers =/
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