“Build a great game and players will come.”
This is probably the worst piece of advice you could give to a starting dev.
When you’re starting out, no one cares about you.
You’re just one of thousands of developers trying to make it.
If you spend your time only trying to build a great game…
…how would anyone know about it?
Check out this game, Mostly Intense Monster Defense: 11 reviews. (in 8 months)
Now check out this one, Gutwhale: 80 reviews. (in 1 month)
They are both short and polished experiences.
Is Gutwhale 7 times better than Monster Defense?
It’s not.
So what’s the difference?
This video (45,000 views).
It went live a couple of days after the release of the game.
The video probably sent enough people to the page for it to appear on the “New and popular” list on Steam.
Whereas Monster Defense didn’t have any significant source of traffic.
Steam could never differenciate it from the thousands of garbage games on the platform.
So it never sent any more people to the page.
One email to the right person at the right timing made all the difference.
(also a bit of luck)
All of this to say…
The quality of your game does not dictate what results you’ll get.
If you want your game to be successful, you’ll need to share it with as many people as you can.
And you’ll need to understand how to get your game in front of your audience.
I haven’t figured it out myself yet… but I’ll let you know when I have.
Until next week,
Thomas Gervraud,
Developer of Space Gladiators: Escaping Tartarus