Marketing an indie game is hard! Any advice?

[therapistgames]

I appreciate most of you may not be indies, but has anyone successfully done it with very little budget?

 

We are a coder and an artist, and neither have marketing skills.

 

When starting a company, should it be a 3 way split between art, tech and sales?

 

 

[charlie]

The best kind of long term marketing for indie games in my opinion is word of mouth. Give out some free copies through a few different websites or give a few copies to a streamer who has at least a few hundred viewers regularly so they can give away some copies when they're streaming the game. Maybe even do some interviews about the game.

 

I think it would be best for the developers themselves to do all of this and not some hired marketer.

 

Another thing is if your game sucks (not saying it does), word of mouth is probably a bad idea.

Edited January 24, 2014 by charlie

[egu]

Coming from advertising myself, I'd say finding an artist capable of doing both game art and marketing materials would be good choice for a small indie team.

Oh and fyi, not speaking about zomg I can photoshoot bannerz, but also understanding the basics of "good" marketing helps a lot.

Also what Charlie said of wtm.

Edited January 26, 2014 by egu

[RaVaGe]

If you can make a good game you don't need marketing skills.

[Vilham]

You should probably start with your company name...

 

Therapist ~ The Rapist

[selmitto]

Or something in the lines of
"Pen Is Entertainment"

[Thrik]

LMAO you mean it isn't meant to be The Rapist Games? Haha, oh man that is genuinely what I read it as when I saw this thread yesterday.  Yeah, that'll do you no favours...

[Warby]

yeah I wasn't sure if this was a troll post because I also read the rapist games

 

 

I have only failed at marketing indie games ... so my advice is worthless I guess BUT:

 

-I think your game/idea needs to be absolutely superb ... so that people will WANT to tell other people about it!

Being excited about a new game discovery is great feeling and sharing that is too. If your game doesn't cross that threshold you are dead no matter how many banner spaces you buy !

-get on the front-page/spotlight position of things were people who buy indiegames hangout/look: steam-news, xbla, psn, humble indie bundle etc... Nobody will find the game on your website or in the appstore. if you cant get into those spotlight positions you are dead.

[Chimeray]

Never ever have I clicked on banners for indiegames... I can only speak for myself but I only ever hear about indiegames through word of mouth or news websites. If it's a succes then obviously it'll pop up on the sales list in steam as well for more exposure but at that point it's already in the pocket, right.

 

So can't really give you much advice :/ Just don't create a game nobody wants to play if you depend on it financially!

Spread the news on forums and wherever you can, but make sure it's relevant and doesn't feel "spammy".

Edited January 27, 2014 by Chimeray

[2d-chris]

Get a working prototype together before you decide to do anything, that means butt ugly art and minimum content you need to prove your onto something. Then ramp up, Work at a warehouse or burger king until this is done, unless your sitting on allot of savings.

 

I'd then see if I could get some free help from people that are at Universities or doing a game course, or if you have enough developer friends maybe they will help out here and there. I'd then stop and take a look at it, If I was onto something good, and I still was excited about making it then I would go full time Indy with my savings, I certainly would not do it all by myself even if I knew how to.

 

I wouldn't even give a second thought about marketing until you know your onto something real and not a fantasy

 

If you are ready, get a dude who is studying marketing to do it for you, just like successful mods do ... get on game dev forums and ask around, or go to your local uni and put up an advert. 

Edited January 27, 2014 by 2d-chris

[Sigma]

Going through this experience myself right now. There is no true roadmap--but if you have a budget it would be beneficial to devote some portion of that to marketing, although the primary means of your success will most likely be dependent upon word of mouth, sales, and spotlight/highlights at point of sale sites. Depending on how you set up your company there is no reason to give an interest to marketing--just contract out that work (to marketing students who will do it for less)--leaving you and your partner to generate income based on your percentage interest after recouping your expenses/losses.

[Skjalg]

A good video is the only thing you should focus on. And that video needs to explain your fucking brilliant game design idea. That's all you can do

[Jord]

LMAO you mean it isn't meant to be The Rapist Games? Haha, oh man that is genuinely what I read it as when I saw this thread yesterday.  Yeah, that'll do you no favours...

 

lol also read it as the rapist games. I assumed it was intentional.

[ShockaPop]

Make a good game, promote @ Facebook, Twatter, Youtube, etc. Did I mention that you should make a good game?

 

Then again, if your company is called Therapist Games, I don't know how well you can play your cards with that.

[selmitto]

Yeah, I'd suggest changing the name.

 

It reminds of someone who's professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. AKA Analrapist (tobias funke).