for the last three episodes
we've been talking about where to start when making a game
but once you've make the game you love
what are you gonna do with it
well first you got to find a way to let people know about it
now many people might say
"Boo~ Marketing and PR~ Boo~"
but if you're really gonna be an indie developer
if you're really gonna make a living of this thing
and be able to fund developing your games full time
this is a big part of your job
besides, if you truly have a great game
and you don't let people know about it
you're doing everybody a disservice
the first thing you need to is understand you own message
why is your game unique and interesting
with so many options for their free time
why should people play your game
what experience do you offer them that they've never been offered before
really understanding what's gonna draw players into your game is essential as you reach out to other people
as a side benefit
if you figure this out early enough
it'll also really help you make the game better when you're building it
ok so now you've figured out what's special about your game and how to convey it
how do you get the word out
well, let's assume that you've got no marketing buget
what can you do
first, you'll need to put together a few things to get noticed
these can be pretty basic
they just have to be clean, elegant and express that core idea
one thing you need is a trailer
make sure it's no more than three minutes long
there is plenty of free video editing software out there
so this can be done with just some elbow grease
but if you've got a friend who's already done some editing before
it might be time to call in a favor
the other thing you'll need is a website
something basic is fine
it could even be wordpress
it just has to look presentable
simple and professional is a lot better than complex and amateur
once you have those
it's time to enter your game into the indie game competitions
getting into something like IDF is a great way to get your game noticed
and it's essentially free
there are small fees attached to some of them
but it's trivial compare to any paid marketing or PR
second, start communicating with other people in the game industry over social media
see if you can get your game into the hands of one of the tastemakers out there
if somebody like Tim Schafer tweets about your game
a lot of people, including media people, are gonna perk up
again, don't be shy about calling in favors here
next, mail all of the game news sites
now you might think
"I'll never get picked up by somebody like Rock Paper Shotgun or Destructoid or Kotaku"
but the truth is
their job is to have content
that's what catches eyes and generates ad revenue
if it's a slow news day
they'll absolutely post about a tiny indie game if it looks interesting
and start also giving some love to the smaller game sites that really focus on your genre
whether it's intense strategy war-gaming or quiet emotive experiences
there are sites dedicated to the aspect of play that your game focuses on
and that's where you'll find your early adopters your most vocal evangelists
as your game goes towards launch
figure out how you're going to build up the attention as the launch closes in
consider doing a reddit AMA or go on podcasts
release new screenshots and trailers frequently
and make sure to let all the media sites know each time you do it
once you've done all that
it's time to launch
but where are you gonna launch your game
well there are a ton of options here
first off there are of course traditional digital distributors like Good Old Games and Steam
we'll talk a little bit more about Steam in a bit
but don't be afraid to reach out to these services
they may seem like these monolithic entities where real games go
and you may think that your game is beneath their notice
don't worry about that
digital distributors are actually a lot easier to get your game on than many people think
they make their money off of every sale you make
whether you sell a hundred or a hundred thousand copies
and since it doesn't really cost them anything to put more product on their store
they're generally pretty happy to work with anybody who has a reasonably well put-together product
as for Steam in particular
just know that you're really going to have to do that press and PR stuff I mentioned earlier if you want to make it pass Greenlight
when you're thinking about distribution
also think beyond the traditional digital distributors
the various mobile app stores out there actually reach way more customers than Steam does by a fairly wide margin
sites like Kongregate and Newgrounds allow your audience instant access to your game from basicly any PC in the world
and provide you an opportunity to get feedback every second of every day
specially distributors like Slytherin can really help you reach a niche
heck, Xbox One, the PS4 and the WiiU all have digital stores as well
and while they are more difficult to get into than some of the pc distributors
it's actually easier to get access to these as a developer than it's ever been
since all these companies are looking for unique selling point for their platforms
even Facebook has a distribution possibility
don't rule out anything
think about how your game plays and where it's gonna find its audience
and put it there
and this is where I'm gonna make my one Unity plug
because Unity makes porting your game to new platform really simple
the real answer to the question
"where should I distribute my game"
is everywhere you can
back when James started working in games
porting a game was a nightmare
it required tons of work
you often have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to some outsource company to have them port the game for you
and you would just cross your fingers and hope they did a good job
the one button porting promise of Unity isn't entirely accurate
you're probably gonna have to get in there and still fiddle with some things
but still though
for those of us who have had to port games before engines like Unity were a thing
the difference is amazing
go get your games out there in as many ways as you can
and once you do
then comes the hard part
supporting your game and accepting its flaws
just going through the exercise of exposing your work to the Internet
and seeing the feedback you get has value
it's tough and it will hurt
and there will be plenty of times that your beautiful baby comes back covered in somebody else's slime-covered filth
but for all that you'll learn so much more about where you could go with your game
and what it needs to truly shine
way more than you learn from just testing it with friends
your future games will be better just for having really released a game
and lastly
support your title
this means bug fixes and gameplay updates
and all that stuff that we've come to expect
but it also means keeping in touch with fans and the media
planning out sales and promotions
even doing the headache of accounting if you're not giving your game away for free
well with that
we say good luck and good creating
we hope to be playing some of your game soon
see you next week