Seattle Indie Speaker Series, November 2024
Topics Covered: Game Development, Indie Games, Digital Distribution, Marketing Strategies, Crowdfunding, Gaming Communities, Steam Algorithms
Conference Overall Ratings: Venue (2.5/5) - Food (2.5/5) - Speaker Content (5/5) - Networking Opportunity (4/5) - Likeliness to Return (4/5) - (for more details, see the end of the blog…)
Initial Conference Overview: This event felt like it was sorta “meant to be” since just yesterday I heard of this building, wrote in my blog “I should learn more about this” and then they were having a semi-interesting sounding event the next day. That being said, It was above and beyond interesting. I was surprised and learned a lot more than expected from both speakers. I really didn’t know what to expect… I had pretty low/no expectations, because what I’ve seen of the gaming world is very gory, just horror embracing, etc etc etc. Just things I really don’t understand why we don’t counter with other options more actively. I feel the gaming world is so skewed in tragedy, harm, killing, etc - the solution is to fight, kill, torture, etc. IDK. so many games are like that. Or stressful, etc - not that practical. I challenge games to be better!! We can get into that more over time. But, I thought that, mostly, I wanted to figure out what they were talking about with this building - and then, see what these games representatives were talking about.
Photo Collage & Commentary:
Notes from the Event:
M5 Creative: arts collective, monthly desk rentals, hot desks, every Friday at noon there are tours. You can see what they’re creating with VR, film production, LED wall, lots of cool stuff going on here.
Looking for place to work with other creatives in the area? Here’s a place you can come and work.
wow, right? sounds very interesting.. another reason to live downtown (but then you’re like, also, SO CLOSE to your office hahaha. I’m so “work from home” these days - I feel like part of me likes the thrill of arriving downtown… but also living downtown is so convenient and great!)
Starting Work on a Video Game
First speaker introduced himself and talked about his prior experience working on big projects. He worked at many big companies and helped build them out. He worked on many games like Hogwarts, Rock Band 3, Sesame Streets (the details in the picture i’ll put below).
He liked Chaotic PVP platforms the best, so he designed a local PVP game.
The immediate regret was not doing market research. This genre of game was not popular enough to get trending or a lot of traction.
Poor launches can be extremely difficult to recover from with the algorithms seeing you had poor traction. They really make it hard to bounce back.
It would have been smarter to launch both solo and PVP versions in the same go. Later he added on the “solo player” option because many people didnt’ have friends to invite over and play with them, but they still wanted to play the game
There are many things you need to consider when adding a game, like the main objective. For this game, the main objective is to collect coins. They spawn randomly, as do chests, which have different relics inside (defensive, offensive, support, etc).
You can steal each other relics and coins (this was a featured added into the game later, after users asked for it)
You damage enemies by jumping on them for certain relics. Also you have to avoid deadly traps. When you die, you respawn at a certain spot
This keeps players constantly involved.
Set Your Goals Ahead of Time
When you are launching a game, have a specific goal in mind (ex. “make money”, “learn for next time”, “make a dram come true”, etc)
His goal: Start very small and learn everything needed to make the next, bigger game to succeed.
“Fail early, fail often” start on a small project so if you completely mess up, “whatever, it was small”
only allow yourself to spend a small amount of time learning and creating everything possible in that time.
Finding an artist and sound designer can double or triplee your budget.
“Platforms” can be really frustrating and not as accessible for most players.
Play-testing: players wanted more features available. We added a tutorial to let character learn more mechanics of the games.
Coins were added to get players literally moving around the environemnt/level, got them interacting. Then later added chests and relics.
“Lessons Learned”
Do market research: do this before starting your project. think of what sort of games will sell well. Look into genres, size of market/audience. Does market have space for another game people will want?
Certain games do pretty poorly (2D, PVP
Tailor your goal
Research streamers ahead of time. Find streamers that will probably like your game and they fit your style. Contact them 1-2 months in advance before your big updates (demo, launch, major updates) - “Hey, I’m gigot to be releasing… wanna check it out?
When you do this include a steam key to reduce friction. They don’t need to ping you back for a key. Many times streamers will put these to the side, then read them all a few weeks later and give them a try - so your efforts help and work.
Pick a resolution/screen size early, and stick to it. if not, you will spend a lot of time resizing things very annoyingly.
Proper Marketing
Change your launch date if other thing(s) are launching that day which are popular/related. Do your research.
Launch a trailer on social media leading up to things.
“If you don’t feel like you’re being annoying, you’re doing marketing wrong”
Getting over 10 reviews ASAP is really important for games on Steam. Without 10 reviews, you don’t show up in browsing, only when people specifically type and search for your game. You need to bring a community.
It can be very tough to recover from a bad launch. If it doesn’t do well, steam learns. It’s vey hard to get back on Steam’s good graces.
Launching is not the finish line. You will have many updates to add for troubleshooting.
many people will be trying your content on many different platforms. Many bugs to solve.
marketing is a full-time job
short form content is the most watched and interacted with at the moment (TikTok, Youtube Shorts, Instagram)
Post Launch: new level, new traps, different relics, achievements, new modes, game change options
added a demo… next time add a demo from the start… demo’s let people gauge if they’re going to like this game.
Do research on streamers, their audience, their gameplay
Go to expo’s, reddit ama, have a booth, constantly mention what you’re toting to do, get people trying the game and giving feedback. Updates are based on the feedback
get articles written to see professional reviews
sales may not always be a financial success. in this case, it was from not enough market research to find what people want to play. people don’t want to get together as much anymore to play games.
“a failed game is better than a cancelled game”
the goal was not sales, it was to learn things that along the way would teach me to make a better game next time. A small game to learn form in the short term.
Challenges in this Scenario
start to release was only 8 months. This is not a lot of time to build and check and think things through with a team.
local multiplayer games were not so popular
lately people really like story-driven games.
so much time was wasted correcting asset resolutions (not picking the smart resolution size ahead of time)
difficulty with audio
artists/sound designers needed more money on a tighter timeframe
marketing was tough, didnt’ do enough.
Prototypes: start on a short project. beta test it and get lots of feedback. make the end product a lot better. brainstorm without turning down any ideas.
prioritization is a skill you have to build up. ask yourself, “if a game failed today, what owl the reason be? What can I do to fix that?
Player feedback from texting can help you come up with clever ideas. Try not to take it personally.
develop thick skin. use it to improve. don’t take it personally.
sometimes feedback solutions can be off, don’t take it all for face value. (ex. feedback maybe means making better sound effects , not stronger weapons… the people want a stronger FEEL sometimes more than a stronger weapon, but they don’t know it)
sometimes A+B=C works… just mix two things together and people will think its interesting.
Locally Supplied Team, Enhance the Local Economy
-How do you find a team? You can look locally into the creators
actually… I think this is so genius. If you can put together a team that is local, stimulating the local economy and giving jobs to everyone while paying taxes and creating great content, the city would totally get behind it and local investors. I think there may be some strategy to this… increase your budget so it’s not outsources, but locally sourced - then turn to the city and see who can/wants to help. especially as a small, woman-owned business. this seems like a huge smart strategic insight… that if you’re making something that “of course the city would be proud of” you could really succeed with this approach.
How do you conduct market research?
research data on steam sales, steam DD - lots of information on there.
look up “how to market a game on steam” there is so much info online
data-driven
google research, look into what is doing well
experiment to learn the process
How do you strategically price a game?
look at similar games.
you can price things expensive planning to discount it… but do research on that method an see if it matches reality or just sounds good.. Does it match your audience and your marketing plan, etc. Whats’s your strategy?
How do you decide on nitty gritty details?
Play-test it, use your experience and trust your instincts, then modify based on user feedback.
Seattle Indies has over 1000 developers on there. You can join their events, etc
Remember to e selective withy our time and schedule time to yourself
After this guy’s speech, there was a Q&A, then there was a 30 minute break for networking… they were asking him questions for the entire 30 minutes… a number of people. It was so funny to see how interested people are in learning from each other in this field. Very cool. I also think the fact he presented on his failed company/game, it made it “easy to talk to him” cause he was sorta “on your level” and learning too. I think many people in the audience felt like they could learn a lot from him and he opened up a lot, set the tone. It was sweet and probably useful for everyone. Probably really great for that game developer too, on a few levels. Game levels! ha - no. Metaphorical levels of learning/self-growth/actualization. :)
I also was writing notes to myself during the break… not socializing haha - about how expensive the rent must be in this building, it’s so huge - and the power bills, etc.
Going Viral with Choo Choo Charles
“CHOO CHOO CHARLES” was the viral game hit of the next/second/last speaker. This is a scary spider train as the main character. I really am not a horror fan…. AND, I love trains… so, this is extremely not up my alley. I really almost left before this guy started talking, but then I decided… okayyyy do it for your blog/also it’ll be interesting to learn from a guy whose game went viral. but first/for a while his screen of his ppt was an upside down star… alright. THEN the next picture, I look up, and it’s a close up of the freaky spider train. okay. So, that was like… okay hahaha. Freaky. but then the rest of the pictures were better, and now his new game is still a little gory/crime (prison break themed) but… it was “cuter to look at” like definitely, but still. You know… some personal issues with it. It’s not for me —- so, with that aside, I still thought probably I could learn some things from this speech. Was I right? Yes! Let’s go.
I liked how this next presentation was a panel with two guys asking questions and then the guest. I haven’t really seen this setup before (two question askers leading) but I think it worked so well for this and it was a nice/interesting change compared to the last speech. I liked the first speech, but I liked how the second hour of information was presented in a new format.
So the guy who made this game has been developing and making games since he was a preteen. Now he’s 23. He made a few games in middle school. Then in high school he worked for 3 years on a game. Then Choo Choo took him 2 years, but it went viral on social media. His next game is called” Cuff Bust”, it’s a multiplayer prison escape game.
How do you come up with a game idea?
off release of “my beautiful paper smile”
a little YouTube attention small community building, but not at the level he was lookin for.
he was trying to make something more likely to go viral and resonate with people
he liked the idea of using something more nostalgic and relatable, with strong charaters - familiar to everyone… familiar characters in unique environments. He based the entire game around this idea and these characters.
In train-based gameplay, mechanics are introduced from a player’s perspective.
The reaction to your announcements are very telling of how your game will do. If there is a big reaction, it’s an indication that your launch may likely succeed. (and vise versa)
can you announce your game strategically (at an event, in a press presentation, among famous ppl in the industry… for him, the strategy was to go viral + let the algorithms push his content as much as possible
Five Second Clip, What do they Pickup of Your Content?
Make sure your game is instantly captivating. If someone sees any random 5 seconds of your content, will they understand what is going on and want more? Is it engaging? Will it go viral?
the general idea is that not all of the visuals and tone matched the art style in his new game, Cuff Bust
This can work against you - when your art is very different, your audience may change. However, if this is a move that you think will help you in the long run, it’s’ worth it. Something to think about longterm when starting out. But follow your instincts too.
- Your goal is to make a game with longevity and replayabiltiy in this case
the horror game has smaller appeal than something hyper colorful that can reach a wider audience.
it was a sharp turn in the company branding, but hopefully it was good for longterm
The audience, a bigger audience, will help you push a game in the genre you’re trying to push it.
You can connect with your audience in social media platforms that you enjoy. Even posting once a month, but making the content valuable and informative can be great.
talk about flashy objects and interesting things that your audience will want to hear about
new features, how you designed it, why - make it fun and interesting. people like to hear about new features (like weapons, designs, etc)
keep things flashy and interesting to your average viewer
Youtube promotes videos that keep people on the platform for as long as possible. Longer interesting videos do better. They care about the view duration, interaction, and view length.
Learn what people are interested in learning about. Why are you doing wha you’re doing? What problems are you solving? What are you interested in?
letting your audience get to know you adds trust
Consistently remind people of your goal., add conflict and resolution (in your storytelling)
conflict is an easy way to increase your engagement. w/o conflict it’s not as engaging.
show your progress.
If you can get on wishlists the algorithms love you. In this case, Choo Choo was on over 100,000 wishlists within days. Suddenly a fanbase spawned.
He was approached by publishers but he thought “why woudl I do that”. so he actually worked hard to build a fanbase before - before going viral. He saw that the earlier games attracted fans, so he worked with those fans to raise money for the next game. He didn’t want to share profits with publishers when he had almost all of the work done himself, and with funding from fans, could do the rest himself.
Next Game’s Success Strategy
With his next game, there are many investors approaching him, not so much publishers. The game “cuff bust”
If this next game happen to go viral, he learned that marketing takes care of itself. You don’t need to worry so much about it.
but you do need to figure out how to support games after the launch, more updated - biweekly perhaps
Process of hearing people to learn what went well and what you think you can try again in the next game… anything you can easily add to keep it going, too
MARKET RESEARCH was key. He did 6 months of market research before starting on this game
He saw that “prison break” as a concept had done really well on many mediums, it’s a situation people understand with a clear goal and you can play again and again. So, he saw the need/desire for a group prison break game. He made it a bit more “cute” so more people woudl want to play and it opens the market a bit.
but I dont think i’d play this game. it’s still pretty gory and I just don’t like this idea that much… then again, with friends it could be fun, but the visuals were still more horror than family friendly (my style hahaha, at least for this game to attract me upon first glance).
social, multiplayer, repayable, clear goal, a screenshot can tell you exactly what’s going on, instinctual familiartiy… looking at the stats “prison architecture” was also trending at the time. He saw an opening to fit in really easily.
How do you get play testers? First get family, friends… then you can go online and find gametester websites that you can select an amount to pay, then people will pay it and give feedback. He used about 200 testers and got feedback. This was very useful
next time he’d release game on 2 consoles at the same time, instead of one by one. cause the release on the 2nd console had way less momentum. This takes time and investment to make them compatible on multiple systems.
Is the horror market oversaturated?
Yes - yay!! hahah onto new games being invested in and created. maybe ones I like better :) :D
Definitely the genre has fatigue. It used to make hundreds of thousands to pillions per game. These games there’s so much effort that you need to put in to make a game that can compete and stand out.
Only about 4-5 games can really succeed in a genre before someone feels they played enough and want to try something new.
only so many times you can play a situation… you need to really be special and stand out to get people doing more than that.
Who can make the most quality game in as little time as possible? That is chasing the trend.
research, look for indicators… proof of concept, data, market research, something you enjoy… what hasn’t been fully exploited in the gaming space?
Conference “Overall Rating” Further Elaboration:
VENUE - 2.5/5
Room for Improvement: Just the night before, they said at the creative economy event that they were maybe going to move out of this building by 2025. The crowd seemed to respond disappointedly. I was quick to judge “What! they’re losing their office, and people are upset about it” - but after seeing it in person, I’d like to think there are better choices for this team. From what they say, it’s got a lot of cool stuff going on - and they offer tours weekly! apparently. So… I think I’ll take a tour and see what’s going on in this place. They even offer office rentals and coworkign spaces - etc. You can do lots of creative production there I think… it’s just the building itself is really outdated. I thin the reason people like it so much is cause it used to be the studios of PBS. And everyone loves PBS!! It’s so wholesome. So.. .that gives it a bit of love and character. That being said, it’s a building that feels half empty, muggy, cold, dated… it’s like draining the energy a bit - to be brutally honest… and I say this, because they’re open to moving from what they said - andddd there are cool places in Seattle. So they may be smart to move to somewhere a little more cost effective, a bit different part of town? Or stay nearby, idk anything about that. But, pick somewhere with a little more vibrance that wouldn’t take too much investing to convert to the goals being accomplished (or get rid of “this and that” but add on “this and that”) update the offerings? IDK. But… the venue felt like a blast in the past, and not in a good way… the lighting was tough, the carpets were old, the seats were not comfy (just fold out seats, etc etc. bring on a new venue for the home base of arts in Seattle perhaps? idk!)
FOOD - 2.5/5
Room for Improvement: This event was donation based. So… the pizza was above and beyond. Right? That being said, it ran out quickly. And that being said, I mean… is any amount of pizza ever going to be enough for this crowd? No way! Pizza is so addicting and good when you’re hungry. I arrived hungry. I think that, if you’re going to get dominoes, they charge a lot less for 1 or 2 topping pizzas, almost half the cost when you use their deals and coupons. So I would look into more simple pizzas, but so many of them, so people can eat more than one or two small slices. But I’m not sure. It was the first time I attended and event that ran out of food and drinks completely. I’d say they just say “BYOB” or something. Cause it’s nonprofit. OR just ONLY do drinks with half the budget? Idk. Just some ideas. Even so, it was nice to have a little pizza and its didnt ruin the experience that much, just disappointing to run out - but not too surprising.
SPEAKER CONTENT - 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: I was pleasantly surprised by how useful it was to listen to these guys Even though they were tailking about developing and launching video games, I found their advice to be extremely useful and relevant. Hearing the two very different situations these two game developers had been on was interesting: one living the corporate life, then finally breaking away to develop own game over time. The second had been making games since childhood, now just 23 and working on his 3rd or 4th game, with goals of making money and going viral, etc. longevity. It was really interesting to hear valuable advices from both perspectives and stories. I took away a lot of very great information. Also they provided a lot of time for Q&A. I was cracking up that people were still asking questions to developers/speakers for like… a long time after each presentation was over. the first guy had people asking him questions for over 30 minutes! It was cool.
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES - 5/5
Room for Improvement: This event had me chatting for a while at the end. Hahah. As much as I wasn’t really thinking I wanted to… I ended up liking this crowd quite a bit and enjoying the conversation. It was fun to talk about business ventures, review how the businesses had succeeded and the lessons they’d learned, etc. I met a nice woman there who was one of the only other women there (and the only other woman there who wasn’t wearing a mask). She was really nice and intellingent. The more we spoke, the more she knew a lot about, and as more people came up to us, she was casually bringing up sciences, data ,etc etc. I was like “wow! she’s smart” haha. but… of course this type of crowd attracts technical people. Game developers. So, that was a fun surprise.
LIKELINESS TO RETURN - 4/5
Room for Improvement: I’m not going to go out of my way to go to every one of these events each month probably. I am not too too interested in gaming.. then again, I sorta am. It is a nice community too. Reminds me of the improv community, talking to everyone a bit. So, we’ll see. But, I’m not sure that I’m super hyped about another one soon - cause it’s cold to walk/travel to a bit hahaha. And the building is lackluster and they ran out of food… but also, you could dress warmer, eat before, and just enjoy what is offered - and have a great time! So… that’s why i’d likely return. Just probably not so mega urgently. But. Never say never.
Kelly’s Remaining Questions:
What are the trends in gaming at the moment?
What are the most popular platforms for playing games?
How is Steam doing, as a company? How are their fundamentals?
How much profit do you make off a viral video game? And how much did it cost to create?
What are some typical time frames and costs of games?
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
