As an indie game developer / designer, you have all of these great ideas, you get excited and say fuck it, I'm going to make it. But before you start developing the game a whirl of thoughts go through your head; "How am I going to compete with these big companies?" or "I can't build a better game than them, they have so many people working on theirs." but the truth is, you have many things they don't have.
A huge advantage indie game developers have is individuality. You have your own story with no agenda or "image" that has to be kept, you can create and be free with your imagination which can then lead to some very innovative, unique and creative games. This individuality is what players connect with, and if you can make that contextual to them, you've done a fantastic job.
Another advantage you have as indie game developers is the passion for your game. This game is YOURS, and that stands for a lot. When you are creating a game for someone else, the passion is just not there as it is not your vision or idea, which will lead to less creativity and ideas.
The final thing I'd like to talk about is absolutely critical for emerging into the gaming industry. I'd like you to release your game for FREE. Completely. Now I know you might think that's crazy, you've worked on this game for a whole year, how can I expect you to release it for free?! Well, let me explain:
Scenario 1:
You release your game out on Steam for £9.99, obviously as you have only just release the game, it has 0 reviews and 0 players. You try and market the game however people do not know who you are and haven't played any of your games before so are not willing to spend £9.99 as the game may not be what they are in to. You begin to wonder how you are going to sell this game, as you've been working on it for the last year.
Scenario 2:
You release the game out on Steam for £0.00, obviously as you have only just released the game, it has 0 reviews and 0 players. You try and market the game and you start to get some downloads. You begin to see steady growth of around 5 players a week and people are engaging more with you on social media with comments such as "I love the art style in this game", "Why is there only 20 levels of this game, ahhhh" and "The final level boss is soooo difficult.". You now have a fan base of people interested and playing your game.
I can understand that scenario 2 may not seem as attractive financially in the short-term, but in game development we need to stop this culture of short-term money. As a game developer you want people to be playing your game for a long, long time. Once you have a loyal fan base, you can make additions and even charge for your next editions if your brand is big enough. (remember: price it right)
Build your brand. Build your game. The rest will follow.
Now lets not get it twisted. You cannot force your game down the players necks, if they don't like it, they don't like it. We have to accept that the player decides how good our games are, take the feedback and create something they do want.
Player-centric, always.
- Kalon
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