We’ve been doing a lot here to support indie games and developers who often don’t receive the recognition they deserve. It’s tough for these smaller studios to get their work noticed, especially when they’ve put in so much effort.
It’s something I see on social media way too often. And according to a recent survey, discoverability is a bigger problem than we realize.
Developers are struggling to get their games seen
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Bastion’s Annual Video Games Marketing Survey highlighted the issues developers are facing in getting their games in front of people and keeping them there.
“Interestingly, while the split between publishers (51.3%) and developers (48.7%) is nearly even, their strategies are remarkably aligned. Smaller teams are betting big on standout creative, community momentum, and smart, scrappy partnerships. Steam page optimisation, optimising traffic and store front placement remain high priorities, proof that a strong store presence still moves the needle.
Owned and earned media are dominating, with community management (16.3%) and influencer partnerships (25%) emerging as the secret weapons for both conversion and long-term engagement.”
That was something I learned during my time at Untold Tales. Community Management is a massive piece of the game. Not just that, but a significant part of my work was writing Steam descriptions for games and bundles. I largely had the freedom to write what I felt would work, but I’d be given a light note on what they would want me to reference. All part of making the game as visible as possible.
My former manager even took things into his own hands, creating a pretty cool set of videos that detail a game in 60 seconds. It’s just a small piece of what devs and publishers do to get these games out there. They’re doing the work, let’s do what we can to reward it.
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