Making Your First Game: Launching! - How to Market Your Game - Extra Credits

Start by thinking about what makes your game great and finding a way to say that. Once you've figured out your pitch, put together a short trailer and website so you can contact every news site, big and small. Remember, they want content, too! And finally, think broadly about where you will publish your game.
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[@Ficus1493]

Watching these now really hit hard for how far I've come. Two years ago, I was an avid follower of Extra Credits and loved its content, but couldn't relate as I wasn't learning game design. Then one day, I was told that the game design group in my college had actually managed to arrange a video chat with James so he could speak to them. I got so excited and also jealous. I thought "I wish that I was making games!" ...Well, then I took a step back and thought, "Well, why aren't I?" That summer, I changed my major and am now learning the very content that you make episodes about. I doubt anyone will read this comment (particularly since it's been some time since this episode came out!) but I just wanted to say "Thanks, Extra Credits." I can honestly say that your work gave me the inspiration to pursue my dreams.

[@ryandick7264]

It’s the future! Can we get an update?

[@shreddernation1096]

3 years later and your comment is still being read lol

[@OK-dx3xj]

Update?

[@waveexistence3512]

☝🏼

[@ghog4792]

Update?

[@watergod321]

5:20 my new favorite screenshot

[@nepunepu5894]

God Bless Random Screenshot!

[@hugimi3807]

Lol

[@thewaterleaf7929]

also ur profile pic...

[@GabrielCarvv]

beautiful

[@raconvid6521]

:0

[@VampPhoenix99]

First episode: "your first game is just a learning exercise" Fourth episode: "YOU GOTTA MARKET YOUR GAME PPL WILL LOVE IT"

[@emermon1663]

Well yes but actually no

[@extrahistory]

To answer your emails: yes, if you want to post your game in the comments section of this video, you may! But fair warning to anyone checking out these games: we'll delete anything that seems to be illegitimate (e.g. viruses) but you click at your own risk.

[@akheraCZ]

I'll start :) Color Assembler is an abstract color mixing puzzle game encouraging learning by experimentation. You can check out its Steam Greenlight page: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=353658089

[@tcostisi]

This isn't my game, but it is an indie game being made on Unity: myworldsofmagic.com/ Check it out if you're a 4x Strategy fan or really liked Master of Magic back in the 90's.

[@marscaleb]

Free promo? I'll take advantage of that! I'm probably a year away from having anything to release, but you can check out my game here: eightballgaming.com/ Working on a classic 2D side-scroller right now.

[@AegixDrakan]

*GASP* We...we can post our own games in the comments? Sweet! Totally free, Turn based RPG self-promo AWAY! This one is a somewhat short "dark fantasy" type deal with rather challenging combat, and the one I'm most proud of. rpgmaker.net/games/4826/ This next one is just a demo (the first two dungeons) and I'm still working on it, so feedback would be great. rpgmaker.net/games/6684/ This one's a short experiment that turned out really really well. It's one single boss battle with a tightly designed combat system, and a short self-contained story. I made it for a contest and I actually took second with it, which was pretty awesome. rpgmaker.net/games/6754/ And this is my last completed project thus far. Full disclaimer here, the story is totally awesome, but due to time constraints (I made it for an online event), the combat isn't as tightly balanced as my other games. It's still totally playable and fun, but it's a bit on the easy side. I'm going to go back and fix the combat, but it's going to take some time. rpgmaker.net/games/7175/ Feedback is always appreciated, even if you didn't like it. Feedback of any kind helps me make my games and all future projects better.

[@mutatedsoftware6150]

Thanks for the invite! If you're up for a challenge, check out Blue-Collar Astronaut on Greenlight for its retro gamefeel and physics based space flight coming to PC/Mac/Linux/WiiU. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=337130341 (Steam Greenlight).

[@Masfugo]

I really love your "game" character. so cute. you should try to make it as stickers , facebook stickers, line stickers or anything else XD

[@1sidegamer878]

My Idea 1 game release in Battleground please help me

[@epauletshark3793]

There is a plush now.

[@grahamkristensen9301]

One more thing that should be added: learn how to handle criticism. Although Steam is a great platform for indie developers, they have a bit of a quality control problem, which is why for every Greenlight success story there are ten broken, unfinished, borderline unplayable messes that crawl out of the woodwork. Not only have games like The Slaughtering Grounds, Day One: Garry's Incident and Air control become infamous Greenlight horror stories, but the responses from the developers have been incredibly unprofessional. Even if you think your game is the new Braid, don't lash out if you start getting bad reviews, as tempting as they may be.

[@herschalshep]

So much this. I'm an artist by trade and I know some people that have such thin skin that they attack others for offering legitimate criticisms. Heck, one guy has become infamous because he attacks everybody when he doesn't win awards despite the fact that his art is shit. I don't say that lightly either. He hasn't improved in years, has an awful sense of anatomy, perspective and depth, uses awful watercolours, steals jokes from Family Guy, steals plots and stories in general, and acts like he's the best thing ever. He even got mad because his books (yes, he self published some books. A failed kickstarter asking 75,000 got 5 dollars) weren't being sold at Forbidden Planet. I'm not kidding.

[@danlei88]

Herschal Shep I totally want to know who that guy is now :)

[@anja8595]

There is an art form to being a good critic so that the artist looks at what you're saying and says, "Hey you're right!" If the other person is rejecting your criticism, consider it not being just an issue on their end but maybe also a problem with your approach. A game is a long arduous process that takes many, MANY hours. Someone just walking up to you and telling your child of 200 hours is terrible is of course going to be handled poorly. www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism/

[@herschalshep]

Daniel Sohlman Look up "Sunnyville stories" or "Max West". I swear the guy has some kind of disorder that completely alters how he sees reality. In fact I think he sabotaged the article about his comic on the bad webcomics wiki.

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

Having released three crappy games, and working on a fourth - and hopefully, significantly less crappy one - I can offer some advice on this. (SHMUP: Orbital Combat, a spaceflight sim was my first game, Zombies vs. Knights, a cut-down RTS was my second game, and The Hero's Journey, a Zelda 2-"clone" was my third game. I'm working on Sara the Shieldmage, an Eastern RPG.) First things first - if no one is complaining, that means no one likes your game. It's fundamentally flawed, and has things to be avoided like the plague. Your next game should go a different direction. TL;DR - Silence is bad. Next, while you will get feedback a lot, you won't get *helpful, reasoned* feedback a lot. When you do make something that you start getting "OMG this is terrible, go die in a fire with your pancakes!", that's actually a good sign. In my experience, comments like these are the norm; you'll have few people who actually say helpful things like, "When I played the game, this this and this felt wrong, please make a better game next time." When you see these unhelpful messages, don't get offensive or indignant; ask "what things about it sucked?" More often than not, you'll start getting that more helpful feedback. Sometimes the person will just never answer, which means you can't do anything more with that particular comment. TL;DR - "OMG this sucks" means you should ask, "OK, what exactly sucks?" You'll likely get answers. Finally, *schedule* time to support your application. What worked for me on "The Hero's Journey", my last, and so far best project, I actually put aside about two months so I could solicit feedback on the 1.0 version. I released a 1.1 patch, which actually led directly to a small upswing in the game's ratings. One of my side projects is a 1.2 patch where I add some more content to the game and fix some other stuff that was secondary to the launch, but that I didn't get a lot of feedback on. TL;DR - Just set aside time to fix stuff, players will break your baby. Also, there's great resources to get in-iteration help with your game. Specifically, on the Unity forums, we have a Game Design forum. You should not go there asking, "How do I...", but instead ,have a webplayer prototype that you can put in our handy-dandy WIP thread, and ask questions like, "what's good or bad about this? Is [thing] fun?" You'll find me there a lot, under my forum handle Asvarduil (I'm subtle like that.) Remember, as the project goes further in it becomes more expensive to fix bugs. Try to squash as many as you can during development, but realize that there will be post-release bugs and other stuff you have to fix. Hope that helps.

[@TheCookiezPlz]

Any reason why KZbin wasn't mentioned at all? If you lack a budget then it seems like let's players are your best bet. I'm not saying it's not worth reaching out to big websites but "if it's a slow news day" just seems like a stab in the dark in comparison. Chances are they're going to be too busy covering upcoming AAA games and if that's the case then smaller guys, especially smaller youtubers, seems like your best bet.

[@AstonWildsteel]

Interesting idea, since LP's tend to be the trendsetters of gaming. Still, Let's Players are single individuals (even if the more famous ones have great networks, as the german LPer PhunkRoyal can attest to) and have their preferences and, even more important, triggers. While one should try to ask anyway, one should know about the portfolio and personality of the LPer so they can custom-tailor the request. For example, HCBaily would be a terrible choice despite his "mediocre popularity" (especially if you provide something that isn't JRPG or related to that genre) since his portfolio suggests that he sticks with big name-games from former console generations. I have no experience with any of this, but I would guess that most other methods of marketing, as suggested by this video, might be more sucessful than hoping for an LPer saying "Yes". I wouldn't mind hearing from people who know better, though.

[@mikkolovesgaming1723]

This. Some bigger LPers have crowds of hundreds of thousands regularly watching their videos, that can be a LOT of publicity and usually it comes for free if your game looks interesting to them. On that note, feel free to offer me games to feature on my shitty channel that nobody watches. :P

[@Onebadterran]

I know as a small KZbinr myself I would love to do coverage of small indie titles. It helps everybody involved. Though, as a developer, you do have to be careful with who you choose. You have to make sure that the LP'er you are contacting will be a positive impact on your game and marketing. Some games are just not right for some LP'ers, no matter how famous they may be. If you can find the right one, though, there is no reason why your game can't explode.

[@MrServantRider]

Hey this is how that one game, Hat in Time, got noticed. Or how I noticed it anyway, since Josh Jepson gave it a playthrough on his channel. I think this is a GREAT idea, and AstonWildsteel 's suggestion about the portfolio isn't necessarily 100% to go by. You only really have to appeal to their genre or style. Josh Jepson only played big name titles from past consoles as well, but since the game Hat in Time was a platformer/collectathon he gave it a completely fair playthrough.

[@UnderdogSMO]

He did say Podcast and such things. Most of that is youtube

[@ZetsubouRan]

I took some classes using Unity and I ported the same game on my phone, PC and PS Vita in a matter of seconds, Unity is amazing

[@mikesoto890]

Here, have my "likes" =)

[@ZetsubouRan]

mikesoto890 thank you!

[@jgdevelops8440]

Almost 7 years later and this mini-series is still very relatable. In some cases, the references were slightly outdated but as a whole the content is very straightforward and practical.

[@ConnorGardner]

The most important thing I've learned: ACCEPT CRITICISM! Trust me, I've seen plenty of people too scared to release a game because of how they believe it will be treated. If this your first game, this rule goes especially to you. Don't be afraid to let loose your creation. If you believe it's truly ready, get it out there. If people still don't like it, it's a lesson learned, and feedback is one of the most important aspects. It's helped me out, and it will for you too. I promise. Don't be afraid to explore other people's creative outputs. They're there to help, not to hate.

[@Overhazard]

Well, those who are afraid to be torn apart tend to be those who are sensitive to criticism, so the issue goes hand in hand. I know someone who wants to make a game but is not only afraid to do anything because of the criticism he fears he'll face, he is so sensitive to any negative feedback that he pretty much gives up when any comes his way. (On the other hand, he is equally sensitive to positive feedback. When I complimented his musical aptitude, and he is genuinely naturally very good at it, he was happy as a clam for a week.) I'm in total agreement with you here, by the way--but I just want to point out that it's pretty hard sometimes to give people the push they deserve, because the people who fear negative feedback are the people most likely to run away when it does happen. I guess you can say that when you anticipate something bad happening, it feels that much worse when it happens.

[@Overhazard]

xtremetoxicguy Yeah, and I must say that even after knowing this, I myself can sometimes let people get under my skin, even in unrelated things. On cases like those, it's best to step away from things and take an hour to relax or something until your'e used to it.

[@ConnorGardner]

***** Yep.

[@ZachjamesELA]

+xtremetoxicguy Thanks for the info I'm planing on making a game using Fusion 2.5 (already have a copy along with the flash exporter) and after that i'll use unity because I have a couple books on unity and how to use it to make 2D games.

[@mr.cup6yearsago211]

xtremetoxicguy I know I'm late, but to be fair, I don't think they're scared of criticism, I think they're scared of trolls.

[@uoooh]

My uncle's freeware exploration game got tweeted by rock paper shotgun recently. Boy do I feel special knowing that I'm going down that same path.

[@sooperdood127]

What was the game called?

[@uoooh]

Dunwall Tower Into the void

[@AnnRita45]

+Hax4Ever is it at all playable? sounds interesting!

[@uoooh]

3dmethods.itch.io/inside-the-void

[@AnnRita45]

+Hax4Ever thanks!!!

[@TaraRaeDev]

Some specifics I'd like to mention. Firstly, a press kit should be made so that you can link to it for sites and people who happen upon it or search for it are taken to the information you provide. A press kit is simply screenshots, logos and general game info: mechanics, development time, credits, etc. For my most recently released game I had a great press kit, but the kit itself wasn't search engine optimized. So people would image search on google and it would bring up old screenshots and title screens. When you contact youtubers, press, streamers, etc... give them copies/codes for the game as well as link to the press kit immediately in the email. Give them any permissions to create transformative works within the email as well as any instructions on waiting for when they should make their transformative/journalistic/enthusiast content available (In my opinion, this makes it more prudent to contact them only once the game is publicly available). Finally, just like the press kit, many many many content creators will take whatever you say and just re-say it. So if you provide them with images/screenshots in the press kit, those are the images they are gonna use. If you provide them elevator pitches (and you should), those are the same pitches they are gonna give to their audience. I mean this about many types of creators: review sites, youtubers, critique sites, it doesn't matter. For this reason, it's extremely important to create a great pitch. In my case, I compared my game to like 3 others. It was a concise and exciting way to describe it, but then your game is immediately compared to others and it just sounds bad. So for the entire media life of my game, I had to re-hear countless people retell my cringe-worthy elevator pitch.

[@SinthTeck]

You killed me with professor Oak.

[@fantasy4263]

This is really useful! Even though I am 13, I am still very interested in making indie games.

[@salehuddinhamid3679]

@@DanaFenn tru

[@epauletshark3793]

I find this interesting, and have no interest in making videogames. Mods mabey, or pen-and-paper games.

[@olivermateski1810]

Same

[@jgdevelops8440]

still interested?

[@adulterer5385]

My religion teacher released an rpg. People said he was obviously inspired by the Zelda games. He had never played a single zelda rpg before...

[@ishmaelscali2070]

The art was amazing in this episode

[@MrBlazefp]

You now have translated subtitles? Awesome I can finally show my little sis that games aren't just an easy entertainment product :D Thank you :)

[@neilisbored2177]

@Mekal Covic Well, it's either Chinese, Polish, Korean, French, Portuguese, English(Auto Generated), Off, or Add subtitles/CC

[@Dani-yk8sj]

@@neilisbored2177I salute you sir.

[@firehazzard8497]

@@neilisbored2177 Pretty ure its Add subtitles/CC

[@archsteel7]

I wish I'd seen this series the first time I started making games. I'm honestly pretty pleased to say that I followed most, if not all, of these rules on the first game I ever made... With the exception of what you talked about here, as I never got around to finishing/publishing it, due to my game design attentions being shifted over to an end of year college programming project, and then ended up leaving it alone for so long that I barely recognized it the next time I went to look. Looking back, I wish I'd forced myself to keep going back and tweaking it like you guys suggested. But I'm hoping that's a lesson I'll know in the future, now that I'm starting up again and shifting from Unity over to Unreal. And even though I didn't have this guide when I first began, I do think it's still been helpful to me now. Because it's helped me realize that even though I know I can make something complex, I still need to start small and build from there.

[@PinkDawn1308]

Thanks so much for making these videos. They've helped a lot. You guys started this "Making Your First Game" series soon after my friends and I started talking about making our own games. Perfect timing! We're still not sure what kind of game we're gonna make for our first game, but these videos offered some really excellent insight and now we have a better idea of where to start.

[@pewpiedeetown7721]

i love how diverse the characters in your videos are, especially considering how rarely you see stuff like that. kudos!

[@dogiz6952]

Send your game to PewDiePie, and watch it become an instant hit.

[@HonestlyBenjamin]

haha lol

[@awesomeOM7177]

Haha, so true lmao

[@IanHollis]

Doesn't work, I tried. But can you imagine the amount of requests he would get??? :O

[@FieryKitsune1]

Only IF he plays it. Chances are it will fall through the cracks.

[@prodrawer1481]

this only works if your game looks freaking amazing or is extremely weird or different. He wont play a game that just looks cool. Remember he has te react to it and make an interesting video mostly for kids with short attention spans.

[@MrDemdemsitar]

These were really helpful now for the hardest part of all: the Idea

[@mustafataylan3574]

Count on me!

[@LowFlyer]

honestly it took me 1 and a half year to think of a good game idea,and i have yet to start working on it

[@mustafataylan3574]

Low Flyer I have fps ideas

[@Ben-jm8fc]

+Turkish Russian Ummmmm, I don't mean to be rude, but that's not a very good idea. Fps is not a very flexible genre, meaning that games such as COD and Battlefield dominate it. So an indie fps just won't work so much. Hey but you could of course perform some kind of miracle and prove my theory wrong????

[@DemRat]

The question there is primarily whether it is a multiplayer or a singleplayer fps. The multiplayer market is pretty much saturated. Unless you do something incredible like Nintendo did with Splatoon, you will probably not get far. Single player fps on the other hand has lots of potential since it is not limited by making it fair for pvp.

[@andrewwelker7287]

Of all of the Extra Credits videos I've watched so far, this one has my favorite illustrations.

[@FlatlandsSurvivor]

We have a game design class at my school, and I showed this series to the teacher and he loved it.

[@anujdebnath260]

Love the pictures man! Those characters are adorable! 😁

[@LoriWolfcat]

I LOVE how you make the game avatar look like it is your kid. It looks so cute! I hope to make some games and with companies like Unity, can you ever just make your own?

[@thetoxicnoble]

Thank you guys so much for this series! Thanks to this series finishing my game should happen a lot sooner and easier than it would have before! You're the best!

[@aviweinstein9393]

Thank you so much for these videos!! Im 14 and have been trying to create a game for months now and never getting anywhere with it. I have just started watching this channel and I plan to continue doing so. Keep doing what your doing!

[@Zoltoks]

Guys I am glad to say that Im about to post my first game to steam! Its coming out this month!

[@Feldus]

Zoltoks what's it called?

[@Zoltoks]

Feldy The morgue fissure between worlds. The trailer is on my channel.

[@matteovukoja1240]

Name?

[@brittneydwilliams]

I saw it, it looks great. You did a really good job!

[@lazydoggaming2155]

I see the video is sponsored by unity! I love that software, i made a lot of games in it! Thank you for helping me how to market them :D

[@blazeminer8197]

WOW thanks i needed this i watch your game design videos when ever im feeling stressed about making my game and think that me publishing a game is just some thing that will never happen THANK YOU

[@Silenoid]

Without your videos, I'd not be working on my game as I'm doing right now. Thanks a lot guys. I love you

[@chadtronic]

New Extra Credits, awwwwww yiiisssssssss

[@julesfrancis]

Chadtronic yo 😂

[@crypt1k755]

You fricking frick!

[@Kreiser_VII]

*3 Years Later* Yay! Extra Credits!

[@Gaminboi2864]

I didn't know Chadtropic watched extra credits

[@casualchris1893]

*CHERD CHANIC* IS HERE

[@eldiran]

Just a note-- the outro music link goes to a Castlevania remix album?? But that was clearly a remix of a song from Katamari. Pretty sure that's the wrong link.

[@extrahistory]

Thanks for the heads up! Fixed with the link below. -Soraya bit.ly/1zFtu9j

[@rezk6789]

Can I just say that I absolutely love the drawings in these episodes. I laughed a couple of times, some of them are so inventive.

[@komodoentertainment2938]

trying to take notes and literally this video is perfect, no notes needed just favorite the video. Great work and very to the point, i love the mini series you guys have done on this.

[@StardustWhip]

I wouldn't recommend putting your very first game on Steam, actually. Third, fourth, maybe even second, but the first bit of game design/programming you've done should NOT be on Steam. There's a lot of controversy going on about Greenlight and quality control on Steam. You don't want to be the next Air Control. I'd recommend just putting it on your website (obviously) as well as sites like Kongregate or Newgrounds.

[@TheMisteriousX]

i think what was actually meant with "first game" ist the first one that really is able to be properly released not the first game you ever make since they often mentioned in the previous episodes that the first few games you make will be mostly for practice and learning about your abilities and what you will fokus on with your first "proper game"

[@Lukefonfabre9]

TheMisteriousX They not even once differentiate the two, they refer back to their previous videos that focus on your very first game, so its disenginuous to use the same phrasing, rather than saying "your first marketable game" or something along those lines.

[@EpiquestGame]

First games usually go to Desura.

[@RavenTravelStudios]

***** you can make strong sales only on Steam. End of story.

[@StardustWhip]

RavenTravelStudios Don't charge for your first game either. There's a huge difference between your first game and the first game you make that you can actually charge for. And honestly? Games on Steam aren't guaranteed to sell better anymore. They rely on word of mouth and reviews like any other platform, and when it gets to that point it doesn't even matter where it's hosted, especially since you can add non-Steam games to your Steam client's library anyway.

[@PedtheFox]

For those worried about "Marketing": don't be shy, there are a lot of "Marketing and Communication" graduates (like me :-) ) that are hard core gamers and would be happy to help you out even from the beggining when you start analize if the peolpe would like to play your game (DO THIS in the beggining, not at the end!!!)

[@danlei88]

Yep, there's a lot of us doing marketing for indie teams :)

[@subliminalman]

Daniel Sohlman PedtheFox how could I reach out for either a campaign or some indie dev training?

[@danlei88]

subliminalman You could post an offer to gaming forums, gaming Facebook groups etc. asking for help with marketing. PedtheFox seemed to be eager to help people out in his post so perhaps sending him/her a message might be a good idea. Or me :)

[@captainfach]

This is the first time I've ever watched one of the videos and it was very helpful thank you. But I got to say the greatest part about this video so far is the end credits has a Katamari Damacy song cover. I was ecstatic as soon as I heard that it is my absolute favorite song from the game and thank you for reigniting my nostalgia

[@MattLohkamp]

that little 'boo' sequence is one of my favorite bits of animation you guys have had lately. :D

[@nickyoushallnotknow1524]

Dear Extra Credits Team, I love your show and i hope to never miss an episode. As a Big fan i would kindly ask if you could make a video about Videogame Parners like Mario and Luigi or Sonic and Tails. like why do they have partners and look at the mario rpg row as an example i would really enjoy seeing it from you! Thanks for reading your Nick ^^

[@shieldgenerator7]

I believe the partners thing is to allow for 2 players.

[@azemkasumi]

2019 watching this video and yeah i really like this video

[@isaacyauk2966]

I love how the games are depicted in your series. Never going to be able to look at a game without thinking of this!

[@michaellopez4746]

Finally a channel that talks about what im looking for rather than showing off what they did. Thank you.

[@R.U.Sirius23]

Surprised you didn't mention giving out free copies to KZbinrs especially if the game is a bit niche and they specialize their channel toward that niche. Pretty much every game I've bought this year I heard about or made my decision on whether to buy it or on because of a KZbin vid. Other than that great advise as always.

[@DerultimativeOzzy]

Yeah they should have mentioned that, but they probably included this idea already when they mentioned Tim Schäfer.

[@missedthebandwagon976]

Man, I can't wait to see what some people come up with! I hope once it's done they link to it here or on another episode about making your first game. Good luck you brave creators you!

[@PartTimeMonkey]

The stuff you're telling here is superb! I'm about to form my own small one-man indie games company, and I've been watching many of your videos. They're all either very eye-opening or good reminders to stick with the basics no matter what. Salute!

[@ayo__ayo]

I like how there are many different ethnicities in your videos. It's a small thing but it's noticeable. Wish games would do the same thing.

[@helloguytie8375]

Anthony Purington same I love that they do this

[@Roxor128]

With a well-designed character-modification system, it might actually be easier to do it in a game. Most NPCs could just be randomised derivatives of some template. That's what we are in real life, anyway.

[@TheLegoDude14]

It's so weird getting here early and seeing no insightful comments below...

[@Roxfox]

I just had that very same experience.

[@zintage2826]

I love you guys, all of your videos are great. You all give information with such little bias, it's amazing and refreshing.

[@mwconsultancynzlimited8253]

Thank you for making this so simple (even though it ain't easy!). This has helped me to visualize the end product and the next steps. Awesome! Thanks from Aotearoa (New Zealand)

[@DenlixCutix]

5:18 my face when my game gets 100 visits

[@dacypher22]

What do you guys think about those who start Kickstarters when they don't actually need the money just to try to sell copies and get attention for their game? I swear I have seen that a few times, and have heard people mention it in game development circles before. I does have a few upsides: your game is basically done, so you can show off a basically complete, polished version which would put you ahead of most others, there time from the end of the KS to the time when the perks and game is distributed will obviously be short, which will make backers happy, etc. Of course the downside is that it isn't really being honest with your audience.

[@ben_burnes]

Personally, I would feel much more comfortable backing a game that is mostly done and needs that final push to get out there rather than something with a few design docs and a "guys this is going to be so cool" vibe. There are people out there who push it as a completed game and use it more like a preorder service, which I think is more what you're talking about, and that might be sketchy, but I still think it's a viable way to professionally show off your game and offer some neat perks to early purchasers. On a somewhat similar note, I've heard from several devs that Steam Greenlight is one of the cheapest forms of mass marketing you can get, since a modest one-time fee gets your game idea in front a thousands of eyes.

[@danlei88]

That's smart PR in my opinion :)

[@Skylos]

Actually i see it as a positive thing to put up a game that is basicly already done. You can show so much more of your game so your backers will more likely not get dissapointed. and if you have the money, but it is barely enough, then you could even have things like "i will add these extra features and/or your own ideas if i get this much/ you back me with this much". it can in some cases just make your game even better

[@CamsEyeView]

personally, KS is a good idea for something like this like Albino Lullaby was just covering those final bits of development cost and the rest was for marketing and how they can show off their game at different press events like say SXSW.

[@thewizardninja]

It really depends. I see a lot of Kickstarter projects made to IMPROVE a game beyond what's done, which is a great way to not only create buzz for an already finished game but to also, well, add content to a game that might not have made it in. I've also seen projects made in order to acquire a marketing budget, which is really sneaky seeing as the Kickstarter itself helps with marketing. Still, as long as you're upfront about what your Kickstarter is actually for then you can't call it dishonest.

[@3d-art284]

i just started making my game this week and with the help of 2 friends its going a lot faster than i thought

[@rcoppy]

I was cracking up at the art in this one more than usual. Great job!!!

[@AlexVasiluta]

I have an idea: what if you make a channel in which you play when you're not busy games by people in this comments section if you find those games interesting and tell your opinion on them

[@2d20kobolds3]

Mmmm DAT lonely rolling star remix

[@clonerstive]

This has gotten me so excited about getting back into coding. Thanks a lot! :D And as a voice over artist, I can't wait for that voice acting episode! :D

[@bbs-borutoblazingstrike7513]

Cloner Stive please am making a game and we need voice actors please can u join

[@MILADISGONE]

Thank you guys so much, with your videos I learned so much more than I learned when I was "learning" in university...

[@davidmolina125]

i'm going to develop a game as a school project ( a big one, like half a year of work into it). Would you still consider it good to lunch it? I only see this as troublemaking, due to copyrights, royalities etc.

[@mustafataylan3574]

I say, yes. Most people have potential.

[@davidmolina125]

Turkish Russian Thanks for the advice

[@LowFlyer]

i also say yes.If you spend 6 months making a game for a school project,its probably gonna be very good for an indie game so go ahead and piblish it!

[@davidmolina125]

Low Flyer I'll spend a month with the design and two with the actual development, i don't even expect to finish it before delivering it. If i finish it, it'll be on my own (something that i'll probably do)

[@LowFlyer]

David Molina ok awesome anyways!

[@UmekCrafter]

I wonder if someone made a game already, after watching "Making your first game - Basics"

[@b4ux1t3-tech]

Ironically, you guys are distracting from making my first (real) game by releasing videos about making your first game. Thanks so much! (Both seriously and sarcastically, if that's possible!)

[@GnarledStaff]

I love how a lot of this advice transfers over to other projects. I'm writing notes.

[@UnknownTuber450]

Rip Newgrounds with any flash games

[@AshleyCarruthersOrAJ]

what about text based? I'm working on a text based game it so far has NPC (wip) a main menu a market and I'm still yet to add quests, bosses dungeon and I already have random loot done and it's already 640 lines long :D it's my first big project in python :)

[@GESTOPTKANAALDJARO]

Ashley Carruthers I can't even learn javascript properly :(

[@AshleyCarruthersOrAJ]

DjaroGames I'm doing this in Python . It's now 809 lines long and I think I might put the code somewhere for people to mess with

[@BFedie518]

Python is easier than javascript.

[@BFedie518]

***** Use the libraries! If you want 2D graphics, use Pygame or something similar. It makes things a hell of a lot easier. Also: Documentation. Writing comments can be a pain, and they're not super important while you're actively working on it, but if you ever go a period of time without touching the game (even like two weeks), it can be easy to forget why you coded certain things and get lost in your own logic. So it's best to just comment as you go. I'd also suggest using git or something for version control and to backup your work. This lets you make branches and experiment without worrying about breaking the entire thing.

[@BFedie518]

TJPrime well, I've never released a game on steam, so i can't actually help you there :P

[@abyssshark5599]

For now ive seen all of the videos related to these subject and I find them helpful , specially wen I'm a student in the videogame industry

[@misterawesome123456]

This WAS a problem I was thinking about to make my first game. But now, I can show people my talent. Thanks!

[@Nonadecimal]

Releasing your game is just the first step too. You have to work hard to keep supporting it and finding new audiences who will identify with your game. I released the topical Social Justice Warriors game in May 2014 and it took 9 months of updates and promotion before people finally started discovering it. The Steam release is finally coming this month. Check it out! www.nonadecimal.com/SJW

[@VGDocs]

Looks good! Screw those uneducated plebs in the comments section. :)

[@coastersplus]

Trogdor8freebird Be careful, lest you look like a judgmental fool yourself! Nonadecimal Creative Thank you for showing us, the people of the Internet, how stupid we are. I hope you stop getting so much hate for it.

[@CornishCreamtea07]

I fail at marketing.

[@danlei88]

Try to look for people that do PR for a living and try to get them to collaborate with you or if you have the money, hire them. There's quite a few people doing that kind of thing for indie games :)

[@CornishCreamtea07]

Thanks, I find a lot of people are not interested in marketing so it is harder to find someone who wants to do it.

[@danlei88]

CornishCreamtea07 I do this for a living for indie teams but I'm full on clients and I have to charge money. I can give you some simple advice (free) or answer if you have some questions if you want but this video covered the basics very well :)

[@t4nkychannel921]

If you, like most people reading this, can't afford someone to hire a person, the alternative (from what I can tell) is to be as prolific as possible posting. In other words,go around talking to people on sites like youtube. Don't just push your stuff at random, though. What you should be doing is talking to people and put links on your projects on, let's say, your KZbin channel. Then, if you're talking, and someone thinks "Wow, what a cool guy, wonder what his KZbin page is like," they'll know what you're working on.

[@masterlifeandlove6757]

I replied. So its a success

[@R0V0lv0]

Im actually building my first game now and this very interesting. I guess when Im ready Ill come back and look at this again. Thank you!

[@danerang]

this just reminded me to go work on my game, thank you for reminding me Extra Credits

[@neatpolygons8500]

if I build a really nice game and I make millions from it .. remeber me to make a huge donation for Extra Credits ;)

[@patrickgamer47]

did you make millions yet?

[@BillyPalmerMusic]

I ain't got the time or knowledge to make a game but for some reason I can't stop watching this series

[@linky0064]

Thanks you so, so much for this series. This has really helped!

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

I LOVE the artstyle, it's so cute, funny and especially, representative. I love the last part.

[@thegamingdicks1070]

As an editor in Marketing/PR in the industry, I'll never understand the boo-hiss you get talking about marketing for indie games. We love your games just as much as you do. And we love showing them off to people we know will love them too! Promise!

[@johnmarroreynaldo1294]

game making industry sure is awesome..you guys motivates me even more to be a great game dev!

[@HKBoba]

cant get enough of you guys! rewatched ur vids a ton of times and i make anyone who works w. me watch them XD keep it coming @_@#addict

[@cryptoturtle320]

These videos helped a lot. My friends and I were thinking of making a game and now I know to start small and not big. I hope we do make a decent game.

[@roncallahan334]

found this, it was a nice motivational series thank you so much for this

[@craig3862]

thanks this kind of information very useful for keeping me grounded. it's to easy to dream up a concept, and then have no idea how to implement it with very little resources and time.

[@Diceyed]

Thanks for this one, I'm a Head Writer and Marketing department for a new game and this was useful, I never marketed a game before so I will keep this one in good mind when it comes time.

[@MrZachariasMath]

Fantastic series! Thanks for producing this. Also at :30 seconds, looks like the guys hand is coming out of the games eye...

[@tobinus]

Outstanding artwork in this one

[@theisaac.8679]

Thanks i havent watched the other parts but i got the information i needed

[@niamy1]

Hey, I just went through the Unity tutorial and made Roll a Ball. This is insane!

[@bondfall0072]

Thank you so much EC. I might be a teenager, but these episodes are going to help me a lot.

[@KOEXStudio]

Nice video especially how the 2d images line up with what you are saying. I am making a indie game demo and preparing to release it soon. This video gives me some insight, thanks!

[@YunierViada]

Thank you for doing these videos!

[@tablenarue9519]

this makes me think of when people ask me how to spread something around, or make whatever they're trying to promote get more attention. I usually tell them to put what they're spreading in all of the places they can, even the places they don't think will work or that they don't think they can access. Most of the time all you have to do is keep trying, since there is usually very little to no drawback.

[@mattihelminen4830]

Thank you SO MUCH!!!! I made my own board game, ITS awesome, thank you so much for these tips, tricks and hints

[@sharkyj368]

I've seen many series on youtube of people making devlogs on games they're making. Making devlogs I'm sure would be a great way to get people to know about a game you're making

[@OneMoreStoryGames]

This was a great video, and very timely as well. We're just launching our publishing platform for a new kind of game that is more along the lines of interactive storytelling - bringing books to life as games. Thanks for the fantastic tips!

[@SamuraiPipotchi]

Glad this one came up. Was going to suggest it myself if it hadn't.

[@BrownCoatCaptn]

well my friends and Extra Credit after watching this mini series a few times today I am embarking on the journey of my first game ^^'

[@Teledoor24]

Ah, perfect. Just the video I was hoping you were going to make. Thanks! Unfortunately, I don't have a product ready yet (Honestly, I'm not even close), but I will... And now when I do have something, I'll know what to do with it!

[@Wyattap125]

Thumbs up to EC for being the most inspirational and helpful people out there

[@gillyvelazquez7755]

Thanks, I'm just starting a game so this will help a lot

[@RarefoilB]

So you recommend I release that one room platforming game with buggy collision and charge a dollar for it?

[@GideonGleeful95]

I was going to say that. I would not want to release my first buggy mess onto steam just to have everyone go "why the fuck are you charging for what is essentially a broken beta test?" I mean, Slaughtering Grounds anyone? Garry's Incident? Guise of the Wolf?

[@Skylos]

Not really. you could try to finish it, remove most of the bugs and release for free, just for the reviews sake and the experience

[@laughingskuls7000]

***** It's still your first game and as good as it might be it can't be anywhere near as any FREE flash game you get online, let alone steam.

[@vulapa]

That is not what they are explicitly saying. The video focuses on marketing and the various methods of releasing "a" game, not throwing your prototypes on a market.

[@Skylos]

Jockeykiller Yes i know, it will most likely not be as good as most games, but you won't gain any experience if you don't release it somewhere. And i did NEVER say anything about steam -.-

[@conspirisycrackers1889]

Thank you extra credits I just finished my first game Hester day but 1 bug fix is needed but now I can launch it