Bootstrapping a Video Game business from a third-world country

[Trait]

Intro
For the past ~1.2 years I have been building a game solo for which I found the market had a strong need for. It's been around 9 months since I revealed the game to the market and the feedback received confirmed the existence of the need for my game.

So my game is actually competing with a 20-year-old game franchise, whose developers charge 60 dollars for a game that has really dated graphics (graphics quality compares to mid-2000s games). So the player base has complained almost everywhere possible - forums, and reviews about these issues but the developers remained stubborn on their seemingly "no modernizing" policy. A lot of the players stated they only play because 'there is nothing else like it'. After playing the game I realized the gameplay was really fun and it would be really awesome if this game had modern graphics and cost less (my game will cost 30$, a 50% price reduction). So I decided to start building the game in Unreal Engine 5.

I had already learned game development and had tried making a game based on need as well - but it turned out to be too big to make solo and I didn't have money to hire employees so I had to quit on that game. I had spent 3 months learning the entire 3D Art Pipeline for the game I quit building, from 3D modelling, Texturing, Rigging, Animating and I knew programming from school.

So I started building the new game which seemed 'easy' to build, and I expected a 8-month development time. I am now on the 14th month and development still hasn't neared end xD. But I have released updates and devblogs publicly on my Competitor game's Reddit page and my latest post there currently is the 3rd most upvoted post for this year only beaten by pinned posts. And my game has received a lot of comments of praise with some comments literally saying " Wow I can’t wait. (20 Year Old game Franchise) need a real competitor badly", this comment had 30 upvotes.

But my game has another 'soft' competitor, an American with quite a bit of money. I say soft as his game is in my game's genre, but it still plays quite a bit differently. His game is meant to appeal to the masses more and my game is quite niche. Our games have the same factions and are getting built on the same engine. These are the two worrying factors for me. He hasn't revealed his game to the public yet. I keep regular contact with him to stay updated on how far his game has progressed. He has hired 3 programmers and 2 artists.

This thread is actually a continuation of my first execution thread on this game. I started the first thread with a vastly different goal than what my goals are currently so I decided to make a second one and aptly name it.
Link to the first thread - EXECUTION - Road to massive positive impact

Update 16
Development has been going at a nice pace with me having coded a Full Flagship feature (1 out of 3 done) of the game in about 8 days. I have also been revising model textures and making sure they are as realistic and good looking as possible. Other than near photoreal graphics I have 3 more Flagship features and around 8 innovations over the 20-Year-old game franchise.

Stats -
YouTube Subscriber Count - 289 (+35)
Discord Member Count - 159 (+48)
Devblog 1 - 7300 views
Devblog 2 - 1800 views
Devblog 3 - 2100 views

Financials -
Cost till now - 715$ Assets + 1000$ credit card fee = 1715$ (no change)
Paper Revenue till now - 289 * 30$ = 8,670$ (+1050$)

A latest screenshot of my game -

 

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[Jeix]

So my game is actually competing with a 20-year-old game franchise, whose developers charge 60 dollars for a game that has really dated graphics (graphics quality compares to mid-2000s games). So the player base has complained almost everywhere possible - forums, and reviews about these issues but the developers remained stubborn on their seemingly "no modernizing" policy. A lot of the players stated they only play because 'there is nothing else like it'.

Are you competing with pokemon?

Just kidding, best of luck with your project, it sounds very promising!

 

[Disciple96]

Are you competing with ARMA?

Great work on the progress so far. I do love games in this genre so when your game is done just DM and I'll be one of your first customers

Or I can do some free play-testing if/when there comes a time

Either way, keep driving forward and don't give up!

 

[Ayush6543]

Intro
For the past ~1.5 years I have been building a game solo for which I found the market had a strong need for. It's been around 8 months since I revealed the game to the market and the feedback received confirmed the existence of the need for my game.

So my game is actually competing with a 20-year-old game franchise, whose developers charge 60 dollars for a game that has really dated graphics (graphics quality compares to mid-2000s games). So the player base has complained almost everywhere possible - forums, and reviews about these issues but the developers remained stubborn on their seemingly "no modernizing" policy. A lot of the players stated they only play because 'there is nothing else like it'. After playing the game I realized the gameplay was really fun and it would be really awesome if this game had modern graphics and cost less (my game will cost 30$, a 50% price reduction). So I decided to start building the game in Unreal Engine 5.

I had already learned game development and had tried making a game based on need as well - but it turned out to be too big to make solo and I didn't have money to hire employees so I had to quit on that game. I had spent 3 months learning the entire 3D Art Pipeline for the game I quit building, from 3D modelling, Texturing, Rigging, Animating and I knew programming from school.

So I started building the new game which seemed 'easy' to build, and I expected a 8-month development time. I am now on the 14th month and development still hasn't neared end xD. But I have released updates and devblogs publicly on my Competitor game's Reddit page and my latest post there currently is the 3rd most upvoted post for this year only beaten by pinned posts. And my game has received a lot of comments of praise with some comments literally saying " Wow I can’t wait. (20 Year Old game Franchise) need a real competitor badly", this comment had 30 upvotes.

But my game has another 'soft' competitor, an American with quite a bit of money. I say soft as his game is in my game's genre, but it still plays quite a bit differently. His game is meant to appeal to the masses more and my game is quite niche. Our games have the same factions and are getting built on the same engine. These are the two worrying factors for me. He hasn't revealed his game to the public yet. I keep regular contact with him to stay updated on how far his game has progressed. He has hired 3 programmers and 2 artists.

This thread is actually a continuation of my first execution thread on this game. I started the first thread with a vastly different goal than what my goals are currently so I decided to make a second one and aptly name it.
Link to the first thread - EXECUTION - Road to massive positive impact

Update 16
Development has been going at a nice pace with me having coded a Full Flagship feature (1 out of 3 done) of the game in about 8 days. I have also been revising model textures and making sure they are as realistic and good looking as possible. Other than near photoreal graphics I have 3 more Flagship features and around 8 innovations over the 20-Year-old game franchise.

Stats -
YouTube Subscriber Count - 289 (+35)
Discord Member Count - 159 (+48)
Devblog 1 - 7300 views
Devblog 2 - 1800 views
Devblog 3 - 2100 views

Financials -
Cost till now - 715$ Assets + 1000$ credit card fee = 1715$ (no change)
Paper Revenue till now - 289 * 30$ = 8,670$ (+1050$)

A latest screenshot of my game -
View attachment 49022

looks cool. Keep making progress.

 

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[Masterklm]

Intro
For the past ~1.2 years I have been building a game solo for which I found the market had a strong need for. It's been around 9 months since I revealed the game to the market and the feedback received confirmed the existence of the need for my game.

So my game is actually competing with a 20-year-old game franchise, whose developers charge 60 dollars for a game that has really dated graphics (graphics quality compares to mid-2000s games). So the player base has complained almost everywhere possible - forums, and reviews about these issues but the developers remained stubborn on their seemingly "no modernizing" policy. A lot of the players stated they only play because 'there is nothing else like it'. After playing the game I realized the gameplay was really fun and it would be really awesome if this game had modern graphics and cost less (my game will cost 30$, a 50% price reduction). So I decided to start building the game in Unreal Engine 5.

I had already learned game development and had tried making a game based on need as well - but it turned out to be too big to make solo and I didn't have money to hire employees so I had to quit on that game. I had spent 3 months learning the entire 3D Art Pipeline for the game I quit building, from 3D modelling, Texturing, Rigging, Animating and I knew programming from school.

So I started building the new game which seemed 'easy' to build, and I expected a 8-month development time. I am now on the 14th month and development still hasn't neared end xD. But I have released updates and devblogs publicly on my Competitor game's Reddit page and my latest post there currently is the 3rd most upvoted post for this year only beaten by pinned posts. And my game has received a lot of comments of praise with some comments literally saying " Wow I can’t wait. (20 Year Old game Franchise) need a real competitor badly", this comment had 30 upvotes.

But my game has another 'soft' competitor, an American with quite a bit of money. I say soft as his game is in my game's genre, but it still plays quite a bit differently. His game is meant to appeal to the masses more and my game is quite niche. Our games have the same factions and are getting built on the same engine. These are the two worrying factors for me. He hasn't revealed his game to the public yet. I keep regular contact with him to stay updated on how far his game has progressed. He has hired 3 programmers and 2 artists.

This thread is actually a continuation of my first execution thread on this game. I started the first thread with a vastly different goal than what my goals are currently so I decided to make a second one and aptly name it.
Link to the first thread - EXECUTION - Road to massive positive impact

Update 16
Development has been going at a nice pace with me having coded a Full Flagship feature (1 out of 3 done) of the game in about 8 days. I have also been revising model textures and making sure they are as realistic and good looking as possible. Other than near photoreal graphics I have 3 more Flagship features and around 8 innovations over the 20-Year-old game franchise.

Stats -
YouTube Subscriber Count - 289 (+35)
Discord Member Count - 159 (+48)
Devblog 1 - 7300 views
Devblog 2 - 1800 views
Devblog 3 - 2100 views

Financials -
Cost till now - 715$ Assets + 1000$ credit card fee = 1715$ (no change)
Paper Revenue till now - 289 * 30$ = 8,670$ (+1050$)

A latest screenshot of my game -
View attachment 49022

Well done man I saw your posts on this endeavor a few months back and the game looks awesome, amazing graphics, don't know what game it is but well done. I wish you
success

 

[Trait]

Update 17 - Got contacted by 2 Multi-Million dollar game publishing companies within 24 hours

The sharks smell money - my Money!

I launched my game's fourth devlog a few days ago. It was severely underperforming on the first day in terms of views (only about 350) . I went to sleep sad and anxious about the video. While the video was getting praise left right and center, the view count kept bothering me.

I woke up the next day with the video on about 600 views. More comments of praise - meh, I was tunnel-visioned on the viewcount. At night with the viewcount slowly rising a discord message pops up - "I am the CEO of X Game Publishing company, are you looking for any support in development?" I first thought its a random scammer, a few searches later I realised it was LEGIT. WOAH! I respectfully said not right now.

Now that was the moment I realised I really should've put a new E-mail address in my YouTube Channel as this guy would've chosen to E-mail me this. But with the excitement of having the NEED of my game confirmed in the biggest way possible I wasn't thinking properly. I couldn't sit still with excitement.

I went to sleep high on dopamine, I had trouble sleeping due to excitement. Next morning I woke up barely recovered from the hype - I see another message on my discord - " Hello, I am the CEO of Y Huge Game publishing company. Do you need any support in development?" Bruh I almost fell off my chair because this time I knew this company and the games they publish. I now was considering selling out, as I have never seen 100k dollars with my own eyes. But after a lot of level headed thinking I realised selling out was not an option - not when I spent the last 14 months socially isolated working 12 - 14 hours a day building this game.

I also got a feature published in a well known game news website of my game's niche. I got featured here before but only in a list of about 20 or so games. This time the Whole article was on my game! In the article the author quoted me from my devlogs as If I was some celebrity. I only ever saw celebrities getting quoted in articles - and today I saw me getting quoted!! I added both the CEOs as my friend in discord. I also networked another fellow developer in the same niche of video games. He knows alot of people in the community and told me alot about how games get published and distributed and his experience with Publishing company Y. He has gotten his game published by them. Learnt a lot from him after talking to him for ~2 hours.

Both of the CEOs praised my game as well. "Really Impressive stuff" said the CEO of huge Publishing Company Y. I have to say It takes balls to reject funding when I have never seen even 50$ to my name. But I need to stick to Fastlane CENTS, no giving up Creative control/ IP / Cut of Profit especially when I know most of the development process myself.

Stats -
YouTube Subscriber Count - 332 (+43)
Discord Member Count - 180 (+21)
Devblog 1 - 7700 views
Devblog 2 - 2000 views
Devblog 3 - 2300 views
Devblog 4 - 800 views

Financials -
Cost till now - 715$ Assets + 1000$ credit card fee = 1715$ (no change)
Paper Revenue till now - 332 * 30$ = 9,960$ (+1290$)

 

[Trait]

Giving game publishing a second thought
Thinking about it more, there could be major advantages of getting a publisher. One of them was actually foreshadowed in my last post - Marketing. As you know the views are something that have been bothering me.

Marketing
Even though a game still in development is supposed to receive low view counts, still points to a potential risk. I make a great game and it just doesn't get enough exposure. Which is a distant disaster as it seems currently. Another thing that could happen is due to my marketing being done by me alone - my game makes less than what it could've got. Say I make 100k alone while with publishers marketing my game makes 600k. I still end up making more with a publisher.

A goal of mine was to expand the Playbase of the game I am competing with by bringing in players with the shinier graphics. A tactic that seems to be working with me alone, could be amplified by a lot with the publishers marketing. Let me give an example - The company that reached out to me has 23k people in their discord server. My game's discord has only 184 People.

Cost of Work
Also working from Bangladesh, buying even a 25 dollar 3D Model is hard for me as income here is low when compared to first-world countries. This could be solved in an instant as I would be handed around 5-10k dollars in advance for development and living costs if the deal is signed. This would significantly help speed up development.

Risk mitigation
If my game fails either due to marketing or something else, its also the publishers problem as well as they will make a loss if that happens. They can use money to try and brute force solve the problem which I won't be able to do. And now that I look at it, I have a lot more to lose if something absurd happens as I will lose the most valuable asset - Time. Currently sitting at 14 months - is a lot to risk going for Hero on the first try.

Less Stress
Currently, even if it doesn't seem like in the updates that I write. I am under major stress with a third gap year upcoming. And even opening Instagram is just a major threat to my mental peace lol. If I sign that deal, I will be a lot less worried about time and finances.

Looking at it overall, It makes a lot more sense for me to sign with a publisher. Going for hero makes sense for someone who is living in a first world country. For a third world about to be 22 year old - taking the safest option makes sense.
I am probably going to apply to epic games mega grant and ask for a whopping $25k in grant. If they refuse - I negotiate the CEO of the well known publishing company in the niche of games that I am making. That is Publishing Company Y from last post.

And I only need $300k from this game. That would make me probably the Richest 22-year-old of Bangladesh. That's quite an upgrade from a random dude working 14 hours a day in his room making a game alone.

 

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[heavy_industry]

If it's 300k we're talking about, I would instantly take the money and start working on the next project.

Reasons:

• Acquire instant financial freedom i.e. unlimited time to work on any game you want.
• 300k worth of funding for your next project: how much more could you do? First one started with 0 funding.
• Fresh start with a year worth of development experience.

Regardless of what you choose to do, congratulations for this incredible achievement. This should set an example for all of us. This is what 1.5 years worth of focused work can do.

And you have decades ahead of you.

 

[Trait]

If it's 300k we're talking about, I would instantly take the money and start working on the next project.

Reasons:

• Acquire instant financial freedom i.e. unlimited time to work on any game you want.
• 300k worth of funding for your next project: how much more could you do? First one started with 0 funding.
• Fresh start with a year worth of development experience.

Regardless of what you choose to do, congratulations for this incredible achievement. This should set an example for all of us. This is what 1.5 years worth of focused work can do.

And you have decades ahead of you.

300k is the estimated my cut of Profit after the game releases. Starting out I was targeting 400k to 900k from the game. Now looking back I am satisfied with 300k if that means I get all of the hard work of marketing done for me.

A deal signed would mean 5k - 15k in advance. With more given as needed. This money will be adjusted with the game's first profits. Then after the Publisher makes this money back I start getting my share of the royalties. That is probably anything from 50/50 to 70/30 depending on what ends up getting negotiated and I retain rights to the Intellectual property.
Even $5k would be a huge amount for me right now tbh lol. For me to make 300k the game would need to sell around $1.6m worth of copies with the worst deal which is 70/30 - 30 being my cut. $1.6m is doable with their marketing combined with my game's graphics and other features as I see it. Their other game made which is similar to mine made an estimated $1.7m, mind you that game graphically looks way worse then mine, and gameplay was rated as "okay", nothing groundbreaking. Extrapolating that to my game, $1.7m looks like an easy target to hit. Probably why the publisher reached out to me which rarely happens according to the other developer I was talking to.

 

[Jrjohnny]

Holy shit man, that’s insane.

Something you could do is ask them what both of their offers are, and be like, I got a competitor who’s offering a better deal.

It could make them lean to giving you better deal.

EXAMPLE:
You: what is your offer?
Game Publisher Y: We’ll give you 7.5k in advance, with a 40% in royalties.
You: Okay, Give me some time to think about it

You: what’s your offer?
Game publisher X: we’ll give you 15k in advance, with 30% royalties.
You: Well I have an other offer that’s offering better, can you compete with it?


Anyways, thats not what you’d sound like of course, but you get my point, you can weigh them, pick which ones best, give the other company a counter offer or say that you have a better deal.

If they give up, then go to the other one, but if they persist.

Then keep going back n forth.

I don’t know if it’s a good idea but it’ll seem like something I’ll do.

 

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[Trait]

Holy shit man, that’s insane.

Something you could do is ask them what both of their offers are, and be like, I got a competitor who’s offering a better deal.

It could make them lean to giving you better deal.

EXAMPLE:
You: what is your offer?
Game Publisher Y: We’ll give you 7.5k in advance, with a 40% in royalties.
You: Okay, Give me some time to think about it

You: what’s your offer?
Game publisher X: we’ll give you 15k in advance, with 30% royalties.
You: Well I have an other offer that’s offering better, can you compete with it?


Anyways, thats not what you’d sound like of course, but you get my point, you can weigh them, pick which ones best, give the other company a counter offer or say that you have a better deal.

If they give up, then go to the other one, but if they persist.

Then keep going back n forth.

I don’t know if it’s a good idea but it’ll seem like something I’ll do.

I don't trust one of the Companies. Company X has no experience publishing as my game would be the first game Published by them. Publishing Company Y has >10 Games under their belt and 2 of them being fairly popular. So don't want to sign with Company X as they don't have a proven record of publishing.

 

[Jrjohnny]

I don't trust one of the Companies. Company X has no experience publishing as my game would be the first game Published by them. Publishing Company Y has >10 Games under their belt and 2 of them being fairly popular. So don't want to sign with Company X as they don't have a proven record of publishing.

Oh, just thought they both had games published because they’re both multi million companies.
In that case, ask company Y what their offer is, if it’s fair, go for it, if not hit them with a counter offer. Entirely up to you.

 

[Trait]

Oh, just thought they both had games published because they’re both multi million companies.
In that case, ask company Y what their offer is, if it’s fair, go for it, if not hit them with a counter offer. Entirely up to you.

Yeah, should've phrased Update 17 better. One of them is a Multi million game development company. I estimated the 'multi million' part from the sales of the last game they developed which was published by another company and the fact that they are developing their own game and then Reached out to me.

For me now, best would be to just make a playable demo and pitch to Epic Games Mega grant for $25k. If they give me that, boom! I don't need a publisher anymore as I can do my own marketing with that money. If not I would need to go negotiate with Company Y.

Another thing I forgot to mention here - A reason why I am thinking about publishing is that my secondary Funding Plan Failed.

I was planning on starting a Kickstarter with a playable demo. Based on the very positive feedback my game has been receiving I was confident I could make it happen. I found out that Kickstarter and Indiegogo or even Gofundme none of them operate in Bangladesh. So I was now left with only patreon as an option. And patreon's monthly kind of unstable income does not seem reliable.

 

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[Trait]

Publishers are a SCAM, for me atleast
Total game's revenue = 100%
Steam = 30% | Remaining Game's revenue = 70%
Publisher with moderate deal (60/40, 40 is my cut) = I get 28%

I almost gave up 72% of my game's revenue - for what?

Other facts I forgot to take into consideration - My game is about 65-70% built. Who is going to pay for that? for my time?

Also, I was worried about marketing - the big publishing company that I was talking about has only 11k Subscribers on YouTube lol. Their discord numbers made me think they are a marketing powerhouse - nope. Also, their game which was similar to mine only got 42k views on its Launch Trailer on YouTube. Compared to that my First devlog where there was barely any game got 7.2k views. My Reddit posts get 5k views in two subreddits. Also I only need around $1k more to complete my game, can get that from Patreon.

I can't believe I almost got fooled by the big discord numbers and a low feeling into selling out for mere crumbs lol. That would've been a moronic decision. The decision only makes sense if I am going homeless or something.

If I have learned anything from this is that I shouldn't make any BIG decisions when feeling low or wait at least a week to decide.

Other facts - I only need my game to make $12k to make double the average annual white-collar salary in Bangladesh. I have made that on paper through subscribers alone - (345 * 30) = $10.3K. Also, games usually sell at least 3x their Developers YouTube subscriber count - Battlefield has 2m subs, and Battlefield V sold 7m copies.

My WIP game is drowning in praise and I was about to sell out, WOW.

In other news, I got interviewed by the same website that posted an article on my game. No comments under that post yet.

Another thing I learned today is that, if I hit it big with this game - I should just start a publishing company and try and hunt for Jackpot deals like the one Company Y was about to score from me.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Publishers are a SCAM, for me atleast
Total game's revenue = 100%
Steam = 30% | Remaining Game's revenue = 70%
Publisher with moderate deal (60/40, 40 is my cut) = I get 28%

I almost gave up 72% of my game's revenue - for what?

Other facts I forgot to take into consideration - My game is about 65-70% built. Who is going to pay for that? for my time?

Also, I was worried about marketing - the big publishing company that I was talking about has only 11k Subscribers on YouTube lol. Their discord numbers made me think they are a marketing powerhouse - nope. Also, their game which was similar to mine only got 42k views on its Launch Trailer on YouTube. Compared to that my First devlog where there was barely any game got 7.2k views. My Reddit posts get 5k views in two subreddits. Also I only need around $1k more to complete my game, can get that from Patreon.

I can't believe I almost got fooled by the big discord numbers and a low feeling into selling out for mere crumbs lol. That would've been a moronic decision. The decision only makes sense if I am going homeless or something.

If I have learned anything from this is that I shouldn't make any BIG decisions when feeling low or wait at least a week to decide.

Other facts - I only need my game to make $12k to make double the average white-collar salary in Bangladesh. I have made that on paper through subscribers alone - (345 * 30) = $10.3K. Also, games usually sell at least 3x their Developers YouTube subscriber count - Battlefield has 2m subs, and Battlefield V sold 7m copies.

My WIP game is drowning in praise and I was about to sell out, WOW.

In other news, I got interviewed by the same website that posted an article on my game. No comments under that post yet.

Another thing I learned today is that, if I hit it big with this game - I should just start a publishing company and try and hunt for Jackpot deals Company Y was about to score from me.

Keep going! This is very inspiring. And you realize how critical marketing is, which is good. I have dabbled in game development too since I was a teenager but I wrote it off as a hobby or passion that didn't fit CENTS. It looks like you have what it takes. Very excited to follow along!

Keep building up your audience and put at least 50% of your effort into marketing and brand building (50:50 marketing and development)

Media businesses (music, books, video games) are almost entirely about marketing.

 

[Plushy]

Thank you for posting your game development! Your stories of being contacted and receiving echoes from the market is very inspiring.

I don't think either of those deals sound attractive. 10-15k for 14 months of work?! and then they get a percentage of your revenue. If your game makes 300k, 400k- 900k, the ceiling / expected outcome and odds are much better. You have already done 70% of the work yourself. The way I see it is, if you feel like you will have trouble finishing your game due to lack of manpower, the publishing route could be helpful. But it sounds like when you alone have full control over the direction of the game, it might turn out better than if a publishing company took it.

Would it be possible to have an agent or something in another country represent your game for Kickstarter?
Would it be possible to publish to more places than Steam, so that steam does not get such a huge cut? (your own website, etc.)
Consider IG or TikTok to expand exposure to your game?

Also don't forget to focus on your dream - making a quality game that outdoes its 20 year old competitor, not "this is a lot for 1 years salary in Bangladesh" Dream big! You clearly have the work ethic to have something huge.

 

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[Trait]

Would it be possible to have an agent or something in another country represent your game for Kickstarter?
Would it be possible to publish to more places than Steam, so that steam does not get such a huge cut? (your own website, etc.)
Consider IG or TikTok to expand exposure to your game?

I don't know anyone like that for Kickstarter.
I can also Sell my game through Epic Games Store - they take a 12% cut, but their store isn't really popular for indie games yet.

The other developer I was talking to shared some secret sauce strategies to contact YouTubers, other fellow game devs, and game journalists through Twitter. I actually totally forgot about Twitter while developing tbh. (Mistake!) He also said he will support me on Twitter by sharing my posts. He was also the one to refer my game to Publishing Company Y.

I am yet to make a Twitter and start posting after I have something nice to share.
I will probably share the strategies in a separate post some other time. They are pretty simple but I did not know them at all.
IG and Tiktok are not where my game's audience will probably be found as its not a mass market game. But I will probably make pages and share updates there anyways as I will have nothing to lose from posting on all socials except a bit of time.

 

[Disciple96]

I don't know anyone like that for Kickstarter.
I can also Sell my game through Epic Games Store - they take a 12% cut, but their store isn't really popular for indie games yet.

The other developer I was talking to shared some secret sauce strategies to contact YouTubers, other fellow game devs, and game journalists through Twitter. I actually totally forgot about Twitter while developing tbh. (Mistake!) He also said he will support me on Twitter by sharing my posts. He was also the one to refer my game to Publishing Company Y.

I am yet to make a Twitter and start posting after I have something nice to share.
I will probably share the strategies in a separate post some other time. They are pretty simple but I did not know them at all.
IG and Tiktok are not where my game's audience will probably be found as its not a mass market game. But I will probably make pages and share updates there anyways as I will have nothing to lose from posting on all socials except a bit of time.

Hey man,

A game that recently reminded me of this thread is battlebit: remastered.

May be some great lessons for you here:

- A game made by a tiny bootstrapping team of 3 indie devs with no leverage currently has MORE DAILY ACTIVE USERS than BF2042, BFV, and BF1 combined on Steam

-Deliberately designed not to "reinvent the wheel" but to "give the fans what they want" from the BATTLEFIELD franchise in particular. This is a franchise that has been all but ruined by EA and DICE for a multitude of reasons and fans have been getting the shaft for years.

-A clear and focused intent on providing the best possible experience for the minimum viable product (The graphics look simpler than minecraft, there are little to no animations or effects, the audio quality is minimal, but GAMEPLAY and GUNPLAY is just as, if not more polished than any AAA shooter out right now.

-USP has to be the 254 player large scale battles and the low price of $15



Goes to show you don't need to have amazing graphics to sell like hotcakes. Focusing on solving the biggest problems for fans are all you need to do, just stay consistent at improving for many years and there is a proven market for your game.

 

[Trait]

Hey man,

A game that recently reminded me of this thread is battlebit: remastered.

May be some great lessons for you here:

- A game made by a tiny bootstrapping team of 3 indie devs with no leverage currently has MORE DAILY ACTIVE USERS than BF2042, BFV, and BF1 combined on Steam

-Deliberately designed not to "reinvent the wheel" but to "give the fans what they want" from the BATTLEFIELD franchise in particular. This is a franchise that has been all but ruined by EA and DICE for a multitude of reasons and fans have been getting the shaft for years.

-A clear and focused intent on providing the best possible experience for the minimum viable product (The graphics look simpler than minecraft, there are little to no animations or effects, the audio quality is minimal, but GAMEPLAY and GUNPLAY is just as, if not more polished than any AAA shooter out right now.

-USP has to be the 254 player large scale battles and the low price of $15



Goes to show you don't need to have amazing graphics to sell like hotcakes. Focusing on solving the biggest problems for fans are all you need to do, just stay consistent at improving for many years and there is a proven market for your game.

Yeah, I saw what they did with Battlebit, really inspirational. I knew a Battlefield Competitor would make big bucks, but I didn't ever think that a Blocky Looking game would be so successful!

Really proves that Gameplay is king at the end of the day. Graphics are always a Plus but it builds upon the foundation of the game - Gameplay.

 

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[Trait]

Update 18 - I just signed a LIFE CHANGING publishing deal
Managed to negotiate a deal with terms I haven't heard of in the industry. The deal's terms were very favorable for me and let's just say I am getting an amount of money that I haven't ever seen with my own eyes. I can't be specific with the financial terms as the agreement has already been signed, and I have used my real name for a while with this account.
The publisher has a strong marketing network (YouTubers) and has 10k followers on Steam who will get notified when my game launches.

My Life has completely changed and I can't believe this day is real. I can now finally afford an Air Conditioner. I can now afford an iPhone! I can buy whatever food I want and go wherever I want in Bangladesh. Now THAT is a Good life. All of this without even going to University!! Not going to University in Bangladesh is considered a death sentence career-wise as the only jobs you can have are low-paying labor jobs.

Also, about me calling publishers a scam in the last update - publishers are great and only some publishing deals can be scams but you can always decline those offers. If you can negotiate something where both parties are happy they are the way to go.

I now have a real shot at a million dollars in the next 6 months.

I don't know what to post from now until the game release. Nevertheless. I am off living this brand new life I got after 1 year and 5 months of pure hard work, it wasn't easy but I can say that it was definitely worth it.

 

[Jrjohnny]

Update 18 - I just signed a LIFE CHANGING publishing deal
Managed to negotiate a deal with terms I haven't heard of in the industry. The deal's terms were very favorable for me and let's just say I am getting an amount of money that I haven't ever seen with my own eyes. I can't be specific with the financial terms as the agreement has already been signed, and I have used my real name for a while with this account.
The publisher has a strong marketing network (YouTubers) and has 10k followers on Steam who will get notified when my game launches.

My Life has completely changed and I can't believe this day is real. I can now finally afford an Air Conditioner. I can now afford an iPhone! I can buy whatever food I want and go wherever I want in Bangladesh. Now THAT is a Good life. All of this without even going to University!! Not going to University in Bangladesh is considered a death sentence career-wise as the only jobs you can have are low-paying labor jobs.

Also, about me calling publishers a scam in the last update - publishers are great and only some publishing deals can be scams but you can always decline those offers. If you can negotiate something where both parties are happy they are the way to go.

I now have a real shot at a million dollars in the next 6 months.

I don't know what to post from now until the game release. Nevertheless. I am off living this brand new life I got after 1 year and 5 months of pure hard work, it wasn't easy but I can say that it was definitely worth it.

This might be a little off topic but have you seen the new game called Unrecord? Those graphics look so insane.

Just a hypothetical theory.. what if your game after launch were to blow up and you’d collaborate with DRAMA?

They are also a good publisher..

Just throwing that out there

 

[Plushy]

Whoa congratulations on getting a publisher!! This is so inspiring.
When do you think your game will be released?

 

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[Trait]

Whoa congratulations on getting a publisher!! This is so inspiring.
When do you think your game will be released?

The game will release in about 6 months.

 

[Trait]

This might be a little off topic but have you seen the new game called Unrecord? Those graphics look so insane.

Just a hypothetical theory.. what if your game after launch were to blow up and you’d collaborate with DRAMA?

They are also a good publisher..

Just throwing that out there

Unrecord looks crazy!!! I spent an entire day trying to recreate their light effects and failed as they used Photogrammetry to make everything look so real and they even made their own HDRI.

About them publishing, not really. Aside from the game I am already building with my Publisher I want to make another game for which I found a major need for and I will probably make that game independently using funds I get from the current game.

 

[EmotionEngine]

Very inspiring to see another solo game developer actually dig in and do it. I'm approaching that runway myself.

 

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[srodrigo]

Hey, I just found this thread. Your progress is incredible. How is the game looking, still about to lunch as per your 6 months target around 4 months ago?