It’s weird to think that it’s been almost a full year since I started. I’ve accomplished so much. I published my first game, sold a few copies. I’ve been on podcasts. It’s been really cool. It’s an awesome feeling when someone asks what you do to be able to tell them that you make video games. Plus they are so much fun to make. There is a lot of joy in making these mini worlds with complex stories to tell.
Now the caveats I’m not making nearly enough to support myself. I’m not even making enough to break even if you count my time. It’s probably pennies per hour at this point. I’ve put a lot of time into it. There have been so many things to learn. There is the pain of realizing all the things that I could have done better on Frost Bite pointed out by players and reviewers. Criticism of your game can be shocking. It can be hard to find the players who will really enjoy your game.
Marketing is both insanely tough and insanely important. You can’t skimp on it but you also have to actually have enough time to make games. I’ve been mostly pursuing social media marketing which while I have found it to be effective and low cost it takes up so much time and energy.
Social media marketing can also be really fun because you learn about all these cool other projects people are working on. I’ve learned more about streaming in the past year than I would have ever thought. I’ve had some crazy cool people do guest posts for my blog. I’ve had a company contact me about doing a sponsored blog post. (It turned out to be a porn website which doesn’t really fit with what I do but still entertaining.)
Do I regret getting into Gamedev? Definitely not! I have had so much fun with it and it has become something I am really passionate about. I have so many plans for the future too.
This year I plan on getting at least 2 games and an app published. I’m going to really step up the marketing. I recently got a Ticktock and an Instagram account. I’m going to start reaching out to more reviewers and publications. I’m also going to start making more of my own art assets. I’ve had such a hard time finding artists to partner with.(#ScaryMermaid being the exception with two fantastic partners.) I’m going to polish my games more adding in more little details. I’m considering porting games to different consoles besides just PC. I have plans to localize one of my games.
This is going to be a fantastic year. I have so many plans for Gilded Octopus Studios. If you’d like to know more make sure to follow me on social media. Twitter is my main one. Also what sorts of plans do you have for the next year? Let me know in the comments below.
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