Pro Tip: Timing for your Game Release

News & General Discussion
1

I’ve learned a valuable lesson this past week, and I thought I’d share it with everyone.

Be VERY aware of the market terrain around the time of your game release.

Now, I know that this seems like common knowledge, and I was aware of it myself already. However, we were preparing to release our iOS game, Starfall: Ronin. I knew that Minecraft was working on an update, and I knew that Rovio was about to release “Bad Piggies”.

But we had no intention of competing with these giants. I thought, “there’s plenty of room on the market for us all. It’s not like I’m releasing a game LIKE Minecraft, Angry Birds or Bad Piggies.”

In that regard, I was right. People were not looking between my game and theirs before making a purchase decision. However, there was one aspect I didn’t even consider. Media!

In order to be successful, people have to know about your game. The sad truth is, reviewers don’t want to talk about my no-name game when they could be writing about the next Rovio title.

I’ve spoken with several people on several sites, and they all say that Starfall: Ronin seems to be a great game. They’re just far too busy talking about these big titles, and can’t afford extra air time/page space.

In a nutshell, you can build an amazing game, but if no one knows about it, no one will play it. When planning your release date, don’t just consider what games are out or will be out. Consider the media. What will reviewers be talking about? Will they want to take the time to review and discuss your game?

Anyone have similar or contrasting experiences?

2

That’s an obvious, but still valuable reminder, thanks.
Although, consdering the insane amount of weekly “big releases”, those medias would basically “never have the time” for not-so-popular projects. So I’d have thought we should not really care, unless there’s a real competitor coming out (like, for example, an unknown fighting game during the same week of Street Fighter x Tekken :stuck_out_tongue: )

3

Even though they put a lot of whatever behind the big titles. They should still have time for even a tiny writeup.
Hey this is Starfall Ronin, it’s a game, buy it.
Of course they might want to add a few more words to that.
A blurb will take a minute of their life.
Some of those big titles are crap but they cover it for name while good titles get the backpage if even that.

Yeah just a bit jaded…

4
5

It really can be broken up into AAA and Indie, since a lot of sites only post about Indie’s and others only post about AAA. So I’m not as concerned about the next CoD hitting the news, because chances are, unless I make a million dollars a day, those sites wouldn’t be looking my direction anyway.

The indie scene is a little easier, since they tend to be open to most anything. The only thing you need to watch out for are the established indie names (like Minecraft… which can hardly be called indie anymore…)

And yes, Rovio isn’t indie, but I was also posting on “mobile only” review sites, and Bad Piggies sucked up the limelight there.

6

Very helpful.

And I was about to dump some money into ads… crap.

Well, the folks at Penny Arcade have been really helpful with feedback (already lead to 3 additions and multiple bug fixes in the game). I’m just not sure its generating any “buzz”.

7

Yep, you’ll generally find that the ones they have time for are ones who’ve managed to grease the wheels by building a relationship in some other way. When you think about it, these people are being bombarded by more (worthy) games than they have time to do things with. They have to make decisions about which ones to give time to, and since they’ve presumably got a glut of quality titles to talk about the quality alone will not be the deciding factor. You need to figure out some way to get their attention on your game in particular other than solely the quality of our game.

8

I have to disagree with this piece of “advice”.
There’s nothing wrong in and of itself of being aware of the market. But to plan a release date based on the competition is just ludicrous. You should plan to release your game when you think it’ll be ready.
With the amount of game developers out there, there is almost never going to be a slow week. If every week has even just one good title, then according to the OP, one should never plan for any given week.
With a reasonably sized social network, other games like “Bad Piggies” or “Minecraft: Pocket Edition”, should have minimal effect on your game’s word of mouth advertising.
Strongly linking a game’s level of succes at launch to another game’s launch, or even the market is just shifting the control to another entity over which you have no control.
Build your social networks. Activate those networks at launch. Forget about what the rest of the market is doing. They have no impact on how well you can make your game and your social networks run.

9

@khanstruct, one big tip: take that game and port it to Mac ASAP. Make sure it works well with mouse and keyboard and push it to the Mac App Store.

One question though: did your game get an Apple feature during it’s first week?

10

I think Khanstruct has a valid point here, big name releases tend to suck the air out of the room when it comes to press coverage, and even a great game can easily get lost in the shuffle. I have three thoughts on dealing with this:

  1. Keep on the reporters and remind them “hey, starfall ronin is still here, and still kicks ass. You should really review it.” Reporters are busy and persistence can pay off here. Just beware of the fine line between being persistent and being obnoxious.

  2. Try to build relationships with the reporters early. Stalk them on twitter and engage them in conversation whenever you can. If they feel a personal connection to you and your game early on, your odds of getting reviewed go way up.

  3. Create buzz by becoming part of a huge event. If you’re a story that’s part of an even bigger story, your odds of getting covered go up. For example, we’re going to launch our first game at the San Diego Comic Con next year. It’s expensive, but I think it’s our best shot at standing out from the crowd. I’ll post an update after it happens (not till July next year), to let everyone know if it was worth the while. The SDCC is probably the biggest of these type of events that’s even vaguely accessible to indie developers, but it’s not the only option. Wondercon, APE, and many other events may be other options.

11

Absolutely. I’ve actually gotten to chat with quite a few writers, reviewers and site owners, which is great.

We did not get featured by Apple.

Also, to be clear, I’m not saying exposure equals success for any game. I will say, however, that lack of exposure will equal failure. Even getting featured by Apple is typically skewed towards games that have been mentioned (if not highlighted) on major review sites.

Yes, word of mouth is incredibly effective for getting your game “out there”, but its unrealistic to think that involves talking to your neighbor then sitting back to watch it spread like the t-virus. Every title needs to get a kickstart. This typically comes from getting picked up by the right site at the right time.

12

Agree with this statement. Plus, how large a network can you really get unless you’re a friend whore.

13

+1

While I can’t buy your game right now since I have no I-device, IF the ipad-mini is actually announced next month, i;ll pick one up and buy your game .

14

I think you have overlooked 2 far more important items there that come right before thinking about exposure or media

  1. You are not competing with bad piggies or minecraft but against other similar space games. And just from a minute of googling there is tons of games with a similar setting out there.

  2. Don’t trust a handful of people telling you your game is “amazing, great”… and rely on that thinking "man, they said it’s great, so why is this (not) happening ?

I feel you made a pretty erroneous step in thinking the thing that differs your game from bad piggies or minecraft is just the company behind it. Therefore you’re totally not giving these guys credit for having an ultrapolished game experience, graphics and gameplay wise. And while I can’t judge on the gameplay aspect, you’re not really up to par on the graphics level. I’m so sorry to say this, but that’s just how it is. The presentation is not quite up to par to many other space games out there and therefore you should not even consider thinking about competing with rovio or notch.
There’s tons of articles out there on how to get attention and there’s things to be learned from that. You can always wander around and talk about how these other baddies steal your chance of shining, or you could seriously reconsider your recent game and ask for serious critics all around, trying to incorporate that in the next game.

If you make a game that is visually and gameplay wise pleasing, no media outlet will let you down. You can’t blame people for not loving your child as much as you do, just because they are not as emotionally attached to it, in the end :slight_smile:
So bottom line, your website as well as your game presentation could be beefed up be quite a few notches and your public perception would be much much more professional and.

I really really hope you’re not taking this the wrong way, I’m just trying to put things in perspective, since you could save some time, the sooner you realize what you can do on your own to boost up your chances :slight_smile:

15

Again, I wasn’t claiming that I was “competing against Bad Piggies or Minecraft”. In fact, I specifically said I wasn’t. I also wasn’t making some stubborn defense about the quality of my game. Some people love it, some people don’t. That’s not the point.

It doesn’t matter what genre your game is, if there’s big news in the limelight, your game, god or bad, will not get press. There are plenty of awful games that are reviewed on websites (and the reviews often say “its awful”). So even if my game is awful, it has the same chances of getting press.

But thank you for the unsolicited critique of my game/presentation. I have a forum for that.

16

Acumen is right. I think the game is either has to be from an established developer, bring something really unique to the table or somehow tickle the reviewers fancy bone, I dont think even a good looking game is going to be enough because almost all the games that want to be reviewed are going to be good looking (but if the graphics are poor they probably wouldnt even consider reviewing it).

17

Not sure I know what you mean. Acumen was commenting specifically on the graphics of my game (as he hasn’t actually played it).

I agree that “you need to be an established developer or bring something really unique to the table”. That’s actually what my point was (more specifically leaning towards the “be an established developer”).

EDIT: Ok, that was partially my point. My total point was that you will have a much better chance at getting much needed exposure if you don’t release your game the same week that established developers do. Hence, time your release carefully.

18

See, I was just trying to bring another perspective to the table.
Since you are claiming this is a pro tip. I tried to be as factual as possible based on your example.

Every week has major releases nowadays, since all these aaa companies found theres lots and lots of money to be made.
Also I’m sure you wouldn’t be pleased or take it to heart if I posted in your forums, t be honest.
I’m sorry that it hurt your feelings, that was not my intention.

I just wanted to add that theres many more steps involved in having success or media exposure nowadays with the overly crowded stores. And one can always point to others having more money or better reputation, or just do what one can do best with their own resources and learn from past mistakes.
Again though, sorry for bringing up points that you didn’t ask for. Wish you best of luck with your next projects !

19

I wasn’t offended, and I would love for you to post on my forums, and yes, I would take your advice to heart. If you skip on down to the Penny Arcade forum, you’ll see that we’ve already implemented several fixes and game additions that people had issues with.

One was (basically), “Missions are boring and predictable”. That could be offensive, but I thanked him for it and we’ve already got an update put together which will address (and hopefully fix) that issue.

In fact, after you posted that, I immediately went to the AppStore to objectively look over the presentation of Starfall: Ronin. I think the thing that stood out most to me was the high contrast text on the buttons looks unnatural. If you have any specific thoughts on the presentation, I’d love to hear them.

(My response may have been a bit dry and sarcastic, but it was 7am, and I need coffee) :slight_smile: