Best PR, Marketing & Community Talks / GDC 2019
As videos from the GDC 2019 talks are now online I thought a list of the best (aka my favourite) talks from the areas PR, Marketing and community building and management might be handy.
Most talks can be watched for free unless noted otherwise.
There is no particular order to the (as always very high quality) talks on my list apart from the first two from David Wehle and Mike Rose that talk about “the grind” and community building. I think these are two of the most important current topics in the field and both resonate with my experience of running a PR & Marketing agency that worked on dozens of titles this year and last.
Thanks for all cool talks! 😇
PS: If there’s a talk I missed, please let me know!
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No Time, No Budget, No Problem: Finishing ‘The First Tree’
By: David Wehle (Developer, Independent)
Game: The very good “The First Tree”
Game Discoverability Day: Building a Community for Your Game from Scratch
By: Mike Rose
Games: Descenders, Not Tonight, Hypnospace Outlaw
‘Slay the Spire’: Success through Marketability
By: Casey Yano (Game Developer, Mega Crit Games)
Game: Slay The Spire (please come to Switch soon)
Decorticating ‘Dead Cells’: A Business and Marketing Deep Dive
By: Steve Filby (Marketing Manager/Managing Director, IndieCatapult & Motion Twin)
Game: Dead Cells
Making Games That Stand Out and Survive
By: Nick Popovich (CEO, Monomi Park)
Game: Slime Rancher
NOTICE ME: The Grind Behind the $272K Funding Success of ‘Boyfriend Dungeon
By: Victoria Tran
Game: Boyfriend Dungeon
Crowdfunding Your Video Game in 2019
By: Crowdfunding master Thomas Bidaux
Community Driven Discoverability for Indies
By: Patrick Corrieri (Director, Dry Cactus)
Game: Polybridge
2014 vs. 2018: The Shape of Financial Success Before and After the Indiepocalypse
By: Jason Rohrer (Game Designer, Independent)
Game: Probably Jason Rohrer’s games
Steam Business Update
By: Tom Giardino (Steam Business & Platform, Valve), Kassidy Gerber (Steam Business & Platform Infrastructure, Valve), Alden Kroll (Steam Business & Platform, Valve), Ricky Uy (Steam Business & Platform, Valve)
More Feelings, Fewer Features: Showcasing Your Indie Game Through Messaging and Video
By: Trailer god Derek Lieu (Trailer Editor, Independent)
Dana Trebella (Founder, Spoke and Wheel Strategy)
Game Communities — How to Use Discord to Connect with Players
By: Rami Ismail (Founder, Vlambeer), Mike Rose (Founder, No More Robots), Jónas Antonsson (CEO, Raw Fury), Andy Nguyen (Project Manager, Brace Yourself Games), Eros Resmini (CMO, Discord)
Discoverability from Day Zero
By: Felix Kramer
Game Discoverability Day: Why Forums Can Be Great for Indie Community and Discoverability
By: Philomena Schwab (Stray Fawn Studio)
Game: Nimbatus, Niche
So You’re Ready to Pitch to a Publisher? You’re Not
By: Rebekah Saltsman (CEO, Finji)
Squeezing into the Industry: How a Couple African Kids Made a Video Game
By: Ben “the playtesting meme” Myres(Creative Director, Nyamakop)
Cukia Kimani (Technical and Business Director, Nyamakop)
Build Your Own Fan Club: How to Use Your Email List
By: Chris Zukowski (Creative Director, Return To Adventure Mountain, LLC)
Game Discoverability Day: Getting Your PC/Console Game Noticed: A Comprehensive How-To Guide
By: Joel Dreskin (Marketer, Independent)
Trailer Made: What Makes a Successful and Memorable Game Trailer
By: Derek Lieu
Platforms Are People Too: The Importance of Finding Your Champion
By: Nick Suttner
Twitch for Games Playbook
By: Michael Lewis (Senior Director, Twitch)
Game: Looks like this will go into examples like Overwatch, PUBG, FIFA, Dead Cells
The ZERO Marketing Experiment on Steam: Launching a Game Without Telling Anyone [Vault access required]
Patrick Seibert (Marketeer, Too Indie To Fail)
Game: A secret game that didn’t wasn’t promoted
PR Success.gif: How to Get Your Game Across in 5 Seconds [Vault access required]
By: Thomas Reisenegger (Co-founder, Future Friends Games)
Games: MANY many pretty examples
NOTE: This is my own session, sorry for the promo
Fostering an Online Community: A Beginner’s Guide to Success [Vault access required]
By: Andrew Stalbow (CEO and Co-founder, Seriously)
