GDC 2019 — PR, marketing and community talks I’m most hyped for
Hi internet,
It’s nearly GDC time! This means it’s nearly time for a million super great talks!
Because I usually struggle to keep an overview of all sessions I want to see and usually miss a couple, I thought this year I make a short overview of the PR, marketing and community talks I’m most excited about, that should be especially interesting for everyone working on premium indie games.
The following talks are in no particular order and if I missed something you are looking forward to, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Also, if you see me sitting in a session and feel like it, do say hi. Always nice to meet new humans.
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‘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
The ZERO Marketing Experiment on Steam: Launching a Game Without Telling Anyone
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
By: Thomas Reisenegger (Co-founder, Future Friends Games)
Games: MANY many pretty examples
NOTE: This is my own session, sorry for the promo, please come
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
No Time, No Budget, No Problem: Finishing ‘The First Tree’
By: David Wehle (Developer, Independent)
Game: The very good “The First Tree”
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 Discoverability Day: Building a Community for Your Game from Scratch
By: Mike Rose
Games: Descenders, Not Tonight, Hypnospace Outlaw
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)
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)
Fostering an Online Community: A Beginner’s Guide to Success
By: Andrew Stalbow (CEO and Co-founder, Seriously)
Twitch for Games Playbook
By: Michael Lewis (Senior Director, Twitch)
Game: Looks like this will go into examples like Overwatch, PUBG, FIFA, Dead Cells
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)
Other talks:
There are about a million other cool talks happening. My personal highlights will be the ones around Tetris Effect, The Missing and Frog Detective as they are all on my game of the year least from last year so that’s exciting!
