GDC 2023 // PR, Marketing, Community, and Publishing Talks I’m most excited about :)
Because GDC 2023 is happening NEXT WEEK, I was making a list of talks about marketing and PR, community management, and publishing I’m most excited about. And then I thought, why not share it in case it’s handy for someone! (also big thanks to Natalie for helping with the list!!).
I’ll also be giving a talk called “The Golden Rule of Game Promotion: No One Cares About Your Game,” and Grace from our indie games agency / publisher Future Friends Games will also be giving a talk about finding your voice on TikTok. I am a bit biased, but I think they’ll both be changing the universe as we know it (aka will hopefully be helpful and interesting).
There’s no particular order to these talks, but just reading the titles makes me think they will be sick! Most can also be watched on the GDC Vault or YouTube later, in case you don’t make it to GDC this year.
P.S: If there’s a cool talk I’ve missed or you would like to catch up at GDC, please let me know!
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Marketing and PR
Finding Your Voice on TikTok
By: Grace Curtis (PR & Marketing Assistant, Future Friends Games) (that’s us!)
What Is Normal? Real-World Numbers from Hundreds of Indies Marketing Their Games
By: Chris Zukowski (Creative Director, How To Market A Game)
Identifying Indie: A Study of Who Plays What and Why
By: Phil Hofman (Product Marketing Lead, Humble Games)
200-Million Players Can’t Be Wrong: Lessons Learned From 10 Years of ‘Beach Buggy Racing’
By: Matt Small (CEO, Vector Unit)
Games: Beach Buggy Blitz, Beach Buggy Racing, Beach Buggy Racing 2
The Golden Rule of Game Promotion: No One Cares About Your Game
By: Thomas Reisenegger (that’s me!)
30 Steam Marketing Mistakes in 30 Minutes
By: Chris Zukowski (Creative Director, How To Market A Game)
No-Budget DIY Marketing for Indie Games
By: Michelle Lega (Senior Producer, Armor Games)
The Trap of Marketing “Authentic” Games: Lessons from South-East Asia
By: Brian Kwek (Owner, Ysbryd Games)
Business and Marketing Roundtable Day 1
By: William Bucher (Counsel, Zaiger LLC)
You’re Probably Wrong About the VR Games Market
By: Patrick O’Luanaigh (CEO, nDreams)
Community Management
The Top 5 Tips for Managing Toxicity and Building a More Positive Community
By: Morgan Quinn (External Relations Coordinator, Modulate), Justin Liebregts (Co-Founder & COO, Gun Raiders Entertainment), Adam Kuta (Community Marketing Specialist, Schell Games), Astrid Rosemarin (Communications Director, New World Interactive), Christa Paolucci (Community Manager, Glumberland)
A Moderation Guide for Successful Brand Livestreams and Digital Events
By: Victoria Tran (Community Director, Innersloth), Kat Lo (Research Affiliate, Center for Responsible, Ethical, and Accessible Technology, University of California, Irvine)
Surviving ‘Vampire Survivors’: Agile Community Management
By: Beth Molloy (Community Manager, poncle)
Game: Vampire Survivors (hey, we work on that one, please come!)
Growing an Internet Cult: ‘Cult of the Lamb’s’ Social Strategy
By: Jared J. Tan (Community Strategist, Devolver Digital)
Game: Cult of the Lamb
Negative Reviews Begin With a Forum Post
By: Chris Hanney (Senior Producer, Creature)
How a Three-Eyed Horse Changed Meme Marketing Forever
By: Natalie Puchalski (Lead Community Manager, Behaviour Interactive)
How to Use Niche Audiences to Create Brand Evangelists
By: James Bartholomeou (Communications Manager, ICO Partners)
Games: Spintires: Mudrunner, Insurgency: Sandstorm, Magic: The Gathering, Farming Simulator
Community Sentiment Reports: Quantifying Feelings
By: Karen Lee (Senior Community Manager, Respawn/EA)
Collaborative Curiosity: Crafting the Pre-Release Community for ‘TUNIC’
By: Harris Foster (Senior Community Manager, Finji Co)
Game: Tunic
‘Unpacking’ Fan Expectations and Driving Engagement Post-Launch
Emily Hummel (Community & Social Media Manager, Witch Beam Games)
Game: Unpacking
A Discourse on Discourse: Understanding Fandom and Online Communities
By: Bria Davis (Community Director, The Game Band)
Game: Blaseball
Play With Your Audience: Enhancing Your Social Strategy Through Theater
By: Catherine Litvaitis (Communications Manager, Armor Games Studios)
‘Subway Surfers’: Give Your Players a Voice, They’ll Give You a Game
By: Celia Zimmermann (SoMe Community Manager, SYBO)
Game: Subway Surfers
Caring for Togetherness: Nurturing Hybridity in the Cross-Platform Game Community
By: Bingjie Yu (UX Researcher, Thunderfire UX)
Publishing and bu$iness
From Pitch to Pancakes: How ‘Bear and Breakfast’ Blended Genres To Succeed
By: Rares Cinteza (Game Director, Gummy Cat Studio)
Game: Bear and Breakfast
Flopping Successfully: How to Run a Studio Without a Huge Hit
By: Yngvill Hopen (CEO & Game Director, Henchman & Goon AS)
How Publishing Agreements Go Wrong (and How to Fix Them)
By: Kellen Voyer (Managing Director, Voyer Law)
Indie Starter Kit: The Basics of Founding a Successful Games Company
By: Dino Patti (CEO & Co-Founder, coherence)
Business Development for Self-Publishing Studios and Developers
By: Lucas Pessoa de Freitas (Business Developer, Robot Teddy, Richie de Wit (Founder, Partner Account Manager, Bear Knuckle, Raw Fury)
Embrace the “Dark Side”: Demystifying Game Venture Capital
By: Moritz Baier-Lentz (Partner & Head of Gaming, Lightspeed Venture Partners)
Defiant in Life and Death: What Happens After You Fail?
By: Morgan Jaffit (Founder, Defiant Development)
