Indie games are more popular than ever, and many of those titles are shattering records. If you have been thinking about developing and releasing your own game, then it is time to come up with a long-term plan that will help you break into this exciting market.
Determine Your Budget and Funding Options
Even if you keep your costs to an absolute minimum, most game developers need some type of assistance. Luckily, there are many different ways to finance an indie game, and a little extra money could make a huge difference as long as you have a strict budget. In order to get financial assistance, you are going to need a solid business plan and some type of presentation or concept art to show potential investors.
Choosing a Platform and Designing the Software
Learning how to program is easier than ever with countless online tutorials and classes to choose from. Once you have chosen which device you would like to release your game on, you should research which languages are used on that platform. For most consoles and systems, C++ and C# are going to be the two most important languages. If you are planning on releasing a mobile game, then you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with Java as well.
Marketing
As soon as you begin the process of developing your game, you need to think about marketing. Creating accounts on all of the major social media sites is a great start, but you might want to consider creating development videos as well. That type of marketing can be very effective as long as it is organic and authentic. While traditional marketing is a great option as well, most indie developers don’t have large advertising budgets.
Selling Your Game
One of the easiest ways to get a new game into the hands of customers is to use an established game launcher. Building a website to sell your game is going to take up quite a bit of your time and eat into your budget. With an established game launcher, you won’t have to worry about online financial transactions or releasing new updates and bundles for your game. All of those tasks will be carried out through a portal that another team manages. In addition to these few steps, you should also consider speaking with an attorney about creating an LLC. With an LLC, you won’t have to worry about any of your personal assets being seized if your business goes under or anyone files a lawsuit against you or your company.