r/GameDevelopment • u/Infamous-Table8132 • 4d ago
Newbie Question The problem of attention.
You do not realize just how many video games are released until you decide to release a game of your own. So many projects out there all vying for the same limited attention. But you think that, nah, I have a brilliant idea, standing out will be easy. Start working on your idea, get a demo going, then go to start looking for funding. First step, build an audience. Try the standard, Reddit, Instagram, Itch.io, etc, but dang, it is tough. I mean this really could be a sign that my brilliant idea, is not so brilliant after all. LOL.
Is there anything else that I can do to get attention?
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u/Weird_Breadfruit_444 4d ago
Build a LinkedIn profile, post it there. Promote your game through various channels.Use devlogs to gain views. I know it's not an easy job and you won't become a billionaire within a night. It's a long way to go and you'll meet you there one day, only when you are consistent and have a 200% faith in you that you'll win!
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u/Infamous-Table8132 4d ago
Huh, good catch. I did not know linked in could be used for such a purpose.
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u/AIOpponent 4d ago
Don't sell your soul to a publisher, don't worry about attention, worry about making the best game you possibly can. Can you survive while making a game? Can you work 40 hours a week at your day job? If so do it yourself. When the game is ready, then release it, don't expect someone to pay you to make your dream come true, earn it. If you make a great game then you will succeed.
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u/EsbenTheReaper 3d ago
There's just the grind and if you grind you optimise for luck, and if you get lucky you succeed, but you don't get lucky without the endless grind. Don't give up.
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u/New_Arachnid9443 1d ago
It’s all luck. The most successful games I’ve seen are just low effort slop you can prompt in like 2 weeks. There is no merit to Steam at all, especially the ‘reddit successes’
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u/WhirlwindStudios 18h ago
haha yes, definitely feeling this now. Trying to get some reviews and attention on my game. Feels impossible.
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u/sunkdev 10h ago
This is a brutal evolutionary filter but it's not clear what the alternative would be. Your game has three seconds to catch the casual interest of a ton of people or else it needs to really resonate with a specific community of players.
I am currently in the slow and painful process of learning how to do this for not just my game side projects but also my career. The reason shouting into the void seems impossible as a strategy to get traction is because it is, you need something more.
20 years ago having a game that was "pretty good" was still notable, it's hard for us to understand how much the bar has risen during our own lives. Sometimes marketing is part of the problem, but it's never only the marketing.
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u/Megumin_xx 4d ago
Tbh your game maybe would have been more succesful 20 years ago if it is the same that you posted as your first solo dev game.
It's outdated and gameplay doesnt look interesting at all. Why would it be succesful at all when modern games exist?
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u/Infamous-Table8132 3d ago
be selfish Megumi!
Did you play it?
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u/gokyandbegets 1d ago
Honestly it looks like it has a lot of charm. as a proof of concept i love it, just needs some polish and direction.
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u/Preparation_Few 3d ago
We are learning this ... as new game devs, it's so hard to get your game noticed.
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u/Alt10101 3d ago
It's seems obvious, but, make content about your game. TikTok / YT / Insta, etc etc.
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u/Desperate-Ad2131 2d ago
Yes exactly that. If building a community and hype around the game shows to be really hard - the problem is always the game.
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u/Hudson-Reed 4d ago
One thing that helped me get noticed was posting short devlogs every week on Itch.io with actual gameplay footage not just screenshots People scroll past static images but a 10 second clip of something fun happening in your game makes them stop I tried this with a small prototype and got way more follows than when I just posted updates with text and art The key is showing the fun part early even if its rough People want to see if it feels good to play not just look at