Tips to Market an Indie Computer Game

Yeah, so you want to market an indie computer game, yet you want it to be successful? Often times indies are over looked, being a self proclaimed pro gamer myself I often times skip over countless indie games.

"If I were to try and create a computer game how could I market it effectively?", What it all comes down to is the team behind the game, the games features, how the game is distributed, connections, and website management. Lets take a moment to go through the steps.

The Team-

Is the team behind the game willing to give it their all? Would they be willing to hand out demo's of the game at local stores or to friends? I believe that this is a effective way to get started, during the production of the game the team could select a certain aspect of it that players could try out, or perhaps hand out fliers explaining what the game is about and screen shots. Be creative with your ideas, don't be afraid to start out marketing only in your local area, building a fan base is a must.

The Games Features-

When buying a game, most of us like to know of its features and whats unique about it, consider figuring out ways users can create and share content even if its something as small as character models. If thats not the road you want to go down try thinking of features that are still unexplored by developers.

Larger game company's are usually guilty of not listening to the consumer's, this is where you will want to pay the most attention to. Succeed where they fail and try to attract people to your game while listening to their suggestions.

How its Distributed-

How a game is distributed is a key factor, one would have to recommend either selling on Ebay, or possibly creating a website and selling the game with the help of Paypal. A potential customer can be turned off by a number of things, one being a shady website.

Connections-

Your social connections can often times play a big role also, spread the word of your game through friends. Local stores and websites may even advertise your game for free, with websites its easier, if anyone in the team knows how to use image editing software have them make website banners. Often times smaller websites will support other smaller projects for free such as indie games.

Also consider showing your game off at a independent games festival, yes it sounds like a long shot, but just showing off the game in a place like that could attract dozens of people. A alternative to this is joining gamer forums of all types and spreading the word of your game through them, remember to make sure of the forums rules before posting to make sure what your doing isn't considered spam.

Website Management-

Nowadays websites play a important role in advertising, and how the site looks can also effect a potential sale. Try to keep the site organized and as professional looking as possible, have pages for screen shots of the game as well as a list of the game features. A forum or a place where users can comment on the game is also recommended, this hangout of sorts could lead to building a fan base.

If you follow the above guidelines, surely you will profit off of your game. Who knows, maybe your in the process of creating the next big hit. Do your best, Good luck out there.