Once your video game is finished and ready for public play, you’ll have to think about marketing it. You’ll need to do more than pass it around to friends and family and rely on word of mouth. Instead, you’ll need to network and Market in places where gamers hang out.

Connect to Indie Development Groups

There are several Indie development communities online in places such as Reddit, Slack, and Facebook. There you can connect with fellow game developers and learn strategies for getting much-needed exposure for your game. You can post clips of your game, get feedback, and grow your audience.

Perhaps the biggest indie group is Indie Game Developer Network, or IGDN, though it does require you to apply and pay $100 per year for membership. They hold meetings and conventions and have peer mentoring available.

Make it More Accessible

Localization helps your video game become more accessible to more markets. In a worldwide market, it’s important for your game to appeal to players from many cultures and languages. Localization involves more than just translating the text to other languages, though that in itself isn’t always easy, since slang doesn’t always translate well.

To appeal to global markets, your game must also be adapted to meet cultural differences and the legal requirements of the various countries. This may involve changing parts of the game, making new audio recordings, adapting images to local norms, and even cutting things out that may offend. A successfully localized game can easily become a hit in an overseas market.

Find an Influencer

A review by a Social Media influencer can make your game take off. Influencers use YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites, as well as their own blogs and vlogs, to review video games, post tutorials, and show playthroughs. There are also podcasts that specialize in video games.

Before contacting an influencer, follow a few, read their profiles, and become familiar with their work. Then, select those influencers whose markets and preferences are similar to your game. If your game gets reviewed, expect to see your numbers grow.

 Promoting a video game takes a completely different skill set than it takes to develop the game. Though you may feel out of your element at first, once you begin, you’ll find it becomes easier, especially when you connect with other game lovers.

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Original Article Link: How to Get More People to Play Your Video Game