What are the best ways to promote an indie game?

Question

DevelopmentGame Development

What are the best ways to promote an indie game?

7

Options
Considered

8

User
Recs.

Oct 27, 2023

Last
Updated

7 Options Considered

Best ways to promote an indie game	Price	Last Updated
-- GameJolt	Free	Oct 27, 2023
-- Kickstarter	-	Feb 9, 2016
-- IndieDB	-	Feb 16, 2016
-- Steam Greenlight	-	Feb 9, 2016
-- TIGSource	-	Feb 9, 2016

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score 1 · Answer 1

GameJolt

Top Pro

Free, easy submission

Submitting a game is free and extremely easy. See More

Top Con

Comparatively small customer base

Platforms like Steam and Gog have a better chance of reaching potential customers. See More

Top Pro

Supports many build targets

You can publish anything from HTML5 games to Windows Desktop games. See More

Top Pro

Feature-rich submission process

Developers get lots of control over choosing their platforms, media settings, custom web pages, etc. See More

See All

score 2 · Answer 2

Kickstarter

Top Con

5% fee is applied to successful funding

Any successful crowdfunding operation run on Kickstarter will have a 5% fee. The payment processor will take an additional 3-5%. See More

Top Pro

Validate your idea

You can use the reception from the kickstarter campaign to find out if there's an audience for the game before fully investing your time into it. See More

Top Pro

Backer emails

You can keep your backers up to date with development and remind them about the game through kickstarter emails. See More

Top Pro

Prior successes

Shovel Knight is a great example of an indie game that went viral through the kickstarter campaign. With a preview video showing clever and fun gameplay, they were able to raise over 4x their goal and gain a large audience before the game was even finished. See More

See All

score 2 · Answer 3

IndieDB

Top Pro

Explicit site mission is to connect indie devs with players

IndieDB isn't just a place where you can build hype for your game: it aims to be the definitive place where you should. Everything about the site's features and interface are designed to help devs present themselves, and to kindle user interest in new games. See More

Top Con

Poor metrics for popularity tracking

Your game on IndieDB has a popularity ranking, but it considers only the past 24 hours, making it only good for noticing spikes in attention. Individual pages have hit counters, which can provide a more lasting record of interest but must be tracked and compared manually. See More

Top Pro

Large overlap with Desura userbase

Desura and IndieDB were initially both operated by Desura Group, and shared a single user database. Linden Labs obtained Desura (only) in January 2014 and the sites' user bases are now split, but extensive crossover remains. Interest built through IndieDB can translate directly to sales on Desura. See More

Top Pro

Easy for journalists to look up

People from IndieStatik, Kotaku, etc will check IndieDB for info on new games. See More

Top Pro

Indie cred

Lots of games and developers on here. See More

See All

score 1 · Answer 4

Steam Greenlight

Top Pro

Greenlight Concepts section can help get early feedback

The Concepts section of Greenlight allows incomplete projects to be put on display and receive feedback, including mock-voting as if they were full Greenlight submissions. This can be a valuable tool for refining design, presentation and marketing techniques. See More

Top Con

Registration costs $100

In order to submit games to Greenlight at all, you must first purchase a $100 activation for your Steam account. Note that this does not represent profit for Valve: all proceeds are donated to charity. It is strictly a barrier to entry. See More

Top Pro

The largest and best-known PC distribution service

Steam's user base is over ten times that of the next nearest competitor, making it by far the largest single marketplace. See More

Top Con

Approval process is a competitive market

The Greenlight submissions with the most votes are approved in arbitrary batches, generally 50 to 100 per month. No metric is used other than raw quantity of positive votes. See More

See All

score 1 · Answer 5

TIGSource

Top Pro

Great for networking with other indie devs and reviewers

Spontaneous endorsements from bloggers, reviewers and other developers can generate as much or more interest as any direct effort on your part. TIGSource is positioned as a community for indie developers, making it one of the best places to catch the eye of your peers. See More

Top Con

Limited control over presentation

TIGSource Forums are designed to support a community of developers, not as an ideal marketing platform. Like most forums, you can start new topics and have limited control over the formatting of your own posts only. See More

Top Pro

TIGSource staff might take interest and feature your game

The contributing editors of TIGSource are free to indulge their personal gaming interests, and frequently promote titles that they feel stand out in some way. See More

Top Pro

You can engage the community

The TIGSource forums have a lively community of indie game fans and other developers with over 20,000 members. The best way to build support for your game and company is to embrace the community and hear their input. See More

See All

Answer 6

Itch.io

Top Pro

Offer preorders

You can start selling your game before it's finished. See More

Top Con

Web-only interface, no native client

Users download installation files directly, like they would from a generic repository; there is no automated installation system, and more importantly there is no automatic update service. See More

Top Pro

No accounts required for buyers

It allows linking an itch.io page where the customer can just click to buy. See More

Top Pro

Mostly self-service

Change prices or the design of your page at will. No need to give lead time if you want to offer a sale. See More

Top Pro

Allows any target platform, including web & mobile apps

Under the hood, itch.io is a generic file repository with no format requirements. This allows binaries for any platform to be hosted. Additional presentation options are provided for web games. See More

Top Pro

Absolutely no barrier to entry

A user can upload immediately upon creating a free account, and submissions are made live immediately. Other than violations of the Acceptable Use policy, any and all content is allowed on itch.io. See More

Top Pro

Pay-what-you-want model with optional enforced minimums

Users can pay any amount they want to for a game, down to a minimum specified by the uploader. The minimum can be zero. A user can go back and pay more later if they want. See More

See All

Answer 7

GamesPress

Top Pro

Instant outreach to tons of outlets

If your submission is accepted, it will automatically be syndicated on Gamasutra, and will most likely be picked up by Kotaku, Joystiq, etc. See More

7 Options Considered

My Recommendation for GameJolt

My Recommendation for GameJolt

Free, easy submission

Comparatively small customer base

Supports many build targets

Feature-rich submission process

My Recommendation for Kickstarter

My Recommendation for Kickstarter

5% fee is applied to successful funding

Validate your idea

Backer emails

Prior successes

My Recommendation for IndieDB

My Recommendation for IndieDB

Explicit site mission is to connect indie devs with players

Poor metrics for popularity tracking

Large overlap with Desura userbase

Easy for journalists to look up

Indie cred

My Recommendation for Steam Greenlight

My Recommendation for Steam Greenlight

Greenlight Concepts section can help get early feedback

Registration costs $100

The largest and best-known PC distribution service

Approval process is a competitive market

My Recommendation for TIGSource

My Recommendation for TIGSource

Great for networking with other indie devs and reviewers

Limited control over presentation

TIGSource staff might take interest and feature your game

You can engage the community

My Recommendation for Itch.io

My Recommendation for Itch.io

Offer preorders

Web-only interface, no native client

No accounts required for buyers

Mostly self-service

Allows any target platform, including web & mobile apps

Absolutely no barrier to entry

Pay-what-you-want model with optional enforced minimums

My Recommendation for GamesPress

My Recommendation for GamesPress

Instant outreach to tons of outlets

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