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[motorsep]

When I released my first game in 2011, it really seemed that releasing on Steam was all you need to get good sales (and it actually was the case). In 2015 it doesn't look that way. It's not even enough for a game to win some awards to be recognized, which in theory should help sales.

I think nowadays (besides having a good game) a good PR/marking campaign is a key to better sales for indies. Plus having a good community manager helps too.

My question is if someone already compiled a list of good reputable PR/marketing firms an indie game developer can afford (for a profit share) and if someone worked with those firms and ranked them ?

I see how many indies get to Steam, and see poor sales due to lack of well put together marketing/PR campaign and after spending a good chunk of time making my new game (with still a long way to go), last thing I want to happen is to release it and see poor sales. So unlike back in the days, I am willing to give up a fair share in return for clever marketing/PR to reach my target audience

On the other hand, how do you find a good community manager?

Thanks.

[Falsen]

The developer of the Guild of Dungeoneering put together a large list of indie publishers and PR. http://blog.gambrinous.com/2014/09/02/the-list-of-indie-friendly-publishers/

[motorsep]

Thanks!

Is there something similar for Android / iOS ?

[RaccoonV]

I have no complete list of agencies that solely focus on Android applications. I have read on a game development Facebook group that ComboApp is a reliable partner (I don't know their pricing), they also have a portfolio on their website: https://comboapp.com/

[motorsep]

Thanks, will write that down!

[BishopGames]

While I have never worked with them directly, I met and talked with the people from Evolve (mainly Brian Rowe) a couple times at PAX, by email, etc. Brian is a very cool dude, I do not know their price but Evolve PR are with The Witcher since the first game from what I've gathered.

Went to eat a couple times with Brian at PAX South/East and he also gave me some pointers for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for free. Maybe you can check with him.

Good luck!

[WildFactor]

I had a not so great experience with Evolve-PR. (My Return of investement was really bad, and actually 4X lower than paid banner..). I think that if your budget is low (less than 10K$) they won't consider you and won't do more than just sending an email to their mailing list.

I've also tried Triple point Agency for a IOS game. They are much better, more professionnal and at least nice to talk to But they are much more expensif (10K$ minimum), and the ROI are still bad (not as bad, they got me Kotaku).

When you are an indie with a small budget, it's really better to do it yourself. 5k$ spend in PR guy is actually paying for 4 days of work with all the cost of a marketing guy, the office rent and their chiefs salary. You don't pay them enough so they use their contact of big journalists for you. You better pay yourself and do the marketing during 2 months (or 1 month + video game trade show). Another advantage is that contacts you will get, is your contact, and will be able to recontact them for your next game (the PR guy don't give you their contact email adress to you of course... you will have to hire them again).

But if your budget is 10K-30k$ a PR agency may be a good solution.

Personnally, I won't use a PR Agency again.

[motorsep]

Thanks for sharing your experience, WildFactor.

You better pay yourself and do the marketing during 2 months (or 1 month + video game trade show).

The problem with this scenario is that unlike PR firm/guy, I have no relationship with prominent press/youtubers/bloggers So I don't really see how I can get those prominent journalists to even look at my game.

After being indie for quite a while now, I learned that most of the successful indies didn't just show up on the scene like I did. They all grew up around that nerdy (in a good way) culture, rubbed around in the right crowd, went to the shows as visitors as they were maturing and met with various people who are now (and even perhaps then) have weight in the media and a say-so. So early networking is a key, and I (and many of the indies our there) didn't have an opportunity to build such network (plus I am more of a tech guy, not a public person). With that in mind, I wonder what is the best solution for me (and indies like me) when it comes to promoting my games :/

[WildFactor]

Thanks for sharing your experience, WildFactor.

You better pay yourself and do the marketing during 2 months (or 1 month + video game trade show).

The problem with this scenario is that unlike PR firm/guy, I have no relationship with prominent press/youtubers/bloggers So I don't really see how I can get those prominent journalists to even look at my game.

After being indie for quite a while now, I learned that most of the successful indies didn't just show up on the scene like I did. They all grew up around that nerdy (in a good way) culture, rubbed around in the right crowd, went to the shows as visitors as they were maturing and met with various people who are now (and even perhaps then) have weight in the media and a say-so. So early networking is a key, and I (and many of the indies our there) didn't have an opportunity to build such network (plus I am more of a tech guy, not a public person). With that in mind, I wonder what is the best solution for me (and indies like me) when it comes to promoting my games :/

My point is that a PR firm won't call a prominent Youtuber/press/blogger for you unless you gave them more than 10k$
(they have several client and they can't annoy big press guy with every small indie game with low budget... they will do it just for the big client)

There is no magic formula. You need time or Money (or both).
And none of the successful indies succeed with a zero budget marketing. They succeed with a zero budget advertising, yes, but not zero budget marketing. That's a myth made to fool young indie.
They all spend at least money to make a kickass trailer and/or be on tradeshow... Sometimes they got a grant to do it (they ask money to their governement) and sometimes they got money from indie fund. This may be not their money, but still it's money you need to find.

I've just been at Rezzed, and they were successfull indie...none of them were in the sponsored/free area

And there is Luck. If you are lucky you will have a buzz. But don't count on it. One of two dev got lucky that way every years (out of several thousand of dev). It's like the lottery.

I don't want to be pecimist pessimistic. If you don't have, you just need to find money or time (see if your governement can give you a grant, lower your spend, ask your family). Like any business.