next »

[AzraelKans]

What would you recomend to promote games for PC? apart from steam distribution we already have a youtube video, a webpage, a flash game, a facebook page, what else can we do?

[poe]

Reddit.

[BrianSlipBit]

Reddit.

Yeah, Reddit is probably decent for this type of thing.  Although it's really gone rather down hill over the past few years--but that's another discussion entirely.

A word of caution though, don't take it personally when your submission(s) get a ton of down-votes.  For whatever reason, people on there seem to love to down-vote things.  Probably a part of the problem I referenced above.

[AzraelKans]

Well thanks but I tried reddit and this is the result:

http://redd.it/jwet8

2 points and Im not even sure how many people have seen it, apparently youtube is not counting reddit views for some reason.   

Am I doing something wrong? I thought the video would be more interesting than a link to the webpage. Maybe I was wrong.

[BrianSlipBit]

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes, you are.  When it comes to Reddit submissions, the #1 thing you'll want to make sure you get right, is submitting to the most appropriate sub-Reddit(s).

In this case, it looks like you submitted it directly to the main/default sub-Reddit.  Instead, it would be better to submit to /r/gamedev and/or /r/indiegaming.  Only submit to /r/indiegaming if you're Indie though, or risk getting down-voted. 

Even after getting all of that right, don't expect to get a lot of up-votes.  However, you'll at least be in the right sub-Reddit and less likely to get down-voted by people who are likely to get pissed off by what they perceive to be off-topic submissions.

Hope this helps.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

you also need a lot of friends who use reddit (at least several hundred) and get them all to upvote anything you submit: that's how most of the ones that get on top do it

reddit really isn't that great an idea for promotion. couldn't hurt, but chances are very slim that you'll ever get more than a few visits to your site from reddit (or digg, or metafilter, etc.)

best to rely on tried-and-true methods that shareware developers have been using successfully for decades than try experimental social media stuff

[Nix]

try putting it up on indiedb. Solar Reboot already has 400 views and 10 watchers, which isn't a lot but we haven't done anything to promote it and it all we have up is some screenshots and a little bit of concept art. Not bad I don't think. We got about 100 views on the first day of setting it up.

[BrianSlipBit]

you also need a lot of friends who use reddit (at least several hundred) and get them all to upvote anything you submit: that's how most of the ones that get on top do it

Couldn't be more true.  Reddit has pretty much turned into Digg of old -- where you had the upvote or downvote brigades.  Which pretty much defeats the entire point of the site.

reddit really isn't that great an idea for promotion. couldn't hurt, but chances are very slim that you'll ever get more than a few visits to your site from reddit (or digg, or metafilter, etc.)

Yes and no.  I recently submitted the link to my Dream Build Play 2011 post-mortem.  It didn't get a lot of votes either way, but first day traffic was well over 250 visits.  And the residual traffic has been decent.

In general though, I agree with Paul that there are other more fruitful methods of promotion.

[DoubleJump]

What would you recomend to promote games for PC? apart from steam distribution we already have a youtube video, a webpage, a flash game, a facebook page, what else can we do?

Get noticed by the press.  This is usually how people will first hear about your game.  More specifically, I would analyze where your game has the best chances of getting coverage and where the message would reach the biggest audience.  Then, I'd send professional-looking, personalized media kits to the chosen targets.

If the strategy works, you will get more people to see what you have already built (website, youtube, Facebook, etc.).

[Triplefox]

I've done a little bit of reddit campaigning and have found a bit of success(not front paged, but even ~40 rank in /r/gaming brings in hundreds of viewers) even without overt system-gaming. Some tips:

-Put the same story in multiple subreddits("xpost from ...") - there's no harm in it.

-Post on a weekday around 7-8 am EST. The peak of Reddit traffic is right around the time people arrive at work. Post earlier and the algorithm works against you because of the "dead hours" in the late evening, combined with rampant downvoters; post later and you get lost in the crowd of more casual postings.

-Design the game around being easily promotable so that you aren't relying on a single trailer or something. Even if you do everything right, the post can die, so you want to have a good, fresh story to upvote every time you try again. This is just good marketing advice in general - keep finding reasons to bring up the game, and you'll make life easy.

Overall I wouldn't count it as the best method of promotion(the press has the most leverage by far), but it helps you feel out whether the game is getting people's attention or not and possibly get some early interest. If the game has viral properties you can make social media do a lot of work for you, but it still has to be a good enough game first.

[LuisAnton]

I would add, although this requires time before you release your game, maintaining a certain presence in social networks. Create and take care of a Twitter account and possibly a Facebook page, Tumblr or a blog. Share your progresses, show early screenshots, build up buzz. If you manage to create a relatively interesting Twitter (blog/Facebook/Tumblr, whatever) with many followers, the day you release your game many people will know about it!

[ANtY]

If you manage to create a relatively interesting Twitter (blog/Facebook/Tumblr, whatever) with many followers, the day you release your game many people will know about it!

But hmm... It's the most obvious thing. Better give us an advice how we should make it "interesting" to get many followers.

[LuisAnton]

Well, it not that obvious for many people... I know many developers for whom secrecy is so important that they won't show a single image until the release date!

You may talk about your code, your artwork, show early screenshots, music, features, related links, inspiring games/movies/books, and even an early playable version if you are confident enough!

[ANtY]

Problems appear when your not already famous or making crappy retro game.   
Then no one reads your posts, watch your screenshots, etc. They don't care about your game and I don't see any way to make more followers.

[LuisAnton]

I don't agree... I had no idea who the guys behind Hawken where until I saw their awesome trailer in Gametrailers (that's another place to show your work). Or Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, for which I've been waiting for like what... two years since I saw an early screenshot? And some guys I've following in Twitter myself have shown some pretty interesting work that attracts my attention.

Sure, if the game is plain no one will care, probably. But if you are doing something good and you have some twitter/facebook/blog followers, someone may notice and tell others about it...

[ANtY]

You need to have some friends on indie games websites so you will get covered. Then you have an occasion to show your trailer/screenshots to ppl.

[LuisAnton]

When we launched Oddy Smog's Misadventure we knew no one at TouchArcade...  for some reason, someone enjoyed the game and opened a thread in their forums, and players started talking about it. We ended up having a superb review there!

Sure, social networks won't sell your game if you don't have thousands of followers. But it's just another move you may try!