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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperBusinessSharing my Greenlight experience (Ask me anything)
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Author Topic: Sharing my Greenlight experience (Ask me anything)  (Read 6424 times)
bateleur
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« Reply #20 on: March 16, 2016, 08:01:46 AM »

Useful thread, thanks for taking the time to post it.

I'm just setting up the Greenlight page for King Machine (the game I'm been working on for approximately forever). The way Greenlight's launch/front page momentum works is basically the exact opposite of what I want. I'm pretty confident the game has an audience, but not a huge one, so getting the word out fast enough is going to be tricky.

Emails to press are for next week, though. Now I'm off to make my page look prettier with your handy image tag tip. Grin Hand Thumbs Up Right
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oldblood
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« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2016, 05:34:25 AM »

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(yes, PewDiePie is there as well) and a funding amount of $40,000, would you expect it to be funded?  Here's the result:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1216321816/bulb-boy
Thank you for sharing this, I wasn't aware of this campaign. It's quite depressing, to be honest. Anybody wants to take a guess and say why this campaign failed?

Bulb Boy is a bit of an anomaly for a variety of reasons. It had one of the most polished Kickstarters I've seen in a long time (I backed it), it had a lot of (positive) press leading up to and during the Kickstarter, had a lot of YouTube coverage and hardly anyone wanted to back it. The end result was the game raised hardly anything compared the thousands of successful Kickstarters... Undeterred, the devs continued development and upon release, the game was very positively received by Steam users (91% average user rating which is "Very Positive") and has a very solid meta-score of 85/100... and it sold about 3,000 copies since October of 2015...

For whatever reason, people do not want to support Bulb Boy as a game. It seems there would be a market for this game, it seems like it caters a fun, young, horror audience (which is quite large) but for whatever reason- its getting almost no support. You can try to analyze this game till the end of time but I think you will just end up confused. It's a polished and well-made game that has had a ton of very positive reviews and coverage but it has been a huge failure by all standards. Sometimes, things just don't make sense in this industry... The developers certainly did nothing wrong. They ran the campaign, development and marketing as good as any indie-dev could ever hope.

I guess the take-away is sometimes no matter how hard you try and no matter how many things you do right... sometimes its just not meant to be. Either the concept, the timing, the market... Who knows. Lots of things outside of our control as a developer. Analyzing and best-practices don't insure anything in this industry.
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UnfoldGames
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« Reply #22 on: March 18, 2016, 11:48:36 AM »

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Naive as I am I thought "I'll just see if I need the press". Whilst my game is doing better than I anticipated, it turns out, I could use some press coverage now.
Do what's possible. At this point it might be too late to get coverage in major press (it's no longer a news), but bloggers are still likely to pick up your game, and I'm sure you can get some sites & forums to repost your press release. Good luck!

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Another small question, how did you format your emails to the press? My game's concept makes a lot more sense when you see an image, but putting an image in the email body sounds amateurish. I do have a presskit, but that requires them to actually be interested enough to click the URL. What's your view on this?
Knowing that journalists receive lots of emails every day (hundreds) I made sure to have a subject that (hopefully) makes you want to find out more. For the same reason, I kept my email very short. One paragraph explaining why the game is worth writing about (what makes it special, unique, different from others), one paragraph giving quick facts (platform, release date, etc) and a link to the press kit. Later on, when the game got coverage in major press, I included a sentence that said something like "featured in Rock Paper Shotgun, Gamasutra, Cliquist" etc... It's because smaller sites are more likely to cover games that the authority sites have covered.

Hope this helps!
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« Reply #23 on: March 19, 2016, 04:31:17 PM »

Later on, when the game got coverage in major press, I included a sentence that said something like "featured in Rock Paper Shotgun, Gamasutra, Cliquist" etc... It's because smaller sites are more likely to cover games that the authority sites have covered.

Hope this helps!
Sounds like it's better to hit the big boys first, then. Grin

In general, when journalists write articles, do they reply to let you know that they wrote about your game?
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« Reply #24 on: March 20, 2016, 10:44:11 AM »

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In general, when journalists write articles, do they reply to let you know that they wrote about your game?
Sadly, no. Google is your friend. It's probably a good idea to get back in touch and thank them for writing an article once you find it. Could be a beginning of a long relationship.
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« Reply #25 on: March 20, 2016, 01:30:32 PM »

Interesting, but not surprising.  I heard about using Google Alerts to track certain things a long time ago and just came across a post "Guide to Earning More Press Coverage For Your Game" https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=53795.0  that recommends exactly that as part of the follow up. 

The other interesting thing that I was aware of is looking up images and those could be used to find sites that host cracked/hacked version of the game.  But what can be done about them is something I'll have to look into more.
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bateleur
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« Reply #26 on: March 25, 2016, 12:01:19 AM »

Somewhat mystified about how the press side of things is supposed to work. King Machine went up on Greenlight three days ago (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=646326910) and although I only contacted about 50 press/YouTubers/streamers I was a bit surprised to get zero coverage and zero replies.

The problem really is the complete lack of feedback. I followed the advice of various guides, included links to all useful resources (itch.io page with demo, code for full version from itch.io, trailer on YouTube, game homepage with presskit() etc.). And presumably I got something wrong, but what? I would assume that the trailer wasn't good enough, except that the Greenlight users seem to like it. Was getting votes pretty fast until it dropped off the Greenlight front page.
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« Reply #27 on: April 13, 2016, 02:12:32 AM »

Thanks for sharing! Your post was super helpful.

Sadly, we're already on day 17 of our Greenlight campaign, so it may be a little late to implement some of your methods, like contacting the press... I wish I'd read your post sooner!

Does anyone have any advice on reviving a dying Greenlight effort? We got 820 views on our first day, then they dropped down to next to nothing pretty fast. So far we've had 2115 unique visitors in total and 53% voted Yes.

We want as many visitors on the site as possible, but we're having a really hard time getting people to click our link! I've shared our Greenlight link on facebook (our own walls plus a few indie game groups), twitter and instagram with a cheerful "On Greenlight now!" type message, but it's not generating as much traffic as we'd hoped. I even tried a self-promotion megapost on reddit, and slipped the link into one of my Imgur posts, to no avail.

Any advice? Thank you very much in advance!


(This post is absolutely not a self-promotion attempt, I legitimately need advice, but I'm just gonna leave the link to our game down here in case anyone wants to check it out. No pressure! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=653803576 )
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« Reply #28 on: April 13, 2016, 05:52:05 AM »

One thing I've been wondering is sort of... "when do you Greenlight"?

Because I've seen a lot of games that have basically been thrown up in a conceptual stage and actually done quite well. Some games have been greenlit based on not all that impressive demos thanks only to a really appealing idea that still looks like it could become something great once finished, despite probably not going to get done until years later.

So it seems to me now that Greenlight is more of a way to ask someone whether they would play a certain game, than to actually prepare for a momentarily upcoming Steam release as soon as the green light is given.

How true is this, and how many people do it like this? Is it normal to put something up there even years before a game might be done, just to try and get community support early on?

An example is this game I found yesterday: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=633122173

Not much work has been done on it yet, and the demo is pretty buggy and dull, but I see the potential right away and apparently others have too, and the reception remains largely positive, and of course it has already been greenlit. Because I want this game despite the not so impressive demo. I believe in it. Of course, in this particular case it apparently also has a prequel to support it, which I didn't know about, so that has obviously helped it a bit, but still.
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io3 creations
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« Reply #29 on: April 13, 2016, 09:21:06 AM »

One thing I've been wondering is sort of... "when do you Greenlight"?[/size]
Overall, I agree that the Greenlight is finding out whether people are interested in your game or not.  When you start the Greenlight process will depend on a number of reasons (you listed some of them) but there's no single answer.  However, in recent years, another feature was added to Steam:  Early Access.  With early access, you not only can gain fans, gather feedback, but potentially increase funding.  Those are main reasons why some developers go for Greenlight as soon as they can. 

Of course, in any case, as you mentioned, having a demo that one way or another showcases the potential of your game and gets people intersted (or hopefully excited) is a minimum requirenment.
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« Reply #30 on: April 13, 2016, 10:28:32 PM »

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Of course, in any case, as you mentioned, having a demo that one way or another showcases the potential of your game and gets people intersted (or hopefully excited) is a minimum requirenment.
I can imagine how having a playable demo could be a game changer. I don't think a lot of Steam users would necessarily play your demo before voting. But I do believe that having a demo makes it a lot easier to spread the word about your campaign on youtube (let's-players, to be precise). If you get lucky and your demo gets picked up by a big youtuber,  you can expect a big spike in Greenlight traffic. You can still make it without the demo though (my campaign is an example of that), because Greenlight is all about making the first impression. Most of your voters won't even watch the entire trailer before making a decision.
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« Reply #31 on: April 13, 2016, 10:47:43 PM »

First of all, Congratulations for getting your game greenlit!

These are the great tips and are very helpful for me since I am going to submit my first major game project on Steam Greenlight soon! This is exactly what I needed to understand before putting the game on Greenlight. So, the trailer will only have the gameplay and no texts. This seems to be a good idea to grab the attention of the customers within a very few seconds. This is the strategy I have also planned to use.

I have a question:
Is there any estimated number of votes required to be greenlit on Steam? Is it really hard to be on Steam?

I am a newbie on Steam and I have decided to put my first major game project there. When should I start distributing press releases to press sites?

Thank you. Please let me know when you have time.
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« Reply #32 on: April 13, 2016, 11:01:09 PM »

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I have a question:
Is there any estimated number of votes required to be greenlit on Steam? Is it really hard to be on Steam?
No, there's no specific number of votes required, but the general rule is that you need to be in TOP 100 to get greenlit (although I've heard there have been exceptions when the ratio of YES to NO votes is extremely high). Steam greenlits games twice a month (around the 15th and the 30th as far as I remember). As long as your game ends up in TOP 100 when they accept a batch, you should be OK.

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]When should I start distributing press releases to press sites?
I would say, immediately after your greenlight campaign goes live, which is a newsworthy event. Press tends to cover things that are happening NOW.

Good luck to you & your campaign!
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« Reply #33 on: April 13, 2016, 11:12:09 PM »

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I have a question:
Is there any estimated number of votes required to be greenlit on Steam? Is it really hard to be on Steam?
No, there's no specific number of votes required, but the general rule is that you need to be in TOP 100 to get greenlit (although I've heard there have been exceptions when the ratio of YES to NO votes is extremely high). Steam greenlits games twice a month (around the 15th and the 30th as far as I remember). As long as your game ends up in TOP 100 when they accept a batch, you should be OK.

Quote
]When should I start distributing press releases to press sites?
I would say, immediately after your greenlight campaign goes live, which is a newsworthy event. Press tends to cover things that are happening NOW.

Good luck to you & your campaign!

Thanks you so much for the assistance! Then, I have to start preparing myself from now on. Should I use any press release services to distribute my press release? or should I manually send the emails with the presskit to Rock Paper Shotgun and other relevant press sites?

Thanks!
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UnfoldGames
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« Reply #34 on: April 14, 2016, 12:03:42 AM »

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Should I use any press release services to distribute my press release? or should I manually send the emails with the presskit to Rock Paper Shotgun and other relevant press sites?
I think both - did you read my first post in this topic?
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« Reply #35 on: April 14, 2016, 12:36:20 AM »

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Should I use any press release services to distribute my press release? or should I manually send the emails with the presskit to Rock Paper Shotgun and other relevant press sites?
I think both - did you read my first post in this topic?
Yeah, I got it. Thanks! I too have a list of more than 100 press sites with links to it. I will be sure to give it a try. Thanks for the tips. Smiley
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Torchkas
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« Reply #36 on: April 14, 2016, 08:26:12 AM »

One thing I've been wondering is sort of... "when do you Greenlight"?
Those are main reasons why some developers go for Greenlight as soon as they can.  
Remember that you should pace out your press releases either way, Early Access and Greenlight included. If you succesfully start an Early Access or Greenlight platform for your game and your game is still 5 years from being finished, there'll be a really high chance that you've lost a lot of interest since your initial showcase. People eventually move on.

Exceptions exist of course, but it's something to consider.
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« Reply #37 on: April 14, 2016, 09:32:42 AM »

I can imagine how having a playable demo could be a game changer. I don't think a lot of Steam users would necessarily play your demo before voting. But I do believe that having a demo makes it a lot easier to spread the word about your campaign on youtube (let's-players, to be precise). If you get lucky and your demo gets picked up by a big youtuber,  you can expect a big spike in Greenlight traffic. You can still make it without the demo though (my campaign is an example of that), because Greenlight is all about making the first impression. Most of your voters won't even watch the entire trailer before making a decision.
I've seen a few recent Kickstarter campaigns that were either saved by or significantly boosted when the game was played by youtubers/twitchers.
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« Reply #38 on: April 14, 2016, 10:22:03 AM »

and your game is still 5 years from being finished
As an indie developer, if your game is 5 years from being released ... then I'd suggest you start with a smaller project. Wink
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« Reply #39 on: April 14, 2016, 08:57:35 PM »

Steam greenlits games twice a month (around the 15th and the 30th as far as I remember). As long as your game ends up in TOP 100 when they accept a batch, you should be OK.
It seems to take place over a few days though.  I've seen a couple of games greenlit on the 10th and I just saw one that was greenlit today.
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