Get the most out of your next Video Game Event
A new event is approaching, the whole team put a lot of effort to make it great and it is going to be an inflexion point for your project. After some exhausting weeks polishing your game, spending days designing your Booth and arranging your travel and accomodation, you are finally there ready to nail it.
At this point, the most important part is to have your objectives clear. Let’s say:
- Playtest your game. Many players will attend this event, it's perfect!
- Gain Visibility. Start creating a community and reach out to the press.
- Find a Publisher. As you have completed a Vertical Slice, now it's the right time.
These are key goals for the success of your project and you’ve already invested a lot to get here.
How could you get the most out of this event?
TESTING YOUR GAME
Having a booth in a video game event will expose you to thousands of players that are eager to discover and test new games. You can use this opportunity to test certain parts of your game and gather their feedback.
TIPS
Your booth will certainly be on fire, with lots of people coming and going and providing valuable feedback that will be very helpful for following iterations on the development of your game. Make sure to have this in mind:
- Don't trust your memory or your colleagues'.
- Keep a record of any feedback provided.
- Store gameplays for later analysis.
CAREFUL THOUGH!
The type of gamer that usually attends game events tends to be experienced (e.g midcore or hardcore gamers) and might not satisfy your target!
buildING A community
Video Game events are a great way to keep growing your community. You’ve probably already started online, with a Discord channel or a Twitter account, or maybe not yet. The event will let you engage directly with players, face to face, and build a strong community.
TIPS
Don’t let them go! Invite all attendees to join your community, stay up to date and be active participants of the development of your game:
- Provide a way in your booth to join your community (e.g link/QR to your signup page).
- Discover more about their player profile (e.g type of gamer, games they play, etc.).
- Invite them to join as a betatesters of your game.
EARLY ADOPTERS ARE CRUCIAL
They will be there when your game is not yet ready, unstable and “not-what-it-will-be”. But they understand it and will accompany you throughout your tough journey. Treat them well, as if they were paying customers, and let them participate.
MEETING PUBLISHERS
Getting in touch with publishers is relatively easy. Most video game events (eg. Gamescom, GDC, GameConnection, Nordic Games) have matchmaking tools to let you arrange meetings with publishers and industry service providers. The hard part, though, is to stand out from other games and convince publishers to meet with you to know how great your game is.
TIPS
In advance, you could invite a few players to play your game, record their sessions and get their feedback. In your communications with publishers you could share your deck together with playtest results, thus showcasing:
- Gameplays from real players.
- Players' reception of the game.
- Demonstrate that you know the market and how to listen to it.
THE SOONER, THE BETTER!
If your concept, prototype, vertical slice or published game is ready to be pitched to publishers, it’s ready for players too.
Conclusion
By applying this simple yet powerful recommendations you will get advantage. Your game will grow thanks to players’ feedback, you will anticipate issues that otherwise would arise maybe too late, you’ll start building a solid player community and will impress publishers and investors. Remember to:
- Gather initial feedback from players before attending the video game event.
- Use Matchmaking tools to schedule meetings with publishers. Share with them your Deck and playtest results.
- Record and organise feedback during the event. After the event, take time to analyse it with your team.
- Get players on board of your early community and let them have an active role in your development.
Seems like a lot but there are many tools that can help you out (e.g Google Drive, Mailchimp, Monkey Survey, etc. ). Our platform, Antidote also helps you drive online / offline playtesting, manage your community and gather players’ feedback. An excellent tool for video game studios to help you in all we’ve covered. If you want to know more reach out to us anytime.
