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Marketing Coordinator & BizDev @GameRebellion 🌸 Passionate Video Game Marketing Strategist
I recently came across a very interesting article by GamesIndustry.Biz (link at the end) about PlayStation industry veterans Shuhei Yoshida and Greg Rice's recent talk at Develop Brighton, in which they discussed « the secrets behind what makes a great game ». Their talk revolved around the idea that excellence in game development now demands to go beyond just mastering art style and gameplay mechanics, but also grasping emotional engagement 🤗 Greg Rice evoked the dangers of simply chasing trends and not staying ahead of the market curve: "A lot of people in this industry are chasing fads and ideas that have shown success, and when you're doing that oftentimes you're already behind." This issue could be tackled by conducting thorough market research and communicating with the public early on. Both speakers emphasized that knowing your audience and actively seeking their feedback during and after development is not just beneficial—it's essential. For Yoshida, it all starts with having a clear vision of your game; he specifically talked about what he learned from working with Fumito Ueda (the director and lead designer of Shadow of the Colossus, one of my favourite games ever). He mentioned the importance of adequately conveying a "clear vision" of the game within your team and to your public for a smooth development process and knowing where you are going, thus allowing a seamless iterative process and optimizing the communication with your potential player base. At GameRebellion, we've seen firsthand how having a clear vision helps you figure out your audience early enough, and how continuously engaging with potential players can dramatically shape a game's success. Yoshida emphasized the critical importance of starting the marketing process early on: "A lot of indies are self-publishing so they need to handle their marketing beats, their promotion, but they're leaving that till late in the game" One of his main points is the lack of playtesting and iterating based on feedback from players who are not directly involved in the project "During any game's development, you should be showing your game to your friends and family, bringing your game to events, and watching people play—people who don't understand the game as you do" he shared. For him, this process is fundamental in refining a game and ensuring it resonates with its potential audience. 💡 By incorporating player feedback through playtests and maintaining a clear vision for your game, you can create games that are technically spot-on and connected to your public. Don't wait until the final stages to involve your potential players. Start early, iterate, and let your players help guide your development journey! Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/ejTkaHi6 👉 Let me know what you think about it! #GameDevelopment #Playtesting #Gaming #IndieDev #GameMarketing #GameIndustry