Indie Game Business Sessions: Winter 2020
2020-12-08..2020-12-11
-- online --
[Indie Game Business Sessions: Winter 2020, Indie Game Business Sessions: Air edition 2021]
who it's for
indie developers, studio founders, community managers, marketing managers, localization specialists, product managers, legal counsel
topics
Discord co-working practices; Notion project tracking; player-first community management; kickstarter campaign tactics; studio incorporation and contracts; data-driven A/B experimentation; influencer marketing programs; localization for target markets; games-as-a-service market analysis; negotiation and deal strategy; virtual game jams and events
| title | author | length |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Health and Working Remote | Carly Wetzel, Karlee Wetzel | 56m |
Studio-run remote teams span the US, UK, New Zealand and Sweden so communication increases from “nice to have” to daily necessity: use Discord for live… | ||
| 6 Lessons from 6 Years of Player-First Community Management | CHAD KIHM | 59m |
Six concrete lessons: build a community by design, not default, and seed it with a small crew of influencers who report real player pain; the original fan site… | ||
| How to Start Your Video Game Studio - Views from a Lawyer's Perspective | Jeffrey Rose | 54m |
25 years of game-law experience distilled into concrete startup actions: incorporate for asset protection, choose corp vs LLC with an accountant, set work for… | ||
| Live AMA With Kickstarter Director of Games Outreach | Anya Combs | 58m |
Practical Kickstarter rules and numbers: video games should be ~50% complete with 30 seconds of gameplay in the main video and GIFs; tabletop needs a playable… | ||
| The New Video Game Landscape | Joost van Dreunen | 57m |
The games market is a $120bn industry that in 2020 accelerates toward digital and becomes a safe haven for investors as consoles refresh and big tech pours… | ||
| How to Improve Your Game's Retention & Monetization Through Data-Driven Experimentation | Naman Jain | 55m |
Explains a stepwise A/B experimentation loop: start with a goal and GQM; collect targeted events into Redshift or BigQuery; identify bottlenecks (tutorial… | ||
| Fireside Chat: Unpacking Game Jams and Events in Africa and Beyond | Sean Gotkin, Oscar Esio Boluwatife Omotayo, Oluwatosin Ogunyebi | 55m |
A newly built African games platform runs a two-week gamathon in 2020 that attracts 22 submissions from 12 countries, pairs workshops, online playtests… | ||
| All The $&#! They Don't Tell You About Indie Development: The Re-$&#!ening | Peter Kojesta | 01h 05m |
Remote work becomes normal and hybrid models grow, saving rent but costing serendipity; publishers still send RFPS mostly to shortlist favorites and expect low… | ||
| Building an Influencer Marketing Program | Dwayne Waite Jr | 01h 03m |
Practical how-to with concrete results: lays out three tiers (straight line, tailored, concierge), shows tools used (Grin, Indie Boost/Catapult, Keymailer)… | ||
| Localize accordingly A quick guide on Localization, Markets and Genres for Indie Devs | Alexis Biro | 58m |
Covers concrete markets, languages and steps: recommends targeting Simplified Chinese, Russian, Spanish, German and Brazilian Portuguese for PC and mobile… | ||
| The Art of Negotiation | Tom Buscaglia | 56m |
Claims 25+ years representing ~200 indie studios, hundreds of mediations, and months that produced three separate seven‑figure deals; shows concrete tactics… | ||
| Relationship Building: Depth over Breadth | Richard Suchit | 56m |
Argues that quality trumps quantity: maintain a handful of real contacts rather than a sea of names by using personalized follow-up (mention a specific shared… | ||
| Diversity is Good for Business | Joanie Kraut | 57m |
Women make 46% of gamers but only 16% of executives (23 of 144) in top studios, and diverse companies show measurable gains: Glassdoor reports 67% of… | ||
| 2020 Kind of Sucks - The IGDA is Working to Make it Better | renee giddens | 58m |
A concise review of what IGDA actually did in 2020 and what is already running for 2021 with numbers and outcomes: 35 special interest groups and 100+… | ||
| A Fireside Chat | Gwen Frey | 55m |
Founder-run microstudio launches Kine across consoles, Epic and Stadia, and wins the AT&T Unlocked $50,000 grant for Lab Rat; development model is a tiny core… | ||
| Designing Global Virtual Exchanges for Aspiring Diverse Developers in Online Spaces | Nika Nour | 58m |
IGDA Foundation converts its canceled GDC scholarships into a two-month virtual exchange built in about three months, enrolling 60 grantees across 14… | ||
| How can volunteering time help kids | Nathan Blair | 53m |
Games For Love runs six programs that convert volunteer time into paid products: remote teams build games and apps, release them (example: Shield Spell Sword… | ||
| From Lone Wolf To Wolf Pack: Growing From MY Consultancy To OUR Consultancy | Jason Schklar | 01h 02m |
Chronicles turning a solo consultancy into ux is fine, a three‑person, three equal partners practice that grows over two and a half years. Shows the actual… | ||
| IP Licensing for Games | Jen Verriere | 44m |
Practical checklist for licensing a game: expect negotiations that take months, need insurance typically $1–5M, and plan for a minimum guarantee often… | ||
| How to market a game | Chris Zukowski | 01h 00m |
Explains exactly which Steam levers move revenue: aim for ~5,000–10,000 wishlists prelaunch to clear the hidden algorithm “gatekeeper,” because Steam rewards… | ||
| Managing Complex, Creative Projects As An Indie Team | Jay Shin | 01h 00m |
Indie studio grows from two to team of eight and rejects most ideas early, keeping only those that survive a brutal refutation and a rapid prototype starts day… | ||
| Making Space for Women in Games | Caroline Vani, Alexis Wilcock, Jenny Smith, Rebecca Brock Dixson, Verta Maloney | 56m |
Launched March 2020 as a for‑profit platform, the group builds a Discord hub with paid moderators from the community, fields moderator burnout, and turns the… | ||
| Designing Immersive Experiences | Natasha Skult Mitale | 54m |
Indie studio Myale runs a 12-person senior team that prioritizes visual, intuitive storytelling over text, prototypes constantly with concept art, and treats… | ||
| How to build an audience for your game as an Indie developer on social media. | Jordan Morris | 01h 01m |
Focuses on Instagram and Twitter, explains why Instagram favors big visuals and curated feeds while Twitter rewards short text plus media, and shows specific… | ||
| Your Pitch Is Fine. Your Delivery Is Not. | Jason Wishnov | 01h 17m |
Covers exact, usable pitch tactics: hygiene and layered clothing to hide sweat, bring adapters and a spare clicker, practice sweeping eye contact and memorize… | ||
| Turning Luck Your Way | Sam Barham | 57m |
Balancing Monkey Games describes building Before We Leave from hobby prototype to Epic Store launch, using a Kiwi Game Starter entry, a PR contractor, a punchy… | ||
| nothing matches | ||