From dev to dev: tips for promoting indie games with 0 budget from Konstantin Popov from Biart, developer of Depth Hunter 2: Deep Dive

We are very proud to introduce Konstantin Popov, developer of Depth Hunter 2: Deep Dive. He gave us a few good tips about 0 budget marketing. Very sure you'll find this very helpful.

Konstantin Popov

1. So far, what is the game you are most proud of and why?

I would say, Depth Hunter 2 is my favorite one. I like its visual style and the atmosphere we created thanks to our new graphics engine. And what is even more important  – the game is easy to play. Thanks to this we got a lot of good feedback from our users.  We released the game for iOS and Steam last year and decided to publish two DLCs after we got first feedback.  Now we are thinking about possible updates and it most probably will be published for Android this year. I myself like the underwater world and I am proud that it looks so realistic in Depth Hunter 2.

2. Can you tell us, for the developers out there, how did you promote it? Or give out your 3 best tips for promoting an indie game with 0 budget.

We had no budget to promote Depth Hunter 2. To start with, we decided to publish some kind of an invite for bloggers and give them free keys. We had a lot of youtube videos from bloggers within the first week. Then we cooperated with press sites and ran some giveaway events. We also used our Facebook page to promote the game and decided to start submitting the game to various bundles earlier than we normally did with our other titles to get more installs and promote our upcoming DLCs.
There's no news that nice video trailers, Steam trading cards, more screenshots are very important to drive the traffic to your site or Steam page.

From dev to dev: tips for promoting indie games with 0 budget from Patrick Lee, Distribution Manager at Legacy Games

I'm sure you all heard of Legacy Games, the publisher of many games based on iconic brands like Criminal Minds, Tarzan, Law & Order, Twilight Zone, Murder She Wrote, Ghost Whisperer, Psych, Paranormal State, House M.D., Jane Austen, and Crayola Songbook.

Today we bring you one of the minds behind Legacy Games, designer and distribution manager Patrick Lee. He was very kind answering a few questions for us about promoting indie games.

 Legacy Games team (From left to right): Sebastian Jennings, Patrick Lee, Frank Howell, Jamar Graham, Matteo Marjoram.

1. So far, what is the game you are most proud of and why?

The game I'm proudest to have worked on is Atlantis: Pearls of the Deep. It's very polished in all aspects, from the art, to the sound effects, music, level design, everything. It has won awards for its innovative mix of familiar match-3 gameplay and realistic physics puzzles. It's one of our most beloved, well reviewed, and successful PC and mobile titles!

2. Can you tell us, for the developers out there, how did you promote it? Or give out your 3 best tips for promoting an indie game with 0 budget.

1. Make lots of friends with people in the industry, from publishers, distributors, reviewers, or other developers. If people like you, they're more likely to promote your game in their stores or blogs or wherever.

2. Always respond to customers and fans. A little bit of good customer service goes a long way!

3. Give your game a funny, descriptive, or interesting title. It's the first thing most people will see, so catch their attention early on.

The good news is you can now purchase 7 Legacy games at special prices: http://www.playinjector.com/

From dev to dev: tips for promoting indie games with 0 budget from Fabian Zech, developer at pheenix93

Today we invited Fabian Zech, a cool and fun guy and developer of Wooden Floor, by the way, the game just got greenlit, to talk about indie games marketing. He was kind enough to give us some tips.

1. So far, what is the game you are most proud of and why?

Even though it's still under development I would say that "Wooden Floor 2 - Resurrection" is the game I am most proud for now. The prequel is the first "real game" I ever released so there's still a lot of potential left for me and my future titles. But so far WF2 is making me proud, at least a little bit. :)


2. Can you tell us, for the developers out there, how did you promote it? Or give out your 3 best tips for promoting an indie game with 0 budget. 

I'm no specialist in promoting games, but I think it's very important to make a list of contacts, both people and companies, that may help you spread the word about your game. If there are no such contacts yet it may be a good idea to ask friends for help or simply write to possible supporters directly. The worst thing could happen is getting your request denied. YT Videos, Reviews, Giveaways, ... all those things are good possibilities to get in touch with people and make your project become more or less popular. Rule number one still should be: Stay yourself and make new friends, build a community and be a nice developer :D

And he is all that and more, I might add :)

Wooden Floor 2 screenshot

The road to Gaming Heaven is paved with Indie Games.
 www.playinjector.com