You’ve picked a genre, spent months drafting basic ideas and even longer programming it all – and now your video game is complete.

The gaming industry is one of the most profitable entertainment industries on the planet, but it can be hard to stand out and attract players among your competitors.

To help you level up your marketing approach, here at ITR we have put our heads together and come up with the top ways to get people playing your game:

 

KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

It’s important to know who your audience is if you want your game to have the biggest impact.

Who does your game appeal to? By learning who your intended audience is, you’ll be able to market it towards them by appealing to their interests.

If your game is brand new and you’re not sure of your target audience then you can do some playtesting to get feedback on who it appeals to the most.

You can also try asking a variety of friends and family to play if playtesting isn’t an option for you

All of these methods will give you a varied pool of ages and computer skill levels to draw some basic conclusions from to market your game.

 

UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA

With the projected 3.2 billion social media users by 2021, you can’t ignore Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites.

Social media is an often free tool that will allow you to connect with a massive variety of people across the world.

By sharing eye-catching content and updates about your game, you can build a fanbase for your game before it has even been released.

Social media also allows users to share their opinions and views on different subjects, which could provide even more free publicity for your game.

 

ADD LOTS OF VARIETY

If you pay for advertising, or even if you self-promote your game,you need to vary how you advertise.

Use both different graphics and wording in what you’re posting. You’ll quickly find out which advertisements and wording works better than others.

If you always have one static saying and image that you’re spamming around the internet, users will eventually become bored and it will lose its impact.

Experiment with different post types, pictures, video clips, and even colour schemes and wordings to word out which different combinations work.

 

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Make sure your game is easy to find, install, run and start playing.

If your game is overly-complicated to locate, with even more installation instructions and run requirements, you will lose players before they have even reached the loading screen.

The fewer fields and steps your audience have to complete to start playing the faster they’ll become engaged and access the experience they were looking for.

 

TEACH THEM HOW TO PLAY

It’s hard to play if you can’t figure out how the game works or which buttons you need to press to get things started.

To make sure your audience know what they’re doing include instructions or a tutorial that is just as easy as it was to find and launch your game

Keep your instructions appropriate for your target audience so that they can easily understand them. People won’t want to play a game that they can’t make head nor tails of.

 

KEEP IN CONTROL

If your target audience has made it past your tutorial or instructions and they’re playing there’s one other thing that can really bring everything to an abrupt stop – having difficulty interacting with the game.

If your controls are too sensitive, too tricky, or too fast for them to accomplish they may become frustrated or bored with your game.

Your controls can have a learning curve that stops them being simple but makes sure its a fairly short one or even a progressive one where you start off simple and add more and more complexity as you go.

 

TURN YOUR GAME INTO A MOVIE STAR

Video content really does attract a crowd, so releasing game trailers is sure to drum up interest in your game.

Try not to reveal too much gameplay or information in your clips, and instead focus on key points and simply peaking your target audience’s interests rather than giving them a detailed look into the game.

Behind-the-scenes and making of videos add a personal element to your video and will also help you connect with potential players.

 

APPROACH THE PRESS AND INFLUENCERS

If you’ve made a great game, you want to show it off to the world.

Approaching the press and gaming influencers to play and review your game is a great way to reach a larger audience.

Be warned however, not all publicity is good publicity. You need to prepare yourself for possible criticisms that your game may face and how you would respond to that.

 

HEAD TO CONVENTIONS

Although this can be pricey, securing a booth at a gaming event is a great way to push your game out to the world.

Even if you can’t afford a booth or are rejected from festivals, go to conventions anyway and spread the word.

Hand out flyers, physical CDs of your demo, a slip of paper that simply says ‘buy my game’ – anything so that gamers won’t instantly forget who you are.

 

AND LASTLY…MAKE IT FUN

The most successful way to make people interested in your game is to make it fun.

No matter what genre it is or who your target audience is, as long as they’re entertained that’s all that matters.

If your players have a fun time playing your game they’re more likely to tell their friends and family about it, thus introducing a brand new audience to your game.

 

Interested in renting gaming equipment for your next event? Contact ITR to learn more.