Blade Thrust Tactics Marketing Plan
The marketing plan for Blade Thrust Tactics is simple - try to achieve 15000 downloads before the next game version is released in 2012 or whenever the game is finished. I have no target for sales unit because my objective is to try to get this game to be played by as many target audience as possible. I can make the game as a freeware but I need some money to fund the next game version so I stick to shareware.
I do marketing on the game but not as aggressive as it should be. I think this is the best strategy right now as this keep my expectation low and I can keep working on marketing the game over long period of time.
Since Blade Thrust Tactics is my first game effort, I try to learn as much I can from many sources on the Internet. While searching Google on how to sell shareware games, I come across an in-depth article written by Paul Eres from RPG Creation called How to Sell Games as Shareware. It contains lots of useful suggestion on many aspect of marketing games as shareware. Since then, I've been following some of those suggestions.
What surprises me is Paul Eres has only release one shareware game called Immortal Defense. Since the release of the game on June 2007, the game has been downloaded over 60000 and rakes about 300 units in total sales. For the first shareware games, this is actually a good number. A lot of indie game developers can only start making real money once they have a sizeable collection of games on their pocket.
The marketing effort for the game has been started as early as July 2009. After getting frustrated of lacklustre response on the game public beta released at the end of April 2009, I step up effort to increase traffic to the game website.
Shareware and Download Sites
1) I submit the game to be listed on many shareware and download sites. I think I already try to submit to over 30 websites before I get bored of the efforts. I didn't see any significant traffic to the game website. I think part of the problem is because since most of these websites have lots of software titles, it is very hard for developer to get his software or games to be noticed by people who visit the websites.
And people who runs this website take advantage of this by coming up with some crafty ways to persuade developer to pay if they want their software or games get more attention on the website. This is actually not such a bad idea if the website itself get visited by lots of people. But since I am kind of cheapskates guy, I'll give this thing a pass.
Nevertheless, submitting the game to these websites are not entirely useless. I get myself some valuable back link to the game website which helps to improve Google page rank. It's not much but everything little thing adds up. I also get some bonus when some websites such as Softpedia and ZDNet automatically list the game on their website.
I want to share some interesting fact - out of 32 websites I submit, I manage to get the game listed at only 15 websites! We are talking about 53% rejection here.
Game Forums
2) I announce the game on many game forums. This is actually not some sort of spam because I announce the game on feedback section of the forum asking people to try the game and provide feedback. If there is no feedback section, I'll write the post without making it looks like a typical spam. I do it on IGDA, IndieGamer, Bear's Pit, MGDC and even GameDev.net forum.
Initially the effort only attract small traffic but then a blogger and indie game developer himself named Rampant Coyote aka Jay Barnson read my forum post on IndieGamer and put some news about the game on his Tales of Rampant Coyote blog. Someone read his blog and post news about the game on Game Banshee. This build a significant traffic to the website. Although I don't get traffic from Game Banshee website any more, I still receive traffic coming from Tales of Rampant Coyote blog. Jay, if you read this I would like to say big thanks!
Press Release
3) I intend to send press release to many gaming sites but so far I didn't do it. It requires a tremendous amount of work trying to find the e-mail contact list and personally e-mailing them. I can use paid press release service which can streamline the process but since I am kind of cheapskates guy, I'll give this thing a pass. Maybe I can use the service in the future release of the game if I have the money.
Indie Game Developer Community
4) Another approach is to increase my presence within the indie game developer community by participating in indie game developer community forum such as TIGSource. If I have some useful insight about certain aspect of indie game or any other indie games to give feedback, I'll share it through the forum. I also would comment on other indie game developer blogs if I have something useful to say. I like the idea of what Paul Eres has said on his blog - Market Through Helpfulness. If you do good thing to people, people might do good thing to yourself.
It is also about perception management. I don't want to be seen as some sort of clueless jerk who think nothing but only to serve his interest only. I care about indie game developer community and I want them to grow. Becoming an indie game developer allows you to express your creative freedom that wasn't possible with mainstream game architecture. Yes, I tend to sound philosophical at times.
I actually provide my comment on other indie games but that info can only be accessed through the game website. Hmm, maybe I can transfer some content of it to any places where people can see it.
Internet Promotion Campaign
5) I have come out with a crafty campaign by giving the code to unlock the game to the full version to anyone who promote the game on the Internet. There are 3 options - blog, website or forum. If you have a blog, you can write a blurp or short description about the game on your blog and include a link to the game website. The blog can be about anything. It does not necessarily about games.
If you have a website, you can write a short description about the game on your link page and include a link to the game website. I accept most kind of website such as personal website, propaganda website but not porn website. If you are a regular forumites, you can suggest or recommend the game on the forum and include a link to the game website. The forum does not necessarily about games.
Although I might lose lots of sales from this campaign, the extra exposure gain from this campaign might give a boast for download numbers. And remember my target is not sales but download number.
Incentive - Strategy Guide
6) In order to provide incentive for people to upgrade to full version, I have written a full length strategy guide that will given to anyone who upgrade the game to full version. The short version of it can be accessed by anyone from the game website. This actually does not provide good enough incentive but it do make sense as the strategy guide contain lots of useful details that allow player to take advantage of what the full version of the game has to offer.
Game Review
7) I try to submit the game to be reviewed on several indie game websites or blogs. This might take some time though which depends on my presence within the indie game developer community which makes the fourth strategy very important to pursue.
Advertising
I don't intend to spend in any advertising at all for the game. The low game price, the niche target audience, bleak global economic scenario and low reputation as indie game developer ( Who the hell is this guy anyway? ) are reasons why spending on advertising isn't justifiable for me. Even if I have spare money to spend on advertising, I better spend that money on improving the production qualities of the game such as voice actors, art and such.
Tangible Value
9) I plan to provide tangible value to the game by giving USB flash drive preloaded with the full version of the game and some digital goodies to anyone who upgrade the game to full version. This is just a plan and can only be realized if I can gather enough capital money for this effort.
Man, that's a lot of things to do just to sell games directly on the Internet. No wonder lots of developers has switched to casual games or Flash games. They just want to makes games, not to get involved in nitty gritty details of confusing world of Internet marketing.
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November 11th, 2009 - 06:55
This is quite a comprehensive marketing plan, Edy. How do you come out with 15000 download figure? Do this number just come out of your mind or you have calculated some complex factors before you arrive at those numbers?
I can only assume you try to achieve 150 sales units out of the download numbers based on 1% conversion rate. Is it true? Or do you aim to get 300 sales units based on 2% coversion rate? Well, 2% conversion rate is quite manageable for niche games such as yours. But I don't think that's quite feasible nowadays.
Your effort in submitting to many download sites do make the difference because I find out about your games through one of those websites. Couldn't remember which one. If you didn't submit your games to those websites, then I wouldn't find out about your games.
I see that you announce the game on many game forum but I'm curious. The game forum you mention revolves around game developer forum. What about announcing the game on real game forum such as GameSpy and many others? Imagine if you announce the game on those websites, think about exposure you can gain for the game.
Nice idea on that Internet campaign promotion. Its sounds deceptively like some sort of advertising with the difference that you don't have to spend a single cent on it but you do lose some sales out of it. In the future, you should report to us if the campaign works or not.
Yes, providing that strategy guide is a good idea overall. I've read the short version and I must say you are doing a good job spelling out some confusion about the game. I even learn some things that I wasn't aware while playing the game.
If you do plan to bundle the game with USB flash drive, how much you are going to charge for the game? $20? $25? $30? What sorts of digital goodies you want to throw? Some wallpapers, perhaps? Curves in bikini pose? What about a special game level?
November 12th, 2009 - 06:38
That 15000 download figure is based on my big plan of trying to get a total of 100000 downloads for Blade Thrust trilogy:
1) Blade Thrust Tactics – 15000 downloads.
2) Blade Thrust Vertigo – 30000 downloads.
3) Blade Thrust Revolution – 55000 downloads.
I don't necessarily have to cut my teeth on working on those games. As a matter of fact, I can hand over the whole IP of Blade Thrust trilogy to any established developer who can convince me they can deliver and develop a much better game than me. This is because I HATE developing the games with such plenty of limitations, be it money, technical know how and many other crap I have to deal with.
The reason why I didn't announce the game on real game forum is because I don't want to sound like a typical spam guy. If I do that, it might hurt my reputation as indie game developer. But of course if SOME ONE ELSE do it, then I don't mind about it. Since you brought this matter, why don't you help me spreading the news about this game on those forum?
I still don't know how much I want to charge if I decided to bundle the game with USB flash drive. It could be $20 if I can get a customized USB flash drive that can cost $10. If I decided to pursue this strategy, I will be selling 2 stuff – the game without USB which costs $10 and the game with USB with costs $20.
I intend to include a free text based game based on Blade Thrust Tactics called IAF Mayhem. The game interface might look like a typical Town Map Panel as seen on Blade Thrust Tactics game. Instead of playing from the perspective of the Alliance, you are the soldier commander taking control of a town. Your job is to crush any guerilla in the town. You can assign soldiers squad throughout the town, manage money and other sorts of resource management stuff. The fun aspect of the game is when those guerilla fights with your soldiers. The interface might look like when militia fight with soldiers on Jagged Alliance 2 games. The game can be won if you manage to hold guerilla assault for 2 months.
Unfortunately, I haven't coded any stuff out of it. But this is not so hard thing to do as it is just a text game and all art assets can be derived from Blade Thrust Tactics game.
Curves in bikini pose? Are you kidding me? Haven't you had enough with all those porn websites on the Internet?
November 13th, 2009 - 06:48
What? Hand over that IP to other developer? You must be joking, right? There is no developer in this world, not even Bethesda will be able to develop Blade Thrust games as good as you are. You are the one who create it so you can shape the game world according to your imagination and vision.
You haven't scratch what the true capability of Blade Thrust games can bring in terms of variety. I would like to see that Evolved Soldiers, Decal Fighthers and sorts of bounty hunters and assassins. Man, I wish I can invest in your game to see the trilogy grow according to your vision. Unfortunately, since the economy does not look good right now and I myself have money problem, there's nothing I can do.
I have to tell you that I hate posting to forum so I'm sorry I can't help you in this matter.
That IAF Mayhem game is a good idea. I'm looking forward to see it being developed.
Curves is quite photogenic and I'm a guy. What do you expect? If there is a calendar edition of female Blade Thrust operative posing in swimsuit, I'll buy it!
November 14th, 2009 - 07:32
Thanks for your support on Blade Thrust game, Nathan. Actually I can develop the trilogy all by myself with little budget I have but it might take a considerable time to do it. And the real problem is about production qualities of the game. The first game suffer in term of art and voice production qualities. This in turn might cripple any marketing effort I have done for the game.
"Oh yeah, this game looks like a crap!" I can imagine people saying that when they saw the game. That's why I need help from other developers so I can improve its production qualities much higher. My vision is for Blade Thrust game to run in full isometric 3D like what Soldak has done for their Depth of Perils game.
So it's all about production qualities, man.
November 19th, 2009 - 02:16
Hi Edy, you remind me of other young developers I've known, and myself at one period: they have learned how to build a big, complex project over a long period, but they have trouble keeping it balanced in all respects – they are allowing only some of the ideas to dominate, and doing so in a way which hurts the commercial appeal. This is not just a problem of (for example) art quality, it is of having the ability to know what players need to become more involved in the game, to go from "player" to "fan" and then to "buyer."
With Blade Thrust, for example, there is a very large set of features, but they lack the polish to be attractive:
-There is a guided tutorial, but little context-sensitive help, so actions are not "discoverable"
-Information is sometimes spread out in such a way that you have to click back and forth between multiple tabs, making it troublesome for a new player to consider decisions when they do not know which variables are important yet.
-The context for going on missions and shooting people is not motivated well
-The player must make many decisions up-front, before knowing their consequences, which is somewhat stressful and makes each decision feel like a painful burden
-the existing art style is placeholder and doesn't add to the game; a secret of art is that it doesn't have to be "expensive" – it just needs to convey emotion to do its job.
There are many other cases where the failure is small, but it is a multiplier effect; By missing any one of these points, potential buyers will rapidly lose interest, and failing on all of them means that most people will ignore it(although, you have at least one fan so you are not doing so badly
). Take notice of how often players scream over trivial complaints even in the biggest budget titles; it is not a matter of the budget, but of the feeling whether the developer has made it difficult to enjoy the experience; things a player will not notice if they work properly.
It is breaking through this barrier that will make the games and the IP "sell themselves," and it is much easier to do if you can slim down the scope of the game.
December 18th, 2009 - 19:59
Wow, thanks for your sincere comment, James. I must admit most of what you are saying are true. With regard to context sensitive help system, I must admit I'm lacking in that department. Probably I should adopt help system implemented in Battle of Wesnoth game with their impressive in game help system and extended tool tip.
I do have written the game manual in PDF but it seems people is kind of reluctant to read it. I should have known. Gamer don't read game manual even if the manual is well written!
With regard to several information scattered throughout multiple tab or panel, I design it based on minimalist design as I don't want to clutter the game with multiple information open at the same time. The interface tab or panel is supposed to simulate the experience of using PDA screen with 800 X 200 screen area.
Yes, I must admit this design might make information a little bit harder to be accessed. If there are a lot of people complain about this interface system, I will try to redesign the interface system to make it full screen in the game next major update.
With regard to mission not interesting enough, well this is the problem of non linear open ended mission structure. I don't want to give excuse for churning out uninteresting mission but I've been hampered down by art limitation and I'm not yet creative enough to come out with interesting mission. I should add more enemy variety and more mission variety to keep the gameplay feeling fresh. I've already recognized this problem and it will be implemented in the next game version.
If you feel stressful playing the game with many unknown choices on your hand, then I guess I already succceded in my attempt to simulate the experience of how tough it is to become a squad leader. Blade Thrust Tactics is a squad leader simulator of which you are required to make a lot of tough decision that might affect the outcome of campaign throughout the game. That's the essence of the game. Of course some people might find the game too tough to handle because of this design element.
But don't sweat it! I already release the game strategy guide that can explain a lot of the game confusing features. You can get it on the game website homepage.
With regard to art design, yes it is lacking! The environment does feel too clean right? I should make the environment looks more dirty to convey the bleak game world. Well, I'm not a graphic artist and I'm still learning the art day by day.
I don't think I want to reduce the scope and depth of the game. I want Blade Thrust Tactics to be known of its depth of gameplay because the deep gameplay contributes to the whole experience of the game – becoming a brilliant squad leader who can handle all the crap thrown at him. I hope you can understand this logic.
I can make the game much easier by trimming down the feature but deep down within my heart, that is not the direction I want to follow. My vision of the game isn't to try to sell as many copies as possible. I just want to create a game that I love to play and I've already deliver that vision. If people find the game hard to understand which makes them harder to connect to the game, they have the right not to play the game.
I'm still learning subtle design elements that might influence player to connect to the game and it is a long learning process. Hopefully I will be able to learn it and adopt it in the next game version. Thanks for your comment again!
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