Blog – Indie Game Developer

We hope that not only you will enjoy reading our blogs but they will also be helpful to you in a way or another 🙂.

Small game development studios face several challenges in gaining visibility in the large market of games – why is there still much hope even without having a publisher?

Disclaimer: This DevLog is intended to help anyone, who is in a similar situation we are in at the moment. Everyone has to make their own decisions. This merely is our own honest view and opinion, based on our experience. We would love to hear from you, what you think about it all. We wish you all the success and fun you deserve with the development and release of your game! eXplore Studio

The global gaming industry keeps growing at a rapid pace, which is good news for game developers. At the same time, the market is highly competitive, with many games being released every single day. For indie game developers, it is increasingly difficult standing out among well-established studios and popular titles, especially when they have limited budgets for the development and marketing of their games. Also, many small studios lack the marketing expertise needed to effectively promote their games, which likely results in lower visibility and fewer sales.

Yet, it is the unique charm and innovative spirit of these smaller studios that often capture the hearts of gamers. Many indie games have risen to great popularity by focusing on beautiful or refreshingly different music, creative storytelling, distinctive art styles, and engaging gameplay mechanics that set them apart from most mainstream games. With a lot of heart and passion, creativity, and strong connections with their fan community, indie studios can not only survive but do well in this competitive industry. It is perhaps their new perspectives and ideas that enrich the world of gaming with diversity and excitement, and thereby manage to compensate for their lack of size and budget.

Despite all the challenges indie studios must overcome, there are multiple reasons, why small game development studios can still find hope and success, even without having found a suitable publisher:

Small studios can use digital distribution platforms such as Steam, itchIO, Epic Games, or GOG to bypass traditional publishing channels, directly accessing the global market. Crowdfunding platforms have revolutionized the way indie games can be funded, helping studios to get early player feedback and validate their ideas, while building a supportive community from the early days of a game project.

Social media and community engagement have become invaluable tools for indie studios, enabling them to connect with their audience and generate excitement for their projects. Indie game awards and festivals offer a spotlight for these creative works, providing opportunities for recognition and networking. The freedom to innovate allows indie developers to explore unique game ideas and gameplay mechanics, often leading to ground-breaking new games that may challenge conventional genres.

Finally, the supportive nature of the indie community fosters a collaborative environment where resources, knowledge, and experience are shared, contributing to the success of fellow creators. This ecosystem not only fosters creativity but also ensures that indie developers can continue to bring fresh and exciting experiences to the gaming world. All the above factors create a more level playing field that allows even small studios to thrive, and even so without the backing of a major publisher.

In game development, is it better to work with employees or freelancers?

Deciding whether to employ people or work with freelancers in game development depends on various factors, including your project’s needs, the location and country of residence of the people who work with you, your available budget, and the long-term goals of your studio.

Employing full-time staff has got certain advantages but also drawbacks. On the positive side, it tends to bring consistency, stability, and longer-term commitment. Team cohesion is likely to be higher having a dedicated team, which can foster better collaboration and a stronger company culture. Regular team members can build stronger relationships and may work more cohesively over time. Also, it may be easier to align team members with the company’s vision and processes. Finally, employees can grow and develop their skills within the company, leading to higher quality work overtime.

On the negative side, full-time employees may come with additional costs such as benefits, potentially higher salaries, taxes, and overhead costs such as for office space. Also, your studio needs to have a steady flow of projects in the pipeline to keep everyone engaged and productive. However, this is something helpful anyway to ensure revenues are more distributed over time. If employees are geographically dispersed, coordination across different time zones can be difficult and may require flexible working hours. Again, this might be just as well the case for freelancers. There is, however, an undeniable administrative burden to employ people in different countries due to different national employment legislation.

Similarly, hiring freelancers has got pros and cons. On the positive side, freelancers can be hired on a project-by-project basis, allowing you to flexibly scale your team up or down as needed. Freelance contracts also tend to be cost-effective, since you only pay for the work done, without the additional costs associated with full-time employment. Moreover, freelancers often bring specialised skills and can be hired for specific tasks or projects only, and working with freelancers allows for access to global talent with diverse skills and perspectives. In other words, you can work with people that you could perhaps not employ because of the country they reside in.

On the negative side, you may have less control when managing freelancers, especially if they are working remotely. Of course, the same would apply for remote employees. Often, freelancers may have other commitments in parallel, which may affect their availability and reliability. In addition to that, it may be harder to integrate freelancers into your existing team and processes.

In conclusion, for a global team, hiring freelancers might offer more flexibility and cost savings, especially for short-term or specialized tasks. However, if you need longer-term commitment and consistency and you have the budget, employing full-time staff could be more beneficial. If you need flexibility and have specific short-term needs, hiring freelancers could be better for you.

What is your situation? Which specific aspects of your project are you most concerned about? Thinking about this might help you in deciding the best approach for your studio.

As a game creator, is it worthwhile attending game conventions?

Attending game conventions can be highly beneficial for game creators. Here are a few reasons why: Conventions are a great place to meet other game developers, publishers, and industry professionals. Building these connections and ‘networking’ can often lead to collaborations, partnerships, and valuable insights.

If you are actually exhibiting your game, you can also showcase your game to a diverse audience and get immediate feedback. This can be invaluable for refining your game and understanding what players enjoy or find challenging. Similarly, conventions offer you marketing and exposure opportunities. They offer a platform to promote your game to a wider audience. This can help build buzz and attract potential players, media coverage, and even investors.

Even if you do not exhibit but just attend as a visitor, there is a lot of learning and inspiration on offer. Many conventions feature panels, workshops, and talks by industry experts. These sessions can provide new ideas, techniques, and trends that can inspire and improve your game development or marketing process. Furthermore, being part of the gaming community and sharing your passion with like-minded individuals can be extremely motivating and rewarding. It also helps in building a loyal fan base.

Both exhibiting your game and ‘merely’ attending as a visitor have their own benefits and drawbacks. Here is some of what you should consider before you make up your mind what is right for you:

Attending as an exhibitor with a booth, independently or as part of the presence of your publisher, if you have one, will allow you to showcase your game and get immediate feedback from a diverse audience, which can be invaluable for refining your game. This will also increase your game’s visibility and can attract media attention, potential players, and even investors. Moreover, having a booth can make it easier for industry professionals to find and approach you, leading to potential partnerships and collaborations. In some cases, you may be able to directly sell your game or gather pre-orders, which can be a great boost for your project.

Then again, the cost of having your own booth can be very high, especially if you do not have any or at least not much income yet. Last but not least, setting up and running a booth requires significant time and effort, which will take you away from other activities like attending talks or networking sessions. Mentally, it can be draining to exhibit your game for several days to hundreds or even thousands of visitors. You may feel extremely tired, overwhelmed, and exhausted at the end of each day.

Attending as a visitor, on the other hand, is much more flexible. You have the freedom to attend various panels, workshops, presentations, and networking events without being tied to a booth. You can benefit from the learning opportunities, for example, gaining insights from industry experts, learn about the latest trends, and gather inspiration for your own projects. You can still network effectively by attending social events, meetups, and other gatherings without the pressure of managing a booth. And of course, attending as a visitor is generally much less expensive than exhibiting your game. On the negative side, your game will have less visibility, and you will not have the same opportunity to showcase your game and get immediate feedback from attendees.

Some notable conventions include Gamescom (Cologne, Singapore, Sao Paulo), PAX (Los Angeles), EGX (London), Tokyo Games Show, Africa Games Week (Cape Town), and countless others, both internationally and regionally or locally. Each convention has its own unique focus, so you might want to choose based on what aligns best with your goals.

In conclusion, if your primary goal is to promote your game and gather feedback, exhibiting might be the better option despite the usually much higher cost and effort. However, if you are looking to learn, network, and gather inspiration without the commitment of a booth, attending as a visitor could be more beneficial. In any case, it is a brilliant opportunity to meet and connect with other people from the game industry and share your knowledge and experiences with them. Finally, always try to have some days of rest before and/or after the convention, and even take the time to discover new places, cultures and people in the area where the convention takes place. Looking forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming conventions soon!

Make the game you love, not the game others tell you to make (but still keep an eye on the market)!

Game developers often face a big dilemma: should they create a game they love or develop one that is more likely to sell well? Clearly, in the extremes lies danger: Some game developers make just the game they have always dreamed about and spend many years on it. This is a very long time without income, unless there is some other way of financing the development, for example by means of grants or crowdfunding of some form or another. And without some kind of market orientation and community building, financial success of the final game may be questionable.

On the other hand, if a game is being developed that corresponds to the market today, but that does not really fill the developers with enthusiasm and joy, then they may be spending years of development doing something they do not enjoy. Also, the market moves faster than a game is usually developed. So, there are no guarantees at all that the targeted market segment will still be promising once the game is actually ready for release.

As so often, the best way forward lies probably in a more balanced approach. The developer or the development team should feel inspired and enthusiastic about the new game. This is more likely to result in a more authentic and unique experience. Their enthusiasm will shine through and resonate with players who appreciate the genuine effort. Passion-driven games can lead to very innovative mechanics, storytelling, and art. Unchartered territory may be explored, which can be rewarding creatively. Finally, working on something they love can provide long-term satisfaction to the team members, even if the game does not become a massive financial hit, or at least not immediately.

At the same time, a new game should also be designed for market success. In a diverse team, with not only diverse team members but also different responsibilities including for marketing, joint decisions are more likely to be balanced, including from a marketing perspective. At least one person in the team should look into marketing matters, and do thorough market research: understanding similar games, player preferences, trends, and market demands is crucial to identify gaps and opportunities.

In summary, successful game development often involves a blend of passion, market awareness, and strategic decision-making. Diverse teams, distributed responsibilities within the team, and frequent synchronisation among all team members are more likely to achieve the right balance and high adaptability to changes in volatile segments of the game market. All of the above does not guarantee but should increase the likelihood of being financially successful with a new game, while keeping the team motivated and passionate for what they are doing.

Why is it so important to try and find a diverse group of play testers?

In game development, we always have to put ourselves in question and be aware of how players actually approach our game, how they play it. They do not have years of experience working on our game, they do not know it by heart, inside out, like we do. On the other hand, they are quite likely to see things about our game or experience difficulties, where we no longer see them, where we have blind spots. So, whenever we are in the great position to receive honest and constructive feedback from people who take the time to play our game, this is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn about our game and how we have to continue improving it. This is important all along the development of our game, not just in the end before releasing it.

Using such opportunities to learn and influence our work, it is also important to make sure that we have a lot of diversity among our play testers. This is so for several reasons: The more our play testers look at our game from different angles, the more likely it is that we will have more comprehensive and balanced feedback. Diverse testers will bring different viewpoints, backgrounds, and preferences. This will give us feedback on a broader spectrum of player experiences. Furthermore, since games resonate globally, transcending cultural boundaries, diverse testers will help identify potential cultural insensitivities and enable us to ensure inclusivity. Also, by including players who represent the game’s intended audience(s), we can collect valuable insights that help us to appeal to a wider range of potential players. In short, diverse playtesting leads to precious feedback!

However, there are some pitfalls we must try to avoid: Let us always be humble and really take the feedback in, seriously considering it, without jumping to a defensive mode. This is not about us having to justify our work, it is about learning from what our potential customers may think about our game, how they may experience it, and therefore how we can get it even better. This is sometimes not easy, because of course we are emotionally attached to our game. It can even feel very personal and painful to us, when we receive feedback. But it is about improving the game, not about our ego. We have to do our best to prioritise learning over our personal attachment to the game as it is. Moreover, we should try to prepare play test campaigns well and focus on specific aspects of the game we want to address, not just aimlessly play test the game. If we receive feedback, let us always make use of it, not ignoring it because we do not like it.

To summarise, well prepared, effective, and iterative playtesting throughout the game development with a diverse group of honest play testers leads to better games!

Should we care about using inclusive language for games?

There are many games around that have started using inclusive language. Still, sometimes one can find vicious comments on social media or sales platforms from players who do not agree. So, when we are developing a new game, should we use it or is it better for us to avoid collecting hateful comments? Well, it depends on what we want to achieve with the games we make. Do we want to do something meaningful that makes the world a better place and brings much enjoyment and hours or days of fun and excitement to our beautiful players? Or do we want to deny our values and dreams, and out of fear not do what would be the right thing to do?

In our opinion, using inclusive language is essential for several reasons: First of all, inclusive language shows respect for all individuals, regardless of their background, identity, or experiences. It acknowledges their humanity and validates their existence. It shows empathy for everyone.

Second, inclusive language helps prevent unintentional harm to people who look at our game or even play it. Certain words or phrases can marginalize groups, perpetuate stereotypes, or reinforce biases. By using inclusive language, we reduce the risk of causing offense. After all, this is not our goal. On the very contrary, we want to reach out to our precious fellow humans and make them feel better!

Third, using inclusive language fosters a sense of belonging. When people feel seen and respected, they are more likely to engage, collaborate, and contribute positively – in general, and also within the community of our fans and supporters. This is so, because it is simply more fun and much more enjoyable to be recognised, respected, and appreciated.

Fourth, the language we use in games, or when we reply to comments or otherwise engage with other people in general, this language shapes our perceptions and beliefs. By intentionally choosing inclusive terms, we do challenge outdated norms and promote a more equitable, fair, and welcoming society.

Fifth, using inclusive language may also be a legal and ethical matter. In certain cases, using non-inclusive language can have legal consequences, e.g., it may be seen as workplace discrimination. Also, ethical guidelines encourage inclusive communication, and using inclusive language is definitely in line with our declared values of eXplore Studio.

This said, always remember that using inclusive language is an ongoing process. It requires growing awareness, education, and a strong commitment to continuous improvement. If you want to start using inclusive language in your games, English is a great language to start with, as it lends itself to it particularly well. Other languages like French, Spanish or German are much more difficult… We will talk about that another time.

Remote work versus co-located work – what is better?

Have you ever worked in a company that was struggling to find the right balance between home office and working on site? The topic is not trivial, and of course in some jobs one cannot work remotely, you simply have to be on site or with customers or suppliers etc. But an increasing number of employees can do at least some of their work remotely, for example from home. Before we jump to conclusions, let’s look at the advantages of each to make up our mind.

First, working remotely, from home or any other suitable place: It is more flexible for everyone. All team members can plan their work around their personal commitments and preferences, choosing the best times of the day when they are most productive. Everyone can also work in their personalised home office that best suits their individual preferences and needs, or wherever they choose to work from at a given point in time. In addition to that, there is no daily commute to the workplace and back, leading to significant time and cost savings for each individual and the company. This also means that people could be available to work at times, when they would usually be on their way to or from work. Another advantage is that certain types of work requiring a lot of focus and concentration may be easier accomplished where one is not continuously disturbed by the office background noise, or colleagues interrupting us when we are just following a train of thought. This may lead to higher levels of productivity. All of the above also greatly enhances the work-life balance of each team member and reduces individual stress levels.

However, working remotely can also be lonely, since there may be fewer social interactions with other team members. Especially, if someone is in general isolated at home, seeing colleagues at work might just be better for the social balance. Sometimes, it can be easy for the personal life and work to blend together. Therefore, setting boundaries or adhering to a self-imposed schedule may be crucial. Furthermore, in some areas of the world, electricity and internet connectivity at high speed may not always be guaranteed, particularly when working from home. Finally, there may be a lack of supervision in the sense that neither colleagues nor managers may be able to easily check in on each team member to make sure they are well and safe, they do not need support or help, or more guidance in certain areas.

Second, let’s look at working on site, co-located with all other team members: It can be argued that for certain collaborative, creative or innovative work, being co-located on site may be much more effective. Also, the enhanced collaboration, or even just being able to meet other colleagues for a chat can foster a feeling of belonging and may help building a shared culture. Teamwork is often easier to achieve, when everyone is physically present.

However, as previously mentioned, the daily commuting time may be time-consuming and stressful, there may be many distractions in the office, especially in open office layouts, and the schedule will be limited to certain hours of each day, limiting flexibility.

So, what is the right answer then? Well, it depends! Experiences and preferences vary, and what works well for one person may not suit another. Finding a balance between the pros and cons is essential. The choice really depends on individual preferences of the team members, the type of work they have to perform, and the organization’s needs and constraints.

After all, decisions on remote work versus coming to the office is a lot about trust and feeling trusted, and about being and feeling empowered. These decisions are about finding the best compromise that works best for the teams concerned in the context they have to work in, as well as for each individual in that team, given their personal circumstances and preferences. Therefore, it is perhaps a good idea to leave such decisions to each team and the individual team members. Forcing entire organisations to do one or the other might just have devastating effects on the perceived trust and empowerment, leading to disengagement of a significant part of the workforce and ultimately higher numbers of people leaving the organisation.

The importance of adjusting your release schedule

Many of us know the difficult task of committing to a release date and sticking to it… without overworking and falling into panic and crunch mode. eXplore Studio is an international start-up with 4 permanent people in our development team, and a wide range of freelancers who help us with art, music, and localisations. We develop our games following an Agile approach with regular integration and packaging of intermediate versions of our games. This helps us to reduce risk and identify any problems in the games early. At the centre is what is most important – the health and wellbeing of each team member! By the way, if everyone is in a good place, enjoys work and even has fun, the games will always be much better.

But when we come closer to the planned release date, like we do for our first game to be released during this summer, we keep finding things we still need to correct and add to the game. Beta-testing is great, but it brings about lots of additional things we want to add now. Also, some of the features we had planned turn out to take longer because the solutions are much more complex than we had anticipated.

We suddenly see ourselves confronted with making a terrible choice:

Do we stick to the release date? Or do we stick to our sustainable way of developing the game?

We can’t do both. If we maintain the release date that means a lot more work per week for a couple of months, including long nights and weekends. We will suffer from stress, accumulated fatigue, and our physical and mental health is likely to deteriorate. Fun will be hidden behind stress. On the other hand, if we maintain our sustainable way of working, we will be fine, but certainly not able to meet our release date. A terrible choice to make! Or is it really?

Let me be very clear: You are in indie game development because you want to express yourself in liberty, you want to enjoy the ride, you want to give the world something of yourself, a beautiful piece of art, a beautiful story, hours, and days of fun playing your game! You do not want to be pushed around (not even by yourself)! So, do not be a slave to your release date decision that was probably made on over-optimistic estimates, because you wanted to get the game out into the world, and perhaps, because you may finally need some money! You and your health is so much more important! Also, a great game will always be great, while a rushed game will always be flawed. Nobody will remember, whether you released on time, but they will remember your great game!

Is it easy to postpone the release? No, we feel like we failed to plan properly, we may even be disappointed with ourselves. But remember that we did plan that date in light of what we knew and estimated some time ago. Now things have changed, and our estimates are more accurate. Only fools don’t change. However, it takes a lot of courage to change the date, because deep inside we may think, what other people will think of us?

Please always have the courage to adjust your release schedule if this is necessary! For your own sake, the sake of the people working with you, and the sake of all the people who will play your game – they will love it!!!

How to boost our productivity?

Many of us know how difficult it is to develop and release a game. From story board, concept ideas, modelling, game integration, marketing and much more, it is not a full-time job but many full-time jobs at the same time, often undertaken by a single developer or a small team. The days go by, filled with a very wide range of emotions. From excitement, enthusiasm, happiness to stress, anxiety, mental fatigue, or despair, you can be assured that a game developer will experience all of them, sometimes even within a single day! And it is without mentioning the long working hours, the lack of sleep, the physical strain and most of the time a not so healthy diet. This is understandable, game developers have a game to publish if they want to earn some revenue, so they add hours upon hours to boost their productivity and achieve their dream faster. Unfortunately, even superhero-developers are just human and cannot push their bodies this way for a long period of time. And instead of being more productive, the opposite occurs: they have mental and physical breakdowns. They need a break.

But what if there were some kinds of strategies or life choices game developers could adopt to continue their progress and thrive?

You might be familiar with the English-language proverb that appeared in the 19^th century ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ At the time, people did not have access to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables so eating an apple a day was one way to integrate healthy food in their diet. Research actually shows that apples have many virtues with few side effects and moreover, workers who eat five portions of fruit and vegetable at least four days a week, show to be 25% more productive than those who don’t have a habit of doing so. It is definitely worth trying…

Besides, there is another way to boost your productivity! Nelson Mandela once said, ‘Exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.’ And he was so right! Once again, research demonstrates that incorporating short exercise or physical activity breaks during the workday can lead to increased productivity. The numbers speak for themselves: these breaks can help employees reduce stress, refocus, and re-energize, leading to better overall cognitive function and task performance by 72%! The best part is that you just need 2.5 hours of exercise during your workday so typically 30 minutes per day. Perhaps a 30 minute walk to the corner shop to get some fruits and vegetables?

Now, by no means, the following topic should be omitted or taken lightly if you want to boost your productivity: sleep. Did you know that sleep and effective work performance are positively correlated? Getting enough sleep leads to happiness, performance, and improved health. Sleeping 7–8 hours per night increases productivity by 20%, while sleeping fewer than 5 hours decreases productivity by 29%. If you are interested in learning more about the importance of sleep, you may want to read ‘Why we sleep?’ by Matthew Walker (not sponsored) and you will be amazed to discover the many short and long term benefits of having a good night sleep.

Finally, let’s not neglect the importance of having good, trusted friends, at work and outside work, who will definitely be there for you sharing your high and low moments. “People are more creative and productive when they experience more positive inner work life, including more positive emotions, stronger motivation toward the work itself and more positive perceptions of the organization,” explains Professor Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School, co-author of ‘The Progress Principle’ (not sponsored). “And one of the things that contributes to positive inner work life is a sense of camaraderie with teammates and close co-workers – a sense of bonding and mutual trust.” Moreover, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Minnesota not only confirmed that close friendships increase workplace productivity, but they also found out why — friends are more committed, communicate better, and encourage each other.

So, game developers, it’s all in your hands. Implement some simple changes in your daily life and measure their impact on your mood and productivity. What if you tried to integrate healthier food in your diet? What if you tried to go out every day, feel the sun and the wind on your skin and experience the benefits of natural light? What if you tried to implement a bed-time routine for a better night sleep? What if you tried to have a person of confidence to talk to during challenging times? What if this advice would definitely boost your productivity?

Game developers, you have nothing to lose! You are all incredible artists, and the world needs to see your games! Take good care of yourselves!