How This Dead Game Came Back To Life
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 28. 02. 2023
- Even great games don't always succeed at first. So why do games like Among Us and Vampire Survivors take off months, or sometimes even years after launch? To answer this, we'll go deep into the depths of indie games, game development, influencers, and game publishing.
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Among Us stats
www.pastemagazine.com/games/a...
steamcharts.com/app/1794680
How To Market A Game blog
howtomarketagame.com/2022/01/...
Luca, creator of Vampire Survivors
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Innersloth, creator of Among Us
/ innerslothdevs
Getting awareness as an indie studio can be tough. Let us know what your favorite indie game is in the comments below!
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this just proves that there are so many extremely good games but never get noticed and there are mediocre games that are only popular because of popular streamers playing it
My favorite are of course among us, but also undertale, friday night funkin and cuphead
You forgot one key point, inner sloth also had the Henry stickman series which would promote Among us at every corner, Henry stockman had a community for years so this most liked aided in the growth of Among us.
Just thought that was something you missed
My thoughts exactly. Every time they said no one knew innersloth I thought back to all the times in school where my friends and I would play the Henry stickmin games.
@@SinOosh To be fair, I loved Henry Stickman back in high school but I had no knowledge of the devs behind it. I only found out Innersloth made both games when they released the airship map.
THIS. EVERYONE ALWAYS FORGETS THIS, THE STICKMIN COLLECTION IS WHAT MADE AMONG US GO VIRAL
Ohh i didnt rly know that it was made by innersloth
Ya I've known them since the first stickman but didn't know about among us tell the stickman remaster collection came out
So when I hear intersloth I see Henry stickman not among us
I'm just going to say it again. This channel needs more subs. Truly a hidden gem channel.
He repeats himself 12 times per point, but the videos are good so who cares lol
It's like an Indie game
@@flaminblaster that was what i said to myself lol
@@bundile2261 đ
@@zaidlacksalastname4905 If something is repeated, it is important
Take a shot every time he says "Why these games failed but succeeded "
But honestly this channel was a pleasant surprise, and I can tell when the first video came out and seeing the reception it received, you became extremely dedicated and are always trying to make every vid a grade A quality vid. Keep up the good work
Great video! I'm a big fan of devlogs, it's like a behind the scenes look into a game that makes you feel apart of the process, especially if there are playable demos too.
Going indie is such a great upcoming CZcamsr with good editing, a good editing style and high-quality videos for his tiny status
Wow, this channel is fantastic. Came here from the AAA video. It will sound a bit weird but I get the vibe that you are incredibly smart and knowledgeable. The way you talk about these games are just spot on. It's more consumer behaviour than anything. You mention pricing, value, habitual behaviour, with examples and in such a comprehendable way. I never leave comments but this is just amazing. One of my new favorite channels. Also, Tunic is a fantastic game. Outer Wilds would be my favorite indie game of all time though!
A new video from going Indie, today will be a great day.
It's second hand info, but when Among Us released, it was only local multiplayer game, so that's might be another reason why it failed. But from what coummunity it had at the time, then they might have listened to coummunity feedback to add online multiplayer.
The editing on these videos are perfection :]. Anyway! My favorite indie games have to be Bugfables and Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. Bugfables was the Paper Mario spiritual successor I wanted for a LONG time and Sakuna's just so wholesome and the artstyle is charming. Here's hoping they both get well deserved sequels! amen!
Oh, how I wish Levelhead got a similar resurgence. Both influencers and players overlook it because it lacks the Mario branding, which is a tragedy because it has a great editor and so many design decisions that should become standard for level builders if only people knew it exists.
There's current UGC games in development like Super Dungeon Maker and Meet Your Maker that could be much better if they just took ideas from Levelhead.
not to mention it's a better game than Vampire Survivors or Among Us.
I never even heard of vampire survivors lol
I haven't watched the full video yet, but if you're working under a publisher and your game fails on release, it's usually a death sentence and it won't matter if the game succeeds later in its life, because if the publisher would later capitalize on that, most of the employees who worked on the game would have left the company.
For indie game studios, since they receive their profit directly, they can directly benefit from the success and won't have the arbritary rules to only support the game 2 years after launch
Every time you end your video highlighting an indie game, I'm reminded why i like your channel so much, if it wasn't for the excitement of the indie gamers enthusiasts I probably would have never risked buying an Indie game even if the prices were accessible. The reason I started playing Noita was for a random youtuber that made two videos redacting a compilation of magic focused games and how much possibilities can be unlocked with the system of the game. His favorite one was Wizards of legends but I ended up buying Noita after watching the system of combining multiple spells in a single wand, Wizards of legend still looks very good and one of this days I'm gonna buy it, right now Tunic is my most anticipated one since it looks like it's the most accessible "zelda game" but the game has its own language so you can't decipher things reading the manual, and I was blown away after hearing that it was made by a single person.
Both Wizards and Tunic deserved a better treatment but as you said it's hard to get publicity when it depends of being discovered by a random influencer with enough followers to spread the fire.
So much things would improve if more mainstream consumers started seeking out indie games since most AAA are focused in milking.
My main personal reason why I wasn't interested was for the 2d aesthetic of most indie games, but after Noita I want to try so much of those games now that I know how fun it can be.
Keep up the good work đ
can you link the video you mentioned before?
just looked up noita & wizards of legends and they're lit đ„, I'd like to see how spell-casting mechanics works on those games
Tunic has gotten quite a bit of attention. it seems like it's sold fairly well. it has 7k Steam reviews, which seems a bit low to me. it may be more popular on consoles. the attention it got is probably partly due to it being published by Finji, a well known indie publisher. Noita got a TON of attention, it definitely sold well (close to 50k Steam reviews). i haven't played Wizard of Legend yet, but i own it. it also got a good amount of attention (it has 15k Steam reviews). i guess maybe if you only play AAA games you wouldn't know about any of these games or Finji? these are not unknown indie games though. these games have done fairly well.
Love ur voice, itâs rlly soothing, also just started watching u yesterday bc of ur elden ring vid and the quality was so good and I canât believe u are just about to hit 20k subs bc u deserve way more than that. Keep doing those great vids. U r my new go to channel đȘ
You really are a hidden gem. I rarely inspired by other people, but you inspired me.
That's very insightful and interesting. I never did a devlog despite wanting to, should get on that.
I guess the next question is how to share/promote my devlogs?
Very comprehensive and clear analysis. Iâm sure given time, this video will definitely blow up just like other videos on this channel.
You put your heart into something and release it online, it's going to get noticed. Even if it takes a long time, hard work will get noticed.
Intersloth wasn't a nobody. They made super popular and beloved games in the Henry stickman series
Man just found you today and I am just amazed by you're videos. Bro keep on going!!!!!!!
Was Vampire Survivors really a failure?
As you said it was around 20 players that December. But what is not mentioned is that it was released in early access. Basically a unfinished game (at it's most unfinished version), which do have a lot to say when it comes to sales.
The other thing that has a lot to say when it comes to the statistical part is that it was released in early access on the 17th of December. Which has a lot to say for the statistics of December specifically, since it started to get picked up in the very start of January. (Under a month after early access release)
Btw loving the videos! You got some amazing topics to talk about and hope you keep it up, but when looking at Vampire Survivors specifically it feels like you are hiding numbers to make the story of the video fit better. There is absolutely no hate on it bein featured in the topic, but it would be nice to take other factors into perspective as well.
Fantastic videos, this channel is criminally underrated, keep it up man you are awesome.
First half of the video I was gonna compliment. All basic stuff I already know, but if this was my introduction to it, then it'd be gold.
Second half was gold! Definitely gives me more inspiration, and motivation. This is already part of my strategy when making my first big game, low price(free) and regular updates. But I never consider that to work with the marketing. Thank you so much!
lmk when you drop your banger and I'll support it!
You are doing an amazing job man keep it up you will get a lot of audience and support soon thank you
Also don't forget the fact that Vampire Survivors used to run sales very often, so while the price was $4, you could get it for like $2 a lot of the time even (or specially) after it hit its peak. And yet, despite the low price, the game still managed to garner over a million dollars.
Whoever this editor is he needs a raise I swear they are so fucking good.
Another great video. So many great insights that may have passed through the mind but organized and greatly formulated. Please, I'd love to learn about this and in more detail. Can anyone suggest any good ressources ? Thanks!
Vampire Survivors was not the first of it's genre. A few months prior a game called Magic Survival was released, although Vampire Survivors was definitely the one to make the genre popular.
I just binged all your videos, you should really have more subscribers. Iâve added you to my subscriptions
I wake up and BAM! New video, great work as always.
I started playing among us late 2018, and it surprised me when the game just blew up
Indie games are the hotbed for innovation because they don't have any laurels to rest on if they want success. Supporting and promoting them is a big deal, so I'm always extremely happy to find new ones that hit just right.
Pit People is a golden example.
Love the content. Keep it up!
This was really awesome and inspiring, thank you!
Game Studios reach out to youtubers with official advertiser agencies. They do not contact the youtubers personally...
Nice video once again!
awesome vid!
I think you ultimate advice, is the best true insight, and your reasoning is sound for it too.
That the best marketing method for indie devs now is the dev log, and the reason why is that people care about the table because of the journey they had with it, not the finished product.
That deeply highlights the importance of "loyalty" and "commitment" that occurs with long term association. A dev long makes a devs game MORE then "their game" but "our game", and that sense of community and commitment can drive initial sales to even a TERRIBLE game (though - of course, its better just to make a good one is you want to KEEP that loyalty). And more so then that, the dev log also allows for game makers to immediately and in a naunced way, recieve feedback, and updates on their ideas, and what gamers want. They can more easily notice mistakes and more easily be guided to new things, because of comments and feedback in real time. This can hurt only if they get lost in the rabbit hole of suggestions and fail to keep their original vision intact for the hope to people please, but if balanced, this could be essential to the process of making a good game into a GREAT game.
And more so then that, dev vlogs are "low effort" in the sense you don't , NEED daily updates and high engagement AS an influence, one a week, or even once a month can be enough to start generating those watchers. And for people who have other talents and PERSONALITY, as well as editing skills, they can utilize their game channels for other things to get even more eyes on their products, and more loyalty from their fans. Don't spread one's self too thin, but capatlize on your talents. Not everyone can make a fun dev vlog with personality alone, but those who can't, need to reimagine how they can. The fundementals still apply. You need to give your viewers something valuable for free for them to watch your whole video. What is it? Often comedy, or insight, is enough. People have insight with the dev process, but often fail to reach the comedy or entertainment angle, thinking unedited coding sessions make good content, it doesn't, that's nontent at best.
If you have no animation in your voice, make a new idea like "Dev Vlogs with Joe Biden" and use a Joe Biden ai voice over everything you say to make it funny. Its just one of a billion random ideas that can take your lacking animated personality to something people would love to watch. However, if you are already charasmatic, people may just want to sit and listen to you directly. Show them who you are, and keep them happy, and show the game, and you'll get people to really become invested in YOU as a person and in your game, because of the "we made a table" theory.
I think all of this is the best means, and I'm glad you discussed it.
So helpful and great insight. See. That's why I watched the whole thing! It works.
Would love to see you guys make another video about, how we as content creators can help promote a niche game.
Because there are many indie games that are fantastic, but is quite hard to gain that booming attention. :(
I gotta say another prime example of games dying then succeeding is no mans sky everyone thought hello games just took the money and left but came back and fixed the game into one of the best space games
Also both of those gamse are pretty innovative, basically creating new sub-genres. I feel like the topic of innovation in relation to success needs it's ow video/discussion.
I love the way that you spoke godenot, relax man incredible the way that godenot is spoken in english is the same as in portuguese, the way we speak here its like god-not/gold-not,
-loves fron brazil! better to come to brazil someday ! đ§đ·đ§đ·đ§đ·
What is the background song that starts around 0:30?
Nice video keep up đ
Bibites used dev log tactic now its thriving
You should absolutely make a video about Tunic, it's an amazing game
I love Dave Frampton The Blockheads game but I think they discontinued it because of microtransactions :(
The game is like Minecraft but the gameplay is like a interactive tycoon game. Sadly because of google play issue and microtransactions didn't sell well and people can hack the game easily, but the problem that the game is fun without microtransactions! I'm very sad the game has to go.
Great work
I feel like l'm am the first one here and amazing video man and I love your videos so much :]
I was genuinely shocked when I found out that subnautica was an indie game
You go to McDonalds rather than local restaurants while traveling...? That says a lot.
The game in the end is Tunic btw. Could you pl include the game name when showing us next time?
in 2018 i downloaded among us on my phone and tried to get my friends to play it with me and none of them were interested, now i get asked to play every other week
We are very different. When traveling i specifically seek out local restaurants. I can get mcdonald slop anywhere but where else can I experience General Singh's bbq curry. Even if it turns out worse than expected it was an experience
Pretty big brain idea on the devlogs.
Everyone should play Devil Daggers, it's such an amazing game.
innerslouth made the henry stickmin games wich like came out a decade befor among us and if that aint brand recondnition idk what is
Thank you
Your starting to become one of my GOAT creators
Charlie murder need to make an appearance again that game was soo good
With the journalists, it feels like there is collusion ahead of time as to which games will succeed or fail.
wasnt vampire survivors based off of the mobile game magic survival? i swear I heard that before
my favorite indie title is rain world like just go and try for once
You are a very smart guy, loved this video... I did the same... rlsed a game that failed because it had no backing.. didnt do a dev log.. BINDING OF ISAAC was similar also btw.. Ed just threw it on steam.. The only PROBLEM i had with it is that TUNIC is fkkkkkkin MASSSSSIVE!!!! It doesnt need to get highlighted.. last look on steam it had over 8000 reviews... which means SALES are about a factor of 8 to 10 times that.. How about highlighting games that actually need it????
If I die and God says i can have any boast, it will be that I played among us about a year or more before it became popular
Games like that are actually called "sleeper hits"
Hey going Indie I would like you to take a look at undertale
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is another game like this. For several years it went unnoticed, and then people went "Oh wait, this is not only a good AAA game, but it's memeable as FUCK." And now we see Senator Armstrong everywhere.
An indie developer 1st must make a good game. This is what you are saying. Quality first. Then value. Then make sure you get promoted by a popular channel. In which case build logs aren't necessary because the final factor is getting the promotion by a large outlet. I may have composed an excellent song, but I'd need to send it to a radio station dj and they would be the gatekeeper. Today I can upload my song to sites but still get no listens. I may have directed a short film and uploaded it film festival site. They get to decide who wins. Or upload to CZcams and get zero views. Distribution and marketing are big factors as we know how many rubbish songs and movies are pushed. However maybe just maybe the most important element is to make your creation high quality and high value and then trust that peoples desire for excellence will prevail eventually. However also consider this..I write a children's books, a short story, a novel and self publish online and get zero downloads. Because the number of uploaded books each week is insane. Making games and movies are more labour intensive so there's less competition in comparison.
Oh hey it kaif I think that cool that he and the rest of salt raiders help with among us growth in popularity in some way
i think itâs simple, it has something to do with youtubers such as markplier,
markplier single handedly made five nights at freddyâs becomes beloved franchise
itâs because we the viewers never heard of this game and watching this games like i said never heard of it
and made this game as a trend
a failed game like minecraft and five nights later successfully
without youtube or twitch
these games would be forgotten fast
I remember playing among us a lot before it blew up in popularity.
"Influencer" is a bit of a dirty word for me, but I can't deny the big pop cultural impacts that many internet celebrities have had over the years.
How do you develop an indie game AND be an influencer when your also working full time at Walmart?
Dani is one of the biggest and better devs on yt
i love stardew and vampire survivors (among us not soo much) the most addictive games i played in years am now on the lookout for the next big indie games
there just better than AAA games
henry stikminđ
youtuber dani is a prime example
I could guarantee that I'd go to anything but McDonalds
Indie games are some of the best my favorite game is made by a little team of devolopers which is growing
Is that a meme analysis clip with the garbage?
Avorion - Minecraft in space!
Overwhelm. Metroidvania meets paranoia.
2:04
kkkkkk o godenot nĂŁo acredito. da like ai quem Ă© brđ
Let's Goooooooooooooooooooooo
Enter dani
WTF is among us I know inersloth from Henry stickman
I did know about innersloth because they made one of the best set of games ever - the henry stickman series.
w youtuber
Cool đ
If you are looking for a new indie game, try sons of the forest
Highlighting indie games is a really good idea. However, tunic is very well known for an indie game. Why not highlight actual unknown games?
For among us the reason why is just answered with one word "Pandemic"
They didn't really fail at release there just small indie games they wasn't suppose to be successful.
Gamers trust Activision, ubisoft and blizzard.... I haven't trusted any of those names for years. The moment and pop diner McDonald's example who eats McDonald's???? Like ever.
I don't trust "chipotle" studios! ^
Saying that Luca started the genre is a bit disingenuous given the fact that he himself stated that he was inspired based on another game called magic Survival
1st đ