Why success in a crowded game market relies on building community (VB Live)

venturebeat.com:

Presented by Xsolla

The biggest challenge for a smaller game studio is consistently standing out from the crowd. Join GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi and other industry pros in this VB Live event to learn about the latest and greatest best practices for increasing a game’s visibility from the start.

Register here for free.

With the business of game development democratized, a growing number of new content creators have been able to bring their games to market alongside the bigger studios. But now developers are facing an incredibly crowded space where getting noticed has become a tremendous challenge — particularly for studios without the deep pockets necessary to buy their way into public consciousness with marketing, advertising and acquisition.

The race to the bottom in pricing makes that even harder — the average price of an indie game on Steam is $7.8, making it tough to generate the profit needed for effective marketing. And though established platforms, such as the app stores, can be a boon for distribution, they also make it very difficult, if not impossible, to develop a direct relationship with your players and understand who they are. But that connection is the foundation of every successful game marketing strategy, says Chris Hewish, president of Xsolla.

“I’m a firm believer that building that direct relationship allows you to start to build up your core player base and establish your niche within that ecosystem and stand out,” Hewish says. “That’s where you gain an understanding of who your users are, what your value proposition is, and where to share it.”

Here’s a look at some of the most effective marketing strategies even if your marketing budget isn’t as big as you’d like.

It sounds pretty easy — just talk to your