What's needed for a successful early access launch on Steam?

Pilluminati · Feb 18, 2015

I found this great thread on reddit about a game that recently released on steams early access but failed to generate buzz or get picked up by the press.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/2w9n7n/steam_ea_release_ignored_by_press_what_did_we_do/?sort=top

There's some good feedback in the top comments.

-Trailer was quite bad, too much gameplay in it, no story in it. I think Exanima could give some more context/purpose to the player instead of being randomly thrown into a dungeon, some of it could be included in the trailer.

-The emails they sent to the press were bad.

The email that I did read was the one that had the key, and it told me nothing about it. The information I got was, the event date, genre of game, and that's pretty much it. I want to be sold on it before having to click on the link.

Your emails should include pictures, logos, art, links to your socialmedia, websites. And it needs bullet points breaking down what is so special about your game that makes me as the press/youtuber want to SHARE it. I'm not the consumer in these emails, I'm someone who should be interested in sharing it. Your game might be great, but the email I got was so incredibly flat and boring to me.

Now you did include some of this info in an earlier emails where I was invited to an event and also a kickstarter email, but I also see these kinds of emails a lot and I typically ignore them. Unless it's a major title, I don't have time to be part of an event or to make sure I have the schedule for it. That email where I did get info was in september, but I only was given the key in january, by then I had probably completely forgotten about the game. If this info was included in the email where I got the key, I'd personally be much more likely to take notice. Think of it like a One-Two. Give me great specs on the game and what it's about in a brief, easy to read way, and then provide the easy means to play it.

There's a good article about this on gamasutra btw http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/198381/How_to_talk_to_the_video_game_press_in_2013.php

I'm absolutely sure that Exanima will get more coverage than this game, but lets not forget that this could be the devs only shot at getting more funds to continue development.
Let's look at Besiege which was quite recently launched on early access and has been selling really really well (5000 players online at the moment) http://store.steampowered.com/app/346010
The trailer is quite good albeit a bit repetitive for my taste. It's also the kind of game that will appeal to a lot of people because of the creativity aspect. Exanima definitely needs to take advantage of this as there's lots creative things you can do (hopefully a lot more once the new features start coming).

Thoughts?

Rod_Lightning · Feb 18, 2015

Great post! I do think it'd be beneficial if BM would post their steam page over here (insider forum) for us to nitpick about before launching it.

Pilluminati · Feb 18, 2015

Rod_Lightning said:
Great post! I do think it'd be beneficial if BM would post their steam page over here (insider forum) for us to nitpick about before launching it.

Very good idea actually.

Scarecrow · Feb 18, 2015

Rod_Lightning said:
Great post! I do think it'd be beneficial if BM would post their steam page over here (insider forum) for us to nitpick about before launching it.

Second it!

Murf · Feb 18, 2015

It sounds like a good idea, but I could see micromanaging the thing getting out of hand.

Komuflage · Feb 18, 2015

Wohoo! More nitpicking.
But honestly is not that bad of an idea, different perspectives is always a good idea.

TwoPumpWarrior · Feb 20, 2015

Would anyone be opposed to some dev videos being uploaded to the steam page? I'm a dev video backer so I understand some reluctance of doing so but I think the initiative might be well received. However, this nullifies the promised tier level many of us have chosen. If a slew of newer dev videos came to wash out the old ones, I'm sure some might be open to the idea.

We have several videos now that are public but they are sorta outdated or people have already watched them over and over (me).
Maybe just a new public video of significant length or a few short ones detailing new additions to the Beta.
I think it should all point right back to the Beta instead of showing anything that isn't accessible yet such as the outside world or other caves and the such.

Vold · Feb 20, 2015

@TwoPumpWarrior I think that the benefits of doing so are much lower than the cost in terms of credibility as a dev team.
In any case, most of the current dev videos are much more intresting for those who follow the game very closely.

Murf · Feb 20, 2015

Vold said:
In any case, most of the current dev videos are much more intresting for those who follow the game very closely.

Current ones? where are those at?

TwoPumpWarrior · Feb 20, 2015

@DeathsDesign They are located on your account page if you have contributed for that tier level. There are a total of 4 at the moment.
There is a recap thread for those without access here

ZaratanCho · Feb 20, 2015

Well the last video is really great, but it would still be a little outdated.

Maybe a new public video that has some elements of that video, like showing a glimpse of some of the tools - making a dungeon or the object editor and some gameplay. There is so much great things in that video that can excite people.

Last video would have been awesome to had been public and i see no real reason to be against making it public aside from it being slightly outdated.

TwoPumpWarrior · Feb 20, 2015

I would love to see something soon that showed off thaumaturgy, skills, or dialogue. Those 3 things have been itching me since the first exanima release.

Murf · Feb 20, 2015

TwoPumpWarrior said:
@DeathsDesign They are located on your account page if you have contributed for that tier level. There are a total of 4 at the moment.
There is a recap thread for those without access here

Oh thought my alpha access gave me the dev vids too, guess not
No option to add dev vids either

edit: n/m see I would need to upgrade to digital collection tier to see those videos

Minq · Feb 24, 2015

Now that I have access to the game, I couldn't care less about insider dev videos. I wouldn't mind them being released, though they are outdated. A new trailer would be the coolness.

Boothie · Feb 26, 2015

Dont give a fig if the Dev videos were released, however i agree they might be a mite outdated and it would be best to show the game in its best and most recent iteration.

Holy.Death · Mar 1, 2015

I said it before and I will say it again - if you interest some known YouTubers you stand a chance of generating buzz as people will take notice and start talking and looking into it. However, I don't know which YouTuber can be interested in the kind of game Exanima is...

In addition you need more promotional materials, maybe even a press access to game itself. It's good to gain some publicity via interviews, but when it's seasoned with same - old - videos and screenshots you shouldn't be surprised media aren't too excited about it, as well as potential players. Pictures and movies speak louder than words and do so more directly.

If you want to create different kind of an RPG, then you should start underlining specific features you think are the most important. It has to be done in a fast and informative way, to not bore the watchers and give information to people who are going to see the game and think "Exanima? What's that?".

Exanima definitely needs to take advantage of this as there's lots creative things you can do (hopefully a lot more once the new features start coming).

I am not so certain. I tried to break down doors or furniture, or other objects and had no luck. In fact I find creativity aspect to be limited in beta so far. I do hope this will be improved later, but I can't think of much that engages creative side of a player.

Rod_Lightning · Mar 1, 2015

Holy.Death said:
I said it before and I will say it again - if you interest some known YouTubers you stand a chance of generating buzz as people will take notice and start talking and looking into it. However, I don't know which YouTuber can be interested in the kind of game Exanima is...

It's not like you want to hit one or just a couple of 'big' youtubers up with your game. Chances are (and they are) these guys are SWAMPED with emails from developers asking them to play their game. The best thing you can do is to just hand out copies left and right to big AND 'small' youtubers. The little guys on youtube and twitch will play the hell outta your game if they like it.

Just my two cents on this.