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I published a game yesterday but its getting 0 views. Am I doing something wrong?

A topic by Y2KSpaceChild created Oct 03, 2022 Views: 1,962 Replies: 18

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Y2KSpaceChild2 years ago(+1)

The game is not out for download yet, but I created a page to advertise it. I put the bio, a game trailer, some screenshots but its getting 0 views. I am new to itch.io so I am not familiar with how long after you publish something people will start seeing it. I am expecting at least 2 or 3 views. Here is the game page: https://y2kspacechild.itch.io/space-child-an-urban-survival-story

Any tips on promoting games, gaining viewers on here that you can share with me? Or should I go to release announcement board?

TheRealChaz2 years ago (1 edit) (+2)

When I first started publishing Itch.io games, I was like that too. I would suggest making a more catchy and memorable title. If you have a long title for a game, at least have an acronym for it so people can search up the acronym for the game. Also, try to add a unique gimmick to the game that makes it unique to any other games of that genre. Just try to advertise it anywhere you can like Twitter, Instagram, or even YouTube!

I understand that this can be frustrating at times, but just follow these tips I made and it could work out for you!

Good luck!

Y2KSpaceChild2 years ago

do you think my title is not catchy enough? What kind of names would you consider catchy?

TheRealChaz2 years ago(+1)

A name that has vowels In it.

TheRealChaz2 years ago

Try looking at this announcement I made for my game for some inspiration too.

https://itch.io/t/2395234/train-clicker-

alienfae2 years ago

On most days, most of my projects get 0 views also. The only exception to this is one game, Arena of the Mad King, which I advertised as a game inspired by some other game, and posted on that community's Reddit for. It was the only way for me, because I had no following on any social media whatsoever, couldn't do advertising, and Reddit at least gave me a chance with no following!

TheRealChaz2 years ago

Yeah... The first days of a games release on itch.io, epically a new creator, the game usually gets 0 views in the first day. Just give it a few more day.

alienfae2 years ago

I have projects that have been available for half a year or a year or longer. Still 0 views on most days. I think it's a matter of just not having much of a following online at least in my case.

TheRealChaz2 years ago

Yeah that can happen sometimes.

Eldwood2 years ago(+1)

In order to get views without external advertising, two things need to happen:

The itch shuffler algorithm needs to show the game thumbnail to a user. This will happen eventually; just give it time.
That user needs to click on the thumbnail, based on the strength of the game title, tag line, and thumbnail image. In order for that to happen, you need a strong thumbnail image, a strong game title, and a strong tag line.

mid2 years ago (1 edit)

Games without downloadable files or other consumable content aren’t indexed, AFAIK.

Eldwood2 years ago(+1)

I completely missed that there was nothing to download.

To OP: yes, you are doing something wrong. You are publishing a game page with no content. What kind of reaction are you expecting from hypothetical viewers of this page? There's nothing there to play. There's not even enough of a description to get excited about. You have one chance to make a good first impression, and you're blowing it. Itch is doing you favor by not indexing your page.

Y2KSpaceChild2 years ago (1 edit)

Sorry I am very new to itch so I don't know the rules here yet. My intention was to advertise the game like a lot of game studio was doing pre-releasing; post dev log or gameplay clips on youtube before the game is actually out. At first I didn't publish anything I just posted some devlogs on the community but I didn't get any views so I thought I should made a publish. Do you suggest I take the page down then? I really didn't know where else do you suggest to promote a game though, I have tried Twitter, Reddit, Instagram already.

Eldwood2 years ago(+1)

I don't think anybody is going to care one way or another about your game until at least a gameplay video and a downloadable demo. My advice is to focus on actually finishing the game first and worry about marketing later.

PurplePanties2 years ago(+1)

Strategy wise, wait until the game is ready. If I click on something and just get a promo all I'm likely to do is classify you as a spammer and not go back to your pages in the future.

I started out a couple of months ago and my strategy is to try and establish a reputation for quality, so people know that if they download something of mine, they are getting something worth downloading.

TheRealChaz2 years ago

Yeah, you should always tray to make your games special so people know they are playing/downloading your product. What I like to do is put, "By CoolGames.Co" (My itch.io name) to indicate that this is my game.

DimaLink2 years ago

You are OK!! It is a comlex thing to raise a community! It is another job. So game making - is first job, and making community is second one. So congratulations with game release!!!

Bolado Games221 days ago

bem eu tenho um jogo inspirado em final fefesaty bem ô jogo é um prototipo emtão pode ocorrer algus bugs e o jogo pode estar incompleto e pra piorar meu jogo ñ apareçe nas busca pq itch pq

FTCGaming219 days ago(+1)

hahahah... Cara, por que vc ta falando pt? Ninguem nessa porra vai te entender! hahahahah

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