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How to Encourage Let's-Players?

A topic by Krunchy Fried Games created Jun 20, 2020 Views: 872 Replies: 4
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So... there were apparently too many threads from small streamers/Youtubers in the General Discussion forum and, as a result, a sticky thread was made so that devs could let it be known that they'd welcome their games being streamed. Almost no streamers have posted on this, and I can't see much in the way of discussion so... can anyone think of a better way?

We've had a number of Youtube/ Twitch plays of our two VN games, and they've been really useful. Not so much in terms of publicity, but in seeing how different people approach the problems in our games and seeing what paths they take. We've also met some cool people from very different background - and it's good for the players to have a walkthrough if your game's sadistically difficult- so... encouraging Youtubers/ Twitchers has many benefits for players and devs.

So, I'd like to throw this open to the floor and see if anyone has any good ideas. In Gamejolt, they have a specific section of the forum for Let's-Plays, the downside of this is that people often spam a bunch of topics without reading them, and the whole thing has become a bit messy- with long dead threads at the top. Some kind of database might be an idea... but this doesn't tend to promote discussion which is pretty essential. Maybe encouraging Let's-Players to promote their channels? maybe some kind of Craigslist/ Lonely Hearts system? I dunno... XD

Moderator moved this topic to itch.io tips

I don’t think Itch is a good place for advertising games at all. It is only a marketplace. The most reliable way to find reviewers is by contacting them and hoping they’ll reply and review. To just put up games on Itch and waiting is basically relying on luck.

True enough. Certainly, I've found the best way of doing this is to find streamers, chat to them, ideally watch their Twitch streams first.

Having said that, the first playthrus we had were from by replying to threads on itch and GJ and, for devs (and let's-players) who are just starting out, and naive about promotion, a simple way of doing things is always welcome. I always feel itch is a community as well as just a marketplace, and will grow if it finds new and better ways to help people starting out.

Also, thanks to replying to my post as I had no idea where on earth they moved it to XD

I've also thought a lot about this, and I think that finding small streamers is by itself, a hard task. 

The same applies to finding contractors (art and music) that match your budget and art style. 

For now, I am seriously considering trying to write an internal only-for-me website that can help me find what I need. I may open it up for other people to use in the future.

But if itch had a subforum for that sort of tasks, I would embrace it pretty quickly.

Oh, man, I could write a dissertation on the troubles and lengths I've gone to to get good artwork on a budget. As for music, well, the struggle carries on...

Sure, write your problems and resolutions down. It's almost certain that other devs will feel the same way and be grateful.

I think that appealling to streamers is different, though. Streaming is even more of a crowded field than gamedeving- to be a streamer, you need no more technical expertise than to have a camera on your PC and the ability to download OBS. I'm not mocking them- it's easy to start up but you need real talent to make it worthwhile for people to tune into you day after day.

I'm just saying the integration between indie gamedevs, and people who will stream indie games is pretty shit, and I'd love sites like itch io to make it easier for everyone.