Recently, some solo game developers said goodbye to their Youtube audiences. All of them got lucky and succeeded with their first game title. They share the same characteristic of knowing to leverage the efficient spread of social network platforms for promoting their own game with a large community. They produced many contents about their game development and some private life of a game developer. Besides, they supported their community with their experience in programming, designing, and publishing. It's a big surprise to hear the closure announcement from them with this current famous. I felt sad after knowing Brackeys closed his channel. And then David Wheel (creator of the First Tree).
In the last video, David shared that he got burn-out after many years of working on his game, running his Youtube channel, and operating his online course. Those tons of work burned all of his energy and took all of his time for his family. Now they became a burden for him. I could understand his situation from my own experiences.
I'm a solo game developer too. I realized the game development itself is a difficult job after spending two years on my own game Hogvalord. So, I was impressed with any developer who can handle game development and run a Youtube channel at the same time. Because maintaining high-quality content for the Youtube channel is not an easy job.
I've created some videos to record my game development progress from the beginning of the Hogvalord project in 2016. This activity motivated me to keep going until the end of the project. I don't know how to create an exciting video to get the attention of Youtube viewers as other developers. So, I followed the channels of Thomas Brush and David Wheel and tried to learn from them.
Honestly, becoming a hot Youtuber is not what I want and can do. English is not my native language, so it took much time and energy to create high-quality video content. It might be a disadvantage while living in the competitive world of the game industry, but it's not so bad. My inner voice told me to focus my energy on finishing my project as soon as possible after accepting my failure in this Youtuber thing.
I think Youtube is not the only way for game promotion. Of course, it's a very effective channel for selling your games if you know how to satisfy the thirst of that monster. But my dream is not to become a slaver for any algorithm of Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, or Tiktok. I decided to use the classical approach, which many game developers used before, is blogging. Although it does not bring me much attention, it keeps me at peace to enjoy the creative process.
Besides, I limited the project scope to the minimum level within two years. I felt one or two years is also a big challenge for the budget of any solo game developer. I think the limitation is a good way when we're facing the coming economic recession.
I also cut off any ideas or content which would take my time for other activities, family, or friends. Success will be meaningless if we don't feel healthy and happy to enjoy it.
Currently, I'm developing a simple dating feature for my Hogvarlod game. Besides, I spend some time experimenting with some new concepts to find the direction for the new game. I hope the result will come soon to share with you. I wish every indie game developers get a sustainable life to continue this creative and exciting way.
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