Building Game Communities: Growing And Engaging Your Player Base

Connecting with Players Early On

It is critical for game developers to start building a community around their game from the very initial stages of development. Inviting friends and family members to test out early prototypes of your game can provide invaluable feedback to help shape the direction of your game. Consider creating an email list or social media group to easily distribute builds to testers and gather structured feedback through surveys or short interviews. Fixing issues and improving aspects of the game based on tester feedback demonstrates you value your community of early adopters and makes them more excited to support your game’s ongoing development.

Tips for Playtesting with Friends and Family

Prepare builds that testers can access easily through itch.io or services like Dropbox.
Guide playtesters to focus feedback on 2-3 main areas, like tutorial clarity or enjoyment of key mechanics.
Compensate playtesters for their time with store credits, exclusive in-game content, etc to demonstrate appreciation.

Channels for Gathering Feedback

Some recommended channels for collecting tester feedback include:

Email surveys with rating scales for specific game elements and open-ended responses.
Short in-person or video call interviews to probe on reactions and observations.
Online community threads where testers can discuss their experiences.

Synthesize feedback by identifying common patterns and actionable suggestions. Then communicate back to testers how their input helped shape the next iteration of your game. This closes the feedback loop and keeps testers engaged.

Growing Organically on Game Platforms

Distributing your game on major online game platforms like itch.io, Steam, GOG, and the iOS/Android app stores greatly expands the pool of potential new players. But simply uploading your game to these services does not guarantee sustainable growth. Savvy developers utilize platform-specific community-building features to ignite organic interest in their games.

Getting Greenlit on Steam

Steam’s Greenlight and Direct programs offer pathways to publishing your games on the popular PC gaming service. To improve chances of being selected:

Create eye-catching marketing assets like trailers, screenshots, logos.
Engage prospective players through Steam discussions and frequent updates about demo content.
Encourage Steam community members to vote in support of your game’s publishing.

Building Momentum on itch.io

The indie-friendly itch.io platform enables developers to rapidly publish games, collect feedback, and build fan bases. Effective practices include:

Making frequent releases to remain active on your game’s feed.
Responding to all comments and feedback through the site’s messaging tools.
Participating in game jams and cross-promoting related titles.

Leveraging Forums and Groups

Game development forums like TIGSource and subreddit communities provide opportunities to connect with fellow devs for feedback, promotion, and potential collaboration.

Share development blogs and media to showcase progress.
Provide helpful feedback on other developer’s games.
Organize online playtests and co-promotion groups.

Marketing Across Social Platforms

Today’s indie developers rely heavily on directly engaging communities of potential players across major social media sites. Build out dedicated pages for your game early on and nurture your growing follower base through regular content updates, polls, contests, and conversations.

Establishing Your Presence

Twitter – Share eye-catching screenshots and animated GIFs showing off new content.
Discord – Set up community servers for fans to directly connect with devs and each other.
Reddit – Claim your subreddit and share updates within relevant game communities.

Driving Two-Way Conversations

Social platforms thrive on authentic back-and-forth interactions.

Respond directly and promptly to all questions and feedback received.
Run polls asking to choose between prospective features or art styles.
Highlight and thank positive contributors who provide constructive critiques.

Contests, Giveaways and Other Incentives

Clever contests and promotions can rapidly expand your social reach while making fans feel valued.

Give away game keys or swag for liking and sharing posts.
Challenge fans by posting puzzles or competitive score targets.
Co-promote streamers who drive viewers to your game.

Analyzing Metrics and Optimizing

Understanding how fans actually interact with your game provides objective insights to help tailor content and messaging for maximum appeal and retention. Review download data, in-game behavior metrics, reviews and feedback to diagnose areas for improvement.

Pinpointing Player Drop-off

Measure downloads from stores versus active monthly players to quantify player fall-off.
Review in-game telemetry to identify levels or features with high exit rates.
Survey players who churned to understand their reasons for stopping.

Addressing Confusion and Usability Issues

Study in-game movements to diagnose confusing UI interfaces or progression blockers.
Assess reviews and feedback for repeated complaints about overly complex systems.
Quantify search volume for “how to” queries to find knowledge gaps.

Optimizing Through A/B Testing

Methodically test variations of game elements to maximize engagement and conversions.

Compare tutorial formats to determine which best prepares beginners.
Test messaging tone and imagery for attracting more wishlists and preorders.
Analyze trial durations that drive the most full game purchases.

Rewarding and Engaging Top Players

Your most passionate advocates provide immense value through their content creation and viral promotion. Identify influential superfans across social channels and community forums and empower them through exclusives and acknowledgments.

Offering Special Community Status

Appoint active supporters as moderators on forums and discord channels.
Badge top promoters as ambassadors or developers’ “friends.”
Seek input from advisers on game development decisions.

Exclusive Access and Content

Grant veterans or backers privileged early access to new releases or content updates.
Create custom character skins or gear as rewards for top players and guilds.
Recognize outstanding creative contributions from fans within the game world.

Contests, Prizes and Giveaways

Send swag bags and personalized signed posters to brand advocates.
Reward record score setters with cash prizes or VR headsets.
Surprise randomly selected active players with free download codes to share.

Sustaining Momentum Post-Launch

Full releases mark significant milestones after long development roads, but launching is only the starting line for building an enduring game business. Developers must actively nurture the communities that supported them leading up to release in order to sustain success in the long run.

Gathering Post-Release Feedback

Check back in with your engaged testers and influences after launch to collect additional feedback.

Survey veteran players on suggested improvements and expansions.
Connect directly with vocal critics to better understand their concerns.
Monitor forums and reviews for repeated issues.

Planning Feature and Content Updates

Map out regular content expansion cycles to continually re-engage existing players.

Develop DLC feature roadmaps in response to feedback.
Poll players on themes or ideas for new levels and cosmetics.
Highlight incoming updates through preview blogs and trailers.

Cross-Promoting Across Channels

Sync up marketing messaging across community hubs to maximize exposure for major updates.

Share release announcements simultaneously across social media profiles.
Distribute exclusive content previews to top forum contributors.
Purchase targeted ads pointing to update launch trailers.