What are the best ways to build a game community and market your game?

Defining your target audience is about understanding who your game is for, what appeals to them, and where they spend their time. With this insight, I try to tailor my communication, choose the right platforms for engagement, and create content that resonates with them. This ensures that marketing efforts are not scattered but directed towards those most likely to be interested in what we have created. It helps in fostering a community that is not just large but also engaged and passionate about the game. By knowing our audience, we can speak their language, meet their expectations, and turn them into advocates for our game, laying the foundation for a strong, vibrant community.

Building a thriving game community requires a multi-faceted approach. Firstly, engage with your audience authentically through social media platforms, forums, and game-centric communities. Foster a sense of belonging and loyalty by actively listening to player feedback and incorporating it into your game's development. Additionally, leverage influencer partnerships and targeted advertising to expand your reach. Lastly, cultivate a vibrant online presence with regular updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and exclusive content to keep players invested and excited about your game

Look beyond preferences and identify frustrations, unmet needs, and desires within the gaming landscape. Consider what aspects of existing games they find repetitive, unsatisfying, or exclusionary.

Define your target audience: Identify the specific group of gamers who are most likely to enjoy your game. Create a compelling online presence: Develop a professional website and establish a strong presence on social media platforms relevant to your target audience. Engage with your audience: Interact with your community through social media, forums, and live streams. Respond to comments, address concerns, and encourage discussions. Actively engaging with your audience helps build trust and loyalty. Leverage online advertising: Use targeted online advertising platforms, such as social media ads or Google AdWords, to reach a wider audience.

Start by making engagement with your target audience, early. This could help to know your audience's taste at the time, and also to prevent the possible flaws in designing the project. and by flaws I mean the decisions, designs, gameplay flows, and etc., which could lower you success rate in hooking the players.

Choosing the right platforms is essential. However, having the right compelling content such as showcasing some of the artwork, sharing some of the gameplay flow, designers challenges, and some trailers of the game making, is more important for engaging audience and making them feel that they are connected to your game and its process.

Discord is a powerful tool for community building. By creating a well-structured server with dedicated channels for different topics, such as announcements, general discussion, feedback, and player support, you encourage active participation and collaboration. Enhance engagement within your community by actively interacting with them. Respond to comments, address concerns, and seek feedback to show that you value their input. Organize events, Q&A sessions, playtesting, contests, or exclusive sneak peeks to reward their loyalty and keep them invested in your game's development journey. Ensure that your Discord server reflects your game's brand identity and values, creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all players.

Instead of focusing on habits and preferences, foster active participation from your audience. Move away from platforms where they passively consume content and instead seek platforms that encourage interaction, discussions, and content creation. Look for features like polls, livestreaming integration, or user-generated content tools to engage your audience on a deeper level. Use Twitch for developer Q&A streams, Reddit for in-depth discussions, and YouTube for gameplay trailers and tutorials.

The journey of building a game community, recognize the paramount importance of understanding players. It's not just about creating a game, it's about crafting an experience that resonates with individuals who share a passion for the game world. Aim to not only meet but exceed the expectations of the player community.

Knowing your audience and where they congregate is always a key point of building community. Your marketing plan should shift and align on the type of game and the target audience as the community grows. Following their footprints is essential to improvement

Create content that establishes a connection between players and the characters, world, and themes, fostering a sense of community and shared experiences.

Start with behind-the-scenes peeks, developer diaries, and sneak previews of upcoming features or levels. These not only build anticipation but also foster a sense of inclusion and transparency. Share tips, tricks, and guides to help players improve their skills or uncover hidden aspects of your game, adding depth to their experience. Interactive content, like polls, contests, and Q&A sessions, can spark conversations and encourage community involvement. Celebrate player achievements, highlight community creations, and share fan art or stories to show you value their contributions. Keep the tone light, fun, and true to the spirit of your game.

Create visually captivating trailers, gameplay videos, screenshots, and promotional artwork that showcase the unique features and compelling aspects of your game. Deploy these assets strategically across your website, social media platforms, press releases, and advertising initiatives to captivate audiences and ignite curiosity among potential players. Additionally, engage directly with your community by promptly responding to comments, addressing inquiries, and actively participating in discussions. This not only cultivates a sense of belonging but also demonstrates your genuine appreciation for player feedback and involvement.

Beta testing with feedback from the community is key to improving the game and gaining early supporters. Working with influencers and streamers can attract wider audiences, and targeted ads can bring in new players. Also keeping communication open and encouraging fans to create their own content helps build a dedicated and active community, turning players into supporters and paving the way for a successful game launch. Additionally, giving rewards like game currency or physical gifts to community members for their support strengthens trust between the game company and its players, showing gratitude and fostering a strong connection.

It is both important to have channels through which to build your community (socials, discords, forums, wikis...) as ways for your players to reach you as developers about feedback and/or potential issues. As important as it is for your audience to have a way to interact with each other about your game(s), it is also very important that if someone has feedback or complaints with which they want to reach you, they know how to do this and will feel heard. Negative interactions can quickly damage your relations with your players, and the idea that feedback is listened to and taken care of can in turn rekindle the connection someone has with your media.

Consider hosting beta tests with early access and feedback opportunities, organizing design contests for new features or characters, or even launching co-creation initiatives where players contribute directly to the game's lore or content. Instead of just aiming for loyalty, prioritize building trust and transparency.

Sometimes, good ideas are found about additional content or improvements in gameplay, these are discussed in forums or are improvised and propagated by the game community itself, this means that the beta testing processes have real results from users related to the game.

Give recognition to player contributions, showcase their creative content, and celebrate community achievements to genuinely appreciate their involvement. Celebrate reaching player engagement goals, achieving positive media coverage, or overcoming development challenges together to foster a sense of collective ownership and pride.

Players love limited-time events just to commemorate something, like an achievement. When something is rare(or one-timer), it makes it even special as players themselves can go out and say "Oh, I was in that event!". An example of this would be Jagex's OldSchool RuneScape Christmas events, where the entire game map gets decorated in Christmas theme and snowy plains with unique events each year that players are looking forward to. These events are what makes the players feel connected to the game.

Building a vibrant game community boils down to a few key strategies: - Get to know your audience well. Understand what drives them and tailor your approach accordingly. - Vary your content. Use a mix of guides, tutorials, live streams, and more to cater to different preferences. - Embrace user-generated content. It's a great way to show you value your community's input and creativity. - Offer more than gameplay. Create content that enriches your players' experience beyond the game. - Engage with your community consistently and openly. Regular, transparent communication builds trust. - Provide exclusive perks and previews. Giving your community first access or sneak peeks makes them feel special.

Sometimes the community will gather around our games, even if we don't necessarily include any support for this. However, if engaging the community is a goal, or if our games are multi-player by design, then there's a lot we can do! Check out a research article that I co-authored, exactly towards this purpose: Christou, Law, Zaphiris and Ang (2013). Challenges of designing for sociability to enhance player experience in Massively Multi-player Online Role-playing Games, Behaviour and Information Technology Journal, 32(7), pp. 724-734