What do you do if you realize your game development company has numerous competitors?

Thought Exercise Imagine your game ships tomorrow, what are your players playing today, and why would they stop that to start playing your game? Keep in mind you are probably not creating brand new game players so you are trying convert folks from something else to your game. This can also help you think of truly Unique Selling Points. If you can't answer these questions then you need to step back and figure it out. Also, start building a community as early as possible. Get them on Discord, build out Twitter, have your own website to direct everyone to and have them register for more information. These early folks will be your evangelists if you take care of them.

Competition is all about differentiation, differentiation is all about vision. Video game market is so saturated, that it might seem impossible for a newcomer to penetrate it. Yet this happens all the time. New games from completely new studios come to Steam or PlayStation store and conquer the world. My opinion it's all about vision. It does not even have to be original though. Just strong enough for your team to believe in it. That's high level step #1 - have a good vision and a strong differentiation factor. And Step #2 - have a good team. Great people can do great things, even if they have never done it before!

Realizing your game development company faces numerous competitors is a call to courage—a moment to dig deep and identify your unique niche. It’s about embracing the vulnerability of standing out, of finding that special something your company does best. Identifying your niche means not just competing, but leading with authenticity, offering something truly distinctive that resonates with your audience. It’s a journey of self-discovery for your company, a process of understanding where your passion and creativity meet the needs of the market. By honing in on your niche, you’re not just surviving; you’re thriving by creating connections and experiences that only you can offer, turning challenges into opportunities to shine.

Centrarte solo en una mecánica y encontrar un diferencial en el nicho que escogiste podría ayudarte a resaltar y tener algo que aportar al género. Así mismo, no es necesario reinventar la rueda o hacer un cambio drástico en un género, es mejor tener algo peque?o pero muy bien hecho, que algo grande y que no se vea muy pulido. En el camino a descubrir tu nicho, no cierres todas las posibilidades de los canales de distribución, no dejes de pensar que tu mismo juego puede llegar a estar disponible en web, móvil, PC o hasta consolas, nunca limites tus posibilidades para encontrar a las personas que les encantará lo que haces.

Identifying a niche is extremely important, it helps find out who your target audience is. One thing I've always believed in is that you can't please everyone. But if you can manage to please your target audience in your specific niche, then I think you're doing something right.

Always have comp titles and how they did in market. Don't only focus on the unicorns in the genre but also consider moderate successes and recent releases. Those are sometime more indicative of the modest potential ahead of you. Seeing where your genre stacks against all others is key. What differentiates your title from the rest?

There's always competition in every aspect of life, be it done by people or entities, the best thing to do is to learn from them, just like how people learn from people, companies should learn from companies, regardless of how old your company is, or how old you are, there's always something new to learn, learning from your competition and applying that information will always keep you ahead

In the gaming industry, it's really important to understand what other game companies are doing. You should look closely at their games, how they market them, what players say, and how well they're rated. Pal World shows how to use good ideas from other games, like fun gameplay, and avoid common mistakes. This helps make your games better and more enjoyable for players. By knowing what works well for others and what doesn't, you can make your games better, avoid problems, and find new ideas. Studying other companies helps you learn and come up with new things, aiming to do even better. It's about using what you learn from others to improve your own company and games.

I usually don't stress about competition. I try to be my own best competition, making sure to advance within myself. Stressing about what other people are going to do is not completely helpful. I'll just focus on what I need to do and do it

Cut deals for use of competitors characters… win win by highlighting a collection of characters with different time periods, different skills, different art.

Innovation is crucial to set your games apart from those of competitors. This could involve unique game mechanics, storytelling, art styles, or technology use. Differentiation also means building a brand identity that resonates with players and is distinct from others.

La diferenciación está en los buenos guiones y la jugabilidad estable y fluida. Esa es la clave, un buen guión con una buena historia y una usabilidad y plataforma sencilla que facilite la narración.

Soy de las personas que cree que el "Innovar" hoy en día es muy difícil, con tantos juegos en el mercado, básicamente hay muy pocas cosas que un desarrollador podría hacer para ser merecedor al titulo de "innovador". Muchas veces se puede sorprender al publico tomando algo que ya esta hecho (Mecánicas, Arte, Historias etc. ), pero usándolo de una forma distinta a la habitual. Esencialmente no seria algo totalmente "nuevo", sin embargo seguiría teniendo ese toque innovador que podría sorprender a muchas personas y tentarlas a voltear a tu creación. Sin embargo, queda la ultima opcion, que aunque es muy difícil de conseguir, aun hoy en día se puede innovar con algo totalmente nuevo que sorprenda hasta a los mas escépticos.

Yes, without a doubt, always generating new mechanics is a wise option. People are tired of the same old thing; bringing something new and refreshing is always welcome.

Innovation is the big standout for your game. What new mechanics, gameplay design or graphical uniqueness in your game is what captures new imagination.

Your target audience will be one of your main stakeholders during production, try to involve them as soon as possible, create a playtest schedule with forms and interviews, create a discord and benefits for players who join. If possible, think about an early access strategy and stablish close relationship with recurring feedback and continuous improvement integration cycles with your audience.

Engaging with your audience is key in today's social media driven industry. Being completely transparent can lead to some small amounts of backlash, but the gain of trust outweighs the backlash. If you are honest and credible, people will trust your game and your decisions.

Building a strong relationship with your audience can lead to a loyal fan base. Engage with them through social media, forums, and beta testing to get feedback and create a community around your games. This direct engagement can also guide the development process to better meet player expectations.

Listen and talk to your audience. Discord allows for direct access to your players via voice and text. At Vavel we hosted a weekly devchat AMA session every Saturday for the last 5 years. It may get heated at times, but you can be sure that your end users will always provide some of the best & honest feedback you can get. This also allows you to gauge the sentiment of your users and how they feel about your project its features and USPs.

Hoy en día se puede hacer de todo con los avances en telecomunicaciones, internet, conectividad etc. El simple hecho de hacer un devblog, un perfil de x (twitter) o Facebook, pedir opiniones a tus posibles compradores (fans) ya los hace participes de dicho desarrollo. Dar un par de "early access" o demos y leer el feedback es un ejercicio muy usado hoy en día. Crear una herramienta para hacer "modding" es otra excelente opcion para hacer participe a tus seguidores y al mismo tiempo hacer crecer tu juego. En fin, hay que saber escuchar esas opiniones que en verdad valen la pena, pero no enajenarse demasiado con aquellos que son meramente tóxicos o nada constructivos.

Networking within the industry can lead to collaborations that benefit all parties involved. This could be in the form of partnerships with other game developers, technology providers, or content creators. Collaboration can also extend to cross-promotion, which can help in reaching a wider audience.

La competencia siempre va a existir, no es cuestion de negarla ni tenerle miedo, ve oportunidades para colaborar, incluso con ellos, dependiendo de tu nicho. Nosotros hemos trabajdo con empresas que son nuestra competencia, ayudandolos a desarrollar proyectos que solos no podrian y es mejor trabajar en equipo para que un proyecto salga muy bien y se pueda compartir el exito. En este mundo hay espacio para todos

From a gamer’s perspective, seeing your favorite character from one franchise appearing in another can lead to eyeballs on your game, at the very least. Of course, deals will have to be papered to allow for these kinds of cross-promotional efforts; but when pulled off correctly, both parties benefit. Consider tiered royalty splits from inclusion of one intellectual property (Licensor) in another game (Licensee) when evaluating potential business deals including game-to-game inclusion, or possibly transmedia efforts. This way, whether the partnership was an overall financial success or not, the incentive to sell more units and cross-promote on both sides is strong.

Totalmente de acuerdo. 2 cabezas (o 3 o 4 o mas) piensan mejor que 1, crear lazos con personas del mismo ambito siempre sera beneficioso para ambas partes. Uno nunca sabe cuando necesitara un dev, un voxel artist, o un vfx artist, o algún otro rol especifico. Tal vez un día estés atorado con alguna trama en tu historia, y el simple hecho de platicarlo alguien del medio podría sacarte del hoyo y darte nuevas ideas.

I may be wrong here, because I'm an artist, not a business guy, I trained at Ringling School of Art and Design and have 20 years experience at Dreamworks Animation, Sony Imageworks and also in Unity and VR game development: What I would say is, concentrate on making the best possible version of your vision and try not to get distracted too much with "the market" until you're sure you've done everythign you wanted to with the game in the first place... tell your story, invent your innovative play-style what have you. Then, if you can't find a market for it at least you have the satisfaction that you created something all your own. Game Development is like gambling, don't risk what you can't afford to lose, but if you go in GO ALL IN!!

Players have tons of options out there, so you've got to make sure your games are top-notch. That means polish, bug fixes, and really listening to player feedback to keep improving. Building a strong brand helps too. You want players to recognize your company and trust that they're going to get something good when they buy one of your games. Stay on top of trends in the industry and be willing to adapt. The gaming world moves fast, and you've got to move with it if you want to stay competitive.

The truth is that 100% of studios are founded by people who want to make games, no matter what the competition is. So, no matter what your studio does, it will have hundreds of competitors worldwide. So, the only viable strategy for a studio is to be creative and to match or even exceed current production values.

KYC. Know Your Customers! Whether you're selling on Steam (B2C) or selling development services to corporate clients (B2B). B2B is simple: know your industry, cold call, cold email, go to conferences, learn what value your prospects get from providers who are selling to them. What matters the most to them? delivery, execution? You own your USPs, but your prospects own your KPI. B2C is obviously much harder: 24/7/365 read LinkedIn to get a pulse of what the industry is talking about, and 24/7/365 learn what end users (gamers!) say about the games that inspire your team - read ALL the Steam reviews or cp into an excel and ask chatgpt to summarize 5 sentiments. Unity + Unreal marketplaces + gaming mods stores are a great source of micro.

First off, take this as confirmation that your business model can work. There's always room for someone else at the table, but it gets trickier for sure to get elbow room at a packed table. Learn from them, "fast follow" or better yet "leapfrog" your design to offer competitive and unique features.