Making a successful commercial game?

[LadyOfGatsby]

Any tips or first hand experience on going commercial? I have no experience with commercial and want to try it in the future. Of course I'm still trying to finish my first game first and have more experience. The whole managing and budgeting worries me.

[firecat]

managing and budgeting are only the start, you also have to know about certain laws about selling and so forth. that kind of stuff gets covered with the help of the site you picked, other times you have to double check. always expect your first game to be not successful but good way to learn, things like getting to Steam, GOG, Xbox are sites to help you with uploading your game not a way to gain popularity. lastly kickstarter is to help finish a game not build one, don't build a demo that last up to 10 minutes people expect more from you.

[SundownKid]

I would agree that Kickstarter is a good way to gauge interest in a game. If you can't raise money on Kickstarter then you may not be able to raise money selling the game.

Although I disagree that a 10 minute demo is too short... if it's an incredible 10 minute demo it can still probably sell your kickstarter. I think the important thing is just self funding a demo to demonstrate how good your game is... and running the game past some truthful beta testers who can give their feedback. Getting real feedback from random people is important even if you have to pay for it, otherwise you may not know what you are doing wrong.

As far as managing and budgeting... the only way you can get real experience with that is to make some small game from start to finish to figure out exactly how much something like that would cost. I wouldnt start immediately with a massive 8 hour game or something.

[potouto]

I can't believe I have something to pitch in because I actually have no commercial experience before. But I studied some economy at school and I think here's some useful tips in general.

Study your market, your audiences. The people you aim to attract. These are the ones you need to pay attention to because not only they will buy your products, they potentionally share and advertise your game for you. It's very useful when it comes to going commercial because more exposure means more players. Social media is also important, you need to spend time boosting your game and hooking the audiences' interest in order to make it sells.
Know your game, study other games, especially successful commercial title. They will bring you more information about what you should and shouldn't do. A lot of research will be required before you make a decision. Understand the amount of cost needed for the assets and how much you are willing to pay for them. Remember, some are more expensive than others for the right reasons. You need to play it safe while taking the risk, hiring trustworthy people with a more expensive cost is a good idea.
As others said, start small, manage your budget at a lower rate first before going to do something that would probably take a real studio to work on for years. And expect failure, not all first games are immediately famous. Try not to shove down too much pressure for yourself but remember to polish your game at least to commercial level. And make sure your motivation sits with you along the way.

Good luck!

[LadyOfGatsby]

Thanks so much!

[Green Glasses Girl]

*digs into the LSF vault* Here are some helpful tips:

- How to Raise Awareness For Your Game?
- What would you say to first time game creators?
- Networking: Making your project popular?
- What visual novels get more attention?
- How to build a fanbase

Dealing with profit/money:
- Fanbase before or after demo release? Or after Kickstarter?
- What makes a Kickstarter successful?
- Making some money with a commercial VN - is it possible?
- Making A Living off of VNs: What should I do?
- How to run a successful kickstarter? (And a little more)
- Thank you for helping make my game a reality, Lemmasoft!

[LadyOfGatsby]

*digs into the LSF vault* Here are some helpful tips:

- How to Raise Awareness For Your Game?
- What would you say to first time game creators?
- Networking: Making your project popular?
- What visual novels get more attention?
- How to build a fanbase

Dealing with profit/money:
- Fanbase before or after demo release? Or after Kickstarter?
- What makes a Kickstarter successful?
- Making some money with a commercial VN - is it possible?
- Making A Living off of VNs: What should I do?
- How to run a successful kickstarter? (And a little more)
- Thank you for helping make my game a reality, Lemmasoft!

That was super helpful