5 ways I screwed up Sol Trader's launch

Chris Parsons released his solo indie title Sol Trader this summer on Steam. The launch didn't go according to plan. He discovered the hard way that releasing a game is a skill in and of itself, and an experience he was quite unprepared for.In this talk, Chris discusses hard-learned lessons, including a lesson he could have learnt from Donald Rumsfeld and how to allow for the expectations of the game's audience.

Transcript

1. 5 ways I screwed up Sol Trader’s launch Chris Parsons - Revelation Games @chrismdp
3. Fighting survivorship bias
4. Fighting imposter syndrome
18. The long march
19. Pre-launch marketing
29. There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
30. There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
31. There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don't know.
32. There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don't know.
33. There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know.
34. 1. I paid too much attention to other game launches
35. 2. I rushed changes through
36. 3. I didn’t get fresh eyes on my game
37. 4. I didn’t focus on core gameplay
38. 5. I misread my audience
39. Things I’d do differently
40. Ask: How fun is my game to learn?
41. Ask: Why am I making this game?
43. The game I’m able to finish
44. The game I’m able to finish The game I want to make
45. The game I’m able to finish The game I want to make The game gamers will buy
46. The game I’m able to finish The game I want to make The game gamers will buy The only games you should make
49. Nothing can prepare you for release
50. Questions?
51. Chris Parsons - @chrismdp Revelation Games - @revelationga http://soltrader.net