With over 21,000 video games launching on Steam final yr, pondering exterior of the field has develop into a necessity.
In terms of making a recreation, you may suppose the most important ache level is the thought, or the design. Discovering funding to get it off the ground? Discovering the best folks to construct it? Or guaranteeing that it’s really enjoyable?
All are challenges. However by far probably the most insurmountable one: A recreation’s advertising and launch.
It’s been a operating theme throughout the chats that I’ve had with Australian recreation builders over the previous two years. It’s simple to see why. Based on SteamDB, over 21,000 new titles launched on Steam last year, up from round 18,000 in 2024. By means of distinction: In 2014, solely round 1700 video games got here out on Steam. And that’s only one platform too. The marketplace for cellular video games is a magnitude bigger, totalling at over 100,000 titles yearly.
The sheer quantity of upcoming video games is expressing itself throughout all promotional channels. Frosty Games Fest, a tailor-made showcase of Australian and New Zealand Video games, is operating once more this yr in June. It includes a whopping 50 video games from throughout the 2 international locations, in what will likely be a brisk energy hour of gaming excellence. The catch: It slimmed it down from over 200 functions. Just one quarter of those that utilized will likely be showcased. There’s merely not sufficient area for all of them.
As the gang continues to develop, standing out from it’s getting more and more tough. The usual approaches are resulting in combined outcomes. Some have discovered it leveraging reviews and conventional media outets. Some depend on online game content material creators or have discovered bang-for-buck with nicely positioned Reddit adverts that feed immediately into their wishlist. Others present at each obtainable expo and demo with the identical aim. However, as GameDiscoveryCo frequently discusses there’s loads of cases the place large wishlists totalling into the tons of of hundreds haven’t transformed into gross sales at launch.
With this in thoughts, Infinite Lives put the decision out to native Australian builders who’re attempting one thing a bit totally different with how they’re getting their recreation on the market. This isn’t to say they aren’t doing all the same old issues however have discovered one other distinctive method to promote their recreation.
Consider this extra as a thought-starter for the trade. And for these not in it, a have a look at the lengths builders are going to as a way to get seen. Most of the time, the strategy isn’t intentional nor aimed toward driving gross sales. However because of their creativity and distinctive design, video video games are uniquely positioned to put in writing their very own playbook when discovering a method to stand out.
Turning Finish of Ember right into a TV collection
In February earlier this yr, South Australia’s Unhealthy Plan Studios introduced a primary for this market. Forward of their recreation’s launch, End of Ember had been optioned for launch as a TV collection by manufacturing home Cosmic Scream.
The deal would see the studio leverage the IP of Finish of Ember in a present, together with the designs from well-known artist Dan McGuiness, who illustrated Anh Do’s Sizzling Canine collection. It coincides with the introduction of legal guidelines in Australia, whereby streaming firms (Netflix, Amazon, Disney) must spend a portion of their native earnings on funding original Australian content.
Finish of Ember deverloper Chad Habel instructed Infinite Lives that the settlement took place by a chance supplied by VicScreen. They met with a dozen manufacturing homes as a part of a Melbourne Worldwide Movie Pageant program.
“Dan would at all times ask: Do you want roguelikes? Most filmmakers have been like, oh video video games, yeah, cool. However they didn’t learn about video games”.
“However, then this one studio, Cosmic Scream have been like: ‘Yeah, we love roguelikes. Oh, Binding of Isaac [another roguelike], one among my favourites. Unbelievable’. And so they acquired the sport, and so they performed it on the Steam Deck”
“That day, at lunch they mentioned: We need to do a proposal for you. We need to catch up. Then we went by the entire means of speaking to them.” From there, it took round 9 months for the method to finalise in January 2026.
His recommendation for different devs contemplating the identical strategy: If you’re contemplating pitching for a TV adaptation, “give it some thought sooner fairly than later”.
“These items are deliberate, they have to be booked in,” he mentioned. “And go to occasions,” although he warned: “You need to be so fortunate with pitching.”
Terra Firma 2 tries the identical content material creator strategy, however shifts the goal
Gareth Robinson’s tackle the difficulty: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to seek out success. Small tweaks to current approaches can work too.
Robinson from recreation studio Working As Supposed had a breakthrough brokering a dialog with a content material creator exterior of the gaming sphere. Their recreation Terra Firma 2, a panorama simulator, was showcased by a science creator Milo Rosi (Miniminuteman), in a widely shared video debunking the “Antarctic Pyramid” conspiracy. It amassed 10 million views because it debuted final week.
It’s the identical strategy as many different video games, who vie for YouTube creator consideration, however a really totally different viewers. Preserving on the identical theme, Robinson additionally mentioned Terra Firma 2 has seen some progress by itself channels by posting content material about the important thing challenges of designing the sport.
“Content material creators strategy video games from a gameplay angle however because the creator of a recreation there are tales and content material solely you possibly can produce about how the sport is made and the way it works underneath the hood.”
“It’s one thing audiences love, the possibility to see behind the scenes, it’s tremendous efficient however not one thing I heard folks point out so much after I was advertising my recreation.”
“I feel that is going to develop into typical knowledge at some point- if as a developer you’re not doing it, you’re lacking out as a result of no person else could make that content material in your recreation.”
Dolven launches a bodily card recreation
By the way, technique recreation Dolven was impressed by card video games reminiscent of Gin Rummy, 500 and Poker, however was by no means slated to develop into one till after manufacturing began. But, its cardboard rendition hit the cabinets earlier than the digital product.
Covyne Leisure’s Bree Nai headed up the cardboard recreation, co-developer Andrew Naish places right down to her work ethic, and likewise his tendency to underestimate deadlines and “polish every thing” with the online game.
The cardboard recreation, which options the identical guidelines and items, has helped Dolven stand out on crowded showfloors and expos. At PAX Australia final yr, they supplied a bundle that included the PC recreation alongside the cardboard recreation. It offered out.
Dolven has by the way tapped right into a broader pattern in gaming, whereby extra videogame mental property is ending up in cardboard. League of Legends creator Riot Video games launched Riftbound final October, and it’s shortly develop into a staple at native video games shops globally. There’s little in the way in which of business knowledge to confirm its success, apart from reviews of its progress on card buying platforms.
Nonetheless, trade heavyweight Wizards of the Coast’s success with gaming IP in its long-running recreation Magic: The Gathering paints a extra holistic image. Its Ultimate Fantasy cross-over set final yr generated $200 million in its first day of sale, surpassing the earlier success it noticed with a Lord of The Rings set in 2023. Notably, Wizards of the Coast contributed 88% of mum or dad firm Hasbro – sure, that toy firm – operating profit in FY25.
Whereas it’s a stretch to say Dolven will see the identical success as among the world’s largest leisure corporations, they actually have verified that there’s a market.
“We haven’t cross promoted as a lot as we’d prefer to from Steam, nevertheless it’s positively one thing we’d prefer to discover,” Naish mentioned. “We in all probability spend an excessive amount of enjoyable constructing stuff I feel, and never sufficient time telling folks about it!”
Naish’s level right here is extra telling than at Ffundinfirst look. For many recreation devs, constructing could be very a lot the main focus and it’s a problem to seek out the time to contemplate the sport as a product that additionally must be marketed and offered. A number of recreation builders merely aren’t wired that means.
As Unhealthy Plan Studios’ Habel elaborates: “It feels actually capitalist, and actually cash hungry, and separate from the creativity of constructing video games, nevertheless it’s crucial to have that pondering there.”
However the bottleneck isn’t thinning any time quickly. Australia’s subsequent large recreation could exist already, we simply don’t learn about it.
Are there any cool advertising tips that you just’ve seen video games pull as a way to stand out? And has discovering your subsequent recreation gotten that a lot more durable from the sheer quantity of titles being launched? Let me know within the feedback.
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