Tips for Surviving the Indiepocalypse – From Adam & Rebekah Saltsman (of Finji)

For our February event, we're excited to present Adam and Rebekah Saltsman of local indie game studio Finji. They'll share sales data from past releases, discuss what did and didn't work for previous titles, and cover their strategies for building successful games in an overcrowded market. If you make or sell indie games, this is a must-see event!

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Adam entered the game industry in 2006 as a freelance 3D modeler before working as a designer, programmer, and artist. He co-founded Semi Secret Software in 2008 and released his first notable independent game, Canabalt, in 2009. Since then Adam has contributed to games like Hundreds, Fez, Alphabet, and Capsule. He also helps organize GDC, Fantastic Arcade, and Juegos Rancheros. Rebekah started in games in 2008, managing the finances and porting partnerships for Semi Secret Software. She contributes to Finji's internal design efforts, as well as providing financial services to other startups.

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Finji (http://finji.co/) was originally founded by Adam and Rebekah in 2006 and was reborn in 2014. The company creates original titles and builds games for various clients. Their current project in development is Overland, a 3D survival tactics game where players guide an evolving cast of characters on a road trip through a ruined continent. Finji also serves as publisher for such notable indie titles as Night in the Woods, Feist, and Panoramical.

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For their talk, Adam and Rebekah will discuss Finji's strategy for surviving in the increasingly crowded indie game market. Many folks in the industry are talking about the "Indiepocalypse" these days. There's widespread concern that indie game development is no longer financially viable. Rebekah will shed light on these trends by providing a candid overview of Finji's historical sales data, why things did and didn't connect with players, and what they've done to mitigate risk.

After that, Adam will focus on Finji's process for greenlighting projects. Some issues he'll cover include: Are there certain styles of game that are "safer" to build commercially? Are there game ideas that survive the surprises of development better than others? Do some games have a more flexible budget than others? These questions can help you hedge your bets when making experimental or original games commercially.

Of course, they'll be sure to leave a long portion at the end for questions and conversation. We hope you can join us for this critically important discussion!

Schedule for this event:
• 6:30pm - Arrival and socializing
• 7:00pm - Intro and announcements
• 7:10pm - Rebekah & Adam's talk
• 8:10pm - Q&A
• 8:40pm - More socializing

Supported by Branch:
Thanks to support from Branch, this month's meetup will include free beer and pizza! Branch provides a free deep linking SDK and API to mobile app developers. They're on a mission to help you grow your app's audience through deep linking. More info here: https://branch.io/what-is-deep-linking/

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Mobile Growth Austin Event – THIS WEDNESDAY!
Branch is hosting a great event on Wednesday focused on mobile app growth strategies. It includes a lineup of experts who will discuss topics like user acquisition, retention, engagement, ASO/SEO, deep linking, and more. This event isn't specifically focused on games, but make no mistake – these marketing strategies are definitely used by the top-selling mobile games! Learn more and RSVP for the event here:

https://www.meetup.com/Austin-Mobile-Growth-Hacking-Meetup/events/227874603/