SF Game Development

SF Game Development is excited to be hosting an evening with HTC VIVERSE on one of the toughest problems in indie games: getting people to actually play your game. Join us on Wednesday, November 18th at DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, San Francisco from 5:30 to 9:00 pm. Cris Miranda takes the stage at 7:00 pm.

This event is for you if you’re an indie developer with a game already on Steam, a student building your first project, or a studio looking for new ways to reach players. Pizza is sponsored by VIVERSE, and the venue’s full-service bar will be open, so please grab a drink to support the venue. There will also be plenty of space to demo your indie games, network with other developers and meet the speaker.

What If No One Plays My Game? Discovery Is Broken. Let’s Talk About the Fix.
Cris Miranda — Game Partnerships at HTC VIVERSE

Over 20,000 games launched on Steam last year, about 55 a day, and the top 1% captured more than 84% of the revenue. For most indie developers, the hardest problem isn’t building a great game. It’s getting anyone to see it.

Cris will start with the discovery problem: what the data says about why great indie games get buried, and why being a strong developer isn’t enough when you’re up against 55 new releases a day. Next, the talk looks at a different way to distribute games. With instant browser-based play, a game can live anywhere a link can go (TikTok, Reddit, a creator’s stream) instead of fighting for a spot in a store feed.

You’ll hear from developers who have found a second wind and new players this way, including the teams behind Klocki, Hook 2 and Figment. Cris will also share candid numbers on how developers earn, including two concrete deal structures: free-to-play pay-per-play and premium. The talk closes with what it takes to bring an existing game to the web. In short, if your engine exports to WebGL (Unity, Godot, GameMaker), you’re most of the way there. You’ll leave with a clear picture of your options and a direct line to Cris if you want to explore bringing your game over.

See you all there!
Thank you to everyone who RSVPs! Please arrive at 5:30 pm for networking and game demos. The talk begins at 7:00 pm. You MUST RSVP on Meetup, Luma or Eventbrite to secure your spot.