We need to look at the game industry as a whole. It’s not just an ecosystem of developers and publishers. In addition to entering the industry as a game developer, there are many alternative career options. I would like to make an assessment about the mentioned careers and share my observations.
Key to profitable enterprise: Marketing
The field of PC and console game marketing is a topic I mentioned in my previous article. Our hearts want to produce games for these platforms. But PC & console marketing is much more difficult than mobile. There are a few experienced names in this field, but there is definitely a gap here.
Marketing is one of the issues at the center of the game industry. So, who should aim for a career in marketing? If you’re in the field of marketing or love selling products, this is definitely a career option you can consider. Playing games and liking games is one of the main features that should be.
I want to give some advice for those who want to operate in the field of marketing in the industry but are not sure where to start:
- Follow games from indie developers.
- Consume lots of videos and articles on the topic.
- Then reach out to indie game companies. Do not ask for money upfront. Ask for a percentage of the income if the game is successful. Take risks with the developer.
- Get experienced. If you can, do an unpaid internship in companies that do this job. When this added value comes to the Turkish game industry, very successful works will emerge.
With such a roadmap, you will gain the skills needed by the game industry. Following the games and consuming content like videos and articles on the subject will give you many ideas. The knowledge you will gain here is essential to distinguish between “successful” and “unsuccessful” games as a business.
Interning for free will be a significant investment in your future. Especially in Turkey, you will be answering the companies’ search for experience. Thus, both your job options and your chances of success in the job you will do will increase.
How to do the proper marketing?
Achieving marketing success is not always an easy task. So how do you do good marketing? First, you must have a good press list. You can start by registering Mobidictum. No matter how much we are into the mobile industry, we try to support Turkish indie studios. You will have to send a lot of emails, arrange meetings. You can be successful if you have good relationships with the press and influencers and good copywriting skills. It would be great to know the Discord bots in community management and help the developer manage their community.
Another critical issue is vision. Setting a good vision will significantly increase your success. You can start building your portfolio by helping game developers in Turkey. Indie game culture abroad is much more developed. Of course, do not limit yourself to Turkey. But you can make Turkey your strongest market. If you are with a company that has made a name for itself in this field, I think it will not be difficult for you to find a job. Of course, there are many companies abroad that do this business. Competition in these two markets is different.
The information I gave above is also applied to mobile, but most mobile game companies acquire users digitally. So it might be better to focus on PC and console platforms.
I hope more of our indie game studios will find success on PC with the formation of such companies. This has more crowdfunding work as well, but that’s an entirely different matter.
