3rd game flopped too. Now what?

metgangames

4982

Hi! I am your neighborhood’s friendly looser indie game developer! I want to vent about how I feel about it. This GIF feels so close to home, because i feel DEFEATED beyond anything. I lost so many times. Underneath that, I feel robbed. I am not saying anyone owes me anything. I just had believed so much this time and honestly, I didn’t know what to do if it didn’t work out.
Before any negativity, i know i am just a mediocre dev, so my games reflect that. We have a mutual understanding on it. But do you know why i feel robbed? Why it feels ‘unfair’? Two youtubers played my game and posted their impression videos. I’ve watched them multiple times with great joy. Do you know what I see? They were having fun, confused and scared at times. So Digitalink was serving its purpose a horror game. That meant, I did the job. I did the deed. I delivered. Not just made a fun game, I also sent 120+ keys to all sorts of content creators. Just 3 of them picked up. The reason i feel robbed, my game is a COMPLETE flop now. But if any streamer/youtuber with some following picks up and plays it, I’ll earn more than expenses of an entire year! It feels unfair. I know no one is responsible for this and nothing can be done about it, except me trying a better marketing for my next game. But i wanted to share out and honestly, I don’t want to put my negative mood anymore to my friends and family anymore. They are sad enough because I am sad already. So, thanks for reading so far. And… it’s gonna be alright. Just keep swimming.

indie_game

video_games

steam

venting_space

gaming

KnightWithShiningCamera

Keep flopping little fishy

1 week ago |

SacrificialClam

Just keep swimming

2 weeks ago |

TiredBanana

It very much seems like you make games with the sole reason of them going viral. Setting yourself up for dissapointment because odds are small indie games won't do that. That might affect your work too since your motive on decisions for your work through out the process is trying to make something popular. Try making a game just for you. Don't think about what kind of game others would want or how to make the game viral. Just make games for you.

mikenco

What is your game?

Digitalink. A brain teaser mechanic centered horror game on Steam

DeserTimmy

Hey man I know it’s feelin down right now but you gotta keep going. Sometimes you just gotta get a quick win. Maybe I could help you spitball a few simple game ideas and you could help me understand video games a little better?

Raoul97533

Keep trying, i think the guy who eventually created five nights at freddies had years of failed games under his belt...

mak10z

send a code over to saba she likes scary and strange games.

I couldn’t find her contact email but I’ll try to reach out to her. Thank you for the tip

try tweetin at her https://x.com/samekosaba

imadethisjusttomakeyoulookstupid

looking at your profile, the games seem unoriginal in terms of premise and have been done better so many times. This is probably a contributing factor to the flops

DrSleepyPhZzz

I appreciate the comment and agree with you for my previous 2 Steam games (a taxi game and a puzzle game) BUT i genuinely thought I made something unique with last one. That’s why it disappointed me the most

horror games are on the rise and again are done better for the same-ish cost. granted i did not play the game, i mean if you want me to try it i will as long as the installer is reputable. but from the look of the images i would pass them over without second thought

4chanrefugee

Bro, horror games are a dime a gross. What do you think the unique aspect of your game was?

PrincessLeliana

I mean you also used a bunch of ai in it. so.

Yes, but is AI evil? Or are you saying I deserved it because I used it? Sorry if you meant something else, I just couldn’t interpret it

TheDoctorCrankenstein

Eh. You use AI you deserve to flop.

Yes. using generative AI is evil. Full stop.

You too :)

Thanks. You use AI. You're worthless. Learn to do your own work.

Itwasmyname

Imgur doesn't like AI or people who use it for creative tasks. Everything AI makes is based at least in part on stolen work and also generates huge profits at the expense of opportunities for those same creators, amongst other issues.

Thank you for explanation. I used Elevenlabs to voice over things and as far as I know, you have to upload your voice with consent. So only possible violation can be on visual creation part and I didn’t even use it besides 4 images…

jimhotep

THIS is what AI is being invented for: to make things easier. If you are concerned, verify the source of any AI you have in use, and adjust to an org that is doing so responsibly. This approach to producing AI-generated material is also relatively narrow. While some could argue this is stolen media, it can also be said that an individual who learns art by studying the masters is doing the same thing. AI is the future; learn to use it responsibly, rather than hiding from it.

I don't know anything about their product but I would be surprised if the underlying voice models hadn't been trained using some quantity of pre-existing media besides provided voice clips. Even then, it took the work of a human voice actor which Imgur won't approve of.

Deikin

Hey buddy. Indie dev here. Had a massive flop myself recently. It's damn tough out there.

Sorry for your loss too, man. Each time it gets harder to recover from it. What number is this flop?

One. Two coming soon, I'm sure...

Don’t lose hope man. How many wishlist you got if you don’t mind? If you dare to launch the game with 100 wl like i did, it is almost inevitable

Oneill249

Video games are like art. We make them because we love making them. Many many artists don’t get recognition until they are dead. wtf, right.

But did they stop making their shit? No

Also there are a ton more that didn’t ever get recognition.

So either keep making stuff because it makes you happy or stop making stuff because the lack of awareness pisses you off.

Keep on or move on it’s the only option.

aducksayswhat

I think the trouble with this is if you're aiming to earn a living from it, you know, be professional about your profession. So much of gaming now seems like a random chance lottery whether it'll see success, and you wouldn't tell anyone to pay their bills by buying lottery tickets.

It seems foolish to put much effort into it in those circumstances unless it is purely a hobby and you're happy getting little or nothing back, financial or recognition.

The only real way to improve your odds is a lot of money to buy a lot of marketing, or maybe making an inspired mod for a game that already has a healthy population and it might get attention. What I think is disingenuous is a lot of PC gamers who say they love indies, but what they really love is indies who've already found success and want to virtue signal by attaching themselves to that once it's happened. Otherwise they just love free stuff.

Totally agree on this! However, I don’t expect recognition at all (It would be lie if I don’t DREAM about it tho). I just expect to make a living by doing what I love. I know my luck will turn around one day, I am just exhausted. And I know some people needs to read these as much as I need to say these. You can never know where you save someone with what :)

whyforetho

You did get recognition, from two youtubers.

Oh, is that what previous comment meant by recognition? My imagination run a bit wild there then. But again, I appreciate them and I don’t say or think anything bad about others that didn’t. I am just hurt by the fact that my game’s entire faith is tied to it. In launch week, over 4000 people visited game’s page. We’d be talking a different story if people gave it a shot. That didn’t happen despite Steam’s generous refund policy. I know I gotta do better but it doesnt change the fact i feel hurt

You do expect recognition and you expect fortune if not fame.

Because you want to make a living off this. And complaining that your last 3 games are flops.

I also think you mean “fate” of the game and not “faith” but who cares.

Very few people get to do what they love and make money from it.

That’s why everyone has hobbies and don’t put their entire wellbeing on just something they like to do. Sometimes you need to get paid to afford what you love to do.

Yeah, I thought recognition as fame at first, then I understand what you meant. Faith, yeah, it supposed to be fate, my bad 😃 and i understand not everyone gets to do what they love as an income source but i want to hope my luck will turn around some day. at least for a few months more

Getting paid means having a full time job that is not the thing you love to do.

drousnavat

My dude, I've written three novels. First two flopped like magikarp. Third one made barely enough sales to make rent for 2 months. I know how you feel. Just keep going

I mean… did 4th one change the course?

Yeah. Maybe you should consider it? Try making Linux games instead of windows. The Linux market is dry as hell in July and people are switching to Linux because fuck windows 11

When you sayLinux, like Linux version of my games on Steam? Or there is another major distribution channel for Linux?

Linux on steam. Easiest way to get them out. GoG too if you're more technical

I can get a Linux build in a breath since I use Unity to make my games. I’ll look into it shortly. Thank you for the tip. I hope it would help

Third one was horror. First two were fantasy.

Honestly I started this one just because horror sells. And I enjoyed way more than i expected making it 😃

As long as you enjoy it, it's time we'll spent

It was well spent indeed. I hope next time i can at least get lucky enough to make a living and keep doing this. Wish me luck, dude

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