Wrote some notes, just thought it’d be good to share.
Influencers
Search for creative ideas
Streams are generally planned
If it’s not new content, look for a twist
What games are good?
Is it fun to stream? Is it fun to play?
Does the audience enjoy it?
Harder games are either hit or miss. Engagement needs to be really high.
Tools that youtuber ecosystems like
- Remove the HUD, music
- Provide youtubers with loot boxes (example 100 eggs- unboxing they don’t need to pay for)
- Early Access to updates
- Anonymous features (Hide nametag/play session etc)
- Whitelisting/Blacklisting players in session
- Thumbnail bait
Tools that streamers like
- Live Events (RTE/Metaverse content)
Jailbreak made a nuke in their game. It exploded at the end of a timer (globally synced)
- Don’t make buggy games they ruin tempo
- Game needs high intensity moments
- Private Servers : Tools to remove/avoid hackers
Why watch streamers?
It’s fun to watch people of a different skill level to you.
People are funny.
Development Side
Wonder Works Studios reached out to KreekCraft to collaborate based on a video series of KreekCraft.
Kreek wanted to get into development - enjoyed contributing to design process.
Add collectability, progression needs to be easily laid out to the viewer so they can have more grip.
Retention based content like a Battle Pass is good for content production when no updates are oncoming release.
Secret puzzles are easy to add and can keep players engaged for multiple days trying to solve it and the potential of other subsequent items.
Sponsored Ad Tiles have decreased in performance over the last few years after being compact into only one sort. They are still valuable to put in a baseline of revenue but it’s important that you instead collaborate with influencers to try produce content advertising. Simply, don’t rely on a single platform for advertising. Advertising is a compounding effect.
Run a hype campaign on game/update releases. Send out cryptic messages, codes, etc.
For seasonal content updates, release fairly early before the content update and fit the content climax around the event.
Margin your content, if you have a large update. Release it 60/40, where 60% is released on the first day and 40% is released week by week until the next update is ready.
Grow your own audience. Release trailers, videos on the development process.
Focuses
Scope your game by your target audience. Incredibly important.
People want to play the game alongside KreekCraft, as well as alongside any releases
Content is episode based
Mysteries and theories are included to increase play and view retention
Content is familiar to players (ideas from existing media)
Mechanics were developed alongside the in-house Narrative design.
Avoid feature creep. Just release your game, first.
YouTube Advice
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Go with the flow of your audience. Even if you like a game, your audience has to enjoy it as well.
Be able to admit when you make a bad video idea. Lots of mistakes will be made.
Short-form Video content is not good for transforming to visitors.
What is fair compensation for making a video?
No monetary reward: Give items, rewards, coins, giveaway codes.
Monetary reward: Link to partnership instead.
Lots of growing influencers will take up non-monetary promotions. Work on economies of scale!
If you want to work on a fixed budget, consider sharing it in the promotional campaign. Example, have 100k R$? Run a 100k R$ tournament and focus on organising influencer participants instead.
How can influencers and developers work better together?
Create a communication channel. Reach out via Email, Discord, Twitter.
Produce an ecosystem for your influencers. Youtubers need to be enabled to continually produce content on your game. If they link towards your game, give them some rewards, or features they request.
Reach out to influencers relevant to your demographic.
Reach out to YouTubers when you can make a demo. Early and often is good, there needs to be meat on the bone.
Youtubers, link the games you play!
Influencers will basically absorb their entire communities information, and can share bugs, missing features, complaints to developers. Work symbiotically.
Watch the Designing for YouTube Engagement Roundtable