Hey everybody, how’s it going?
As I make further progress on Glow I get closer to needing to decide a release date. It would be nice to just release when I’m done. But the reality is to help the visibility of Glow I’ll need to plan the release date well and the activities building up to that date.
Firstly there’s the soft limits. By soft limits I mean the things I don’t absolutely have to do but I would be making a mistake if I didn’t make time for them. Things like contacting press and attempting to build up some hype as well as going through a beta testing phase.
Then there’s the hard limits. These are the things I don’t have a choice about. For example setting up my Coming Soon page on Steam two weeks before release.
This means I need to have a plan for a release date at least two weeks before that date. Then on top of all of that, when is actually a good time to release? There are three schools of thought on this:
- Aim for the quiet time – release at a time when there isn’t much competition. The theory behind this is that with less competition there’ll be more chance of your game being seen. However these times are quiet for a reason. Market research shows that people are less likely to spend money during these times.
- Ride the wave – release at the same time most AAA titles release, September – November, with the theory being that people are most happy to depart with their hard earned during this period. To do this you need to have pretty good confidence that your game can hold it’s own among the big hitters.
- Pick a date that is relevant – release at a time that is relevant to the theme of your game. For example, if your game is a Christmas themed game then the best chance it has of success is when Christmas is on everyone’s mind.
Each of these options has there own benefits and issues, but with the right thought process and planning you can pick the one that is best for your game.
Having thought it through and considering the theme of my game I’m going to be aiming for an October release. Although this may prove a busy time and it may be more difficult catching the attention of the press, I feel the theme of Glow will sit well at that time of year…
Thanks
Stav