Pixel Talk 01

Chandler Wang, a game marketing specialist, discusses the importance of community building in game promotion. He emphasizes the need to understand players' preferences and engage with them on platforms like Discord, TikTok, and YouTube. Social media is used to generate excitement and start conversations early on. Chandler shares an example of a player turning their gaming moment into a rap song on Discord. After the game's release, keeping players engaged is crucial through updates, events, and rewards. Partnering with streamers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok can also help reach a larger audience. Chandler highlights the success of a collaboration with a YouTube streamer for a popular Roblox game. Tailoring partnerships to fit both the streamer's audience and the game's unique features is essential. Overall, community building and engagement are key strategies in game marketing. Hey everyone, welcome to Pixel Talks. I'm your host Jiayi. Whether you're a gamer or developer or just curious about how this magic happens, stick around. Today's guest is someone who knows all about it, Chandler Wang, a game marketing specialist. Chandler, so glad you're here. Thanks Jiayi, I'm excited to dive into this. Oh, I can't wait to hear about it. So let's jump right in. Chandler, when you think about game promotion from pre-launch buys to the ongoing stop after launch, what would you say is the most critical strategy? I've heard a lot about community building. Does that play into it? Absolutely. Community building is huge, but it ties into different stages of the game's promotion. You gotta think of it like a roadmap. But the core strategy is understanding your players, what they want, where they hang out online, and what makes your game special to them. Especially if we're talking about Gen Z, who make up like 41% of mobile game players. There are local platforms like Discord, TikTok, and YouTube. So it's not just about the game, but also about where the players are hanging out. So Chandler, can you tell us more about how social media plays into that? Sure. Social media is where we build excitement and start a conversation early. For example, we often use platforms like Discord for strategy wargames. I have worked on two strategy wargame projects where our players were primarily managed between 24 to 50. So naturally, we focus on Discord platform and Facebook platform. On Discord, we post development updates, gameplay guides, and host feedback events. Players could even suggest features they'd like to see in the future. It's about making them feel like part of the process. And trust me, they love being part of the story. I bet. It must create such a timely community. So did you ever get some really wild or creative feedback from them? Oh yeah, definitely. One time we ran an event where we asked players to share their favorite gaming moments. Not only did we get tons of submissions, but one player actually turned their story into a rap song and performed it live in the Discord channel. We didn't see that coming, but it was hit. Moments like that create buzz and make the community feel more personal. That's incredible. It must really brought everyone together. Now once the game is out, keeping players engaged is the key point. So what are some ways to keep that moment from going post-launch? Great question. For example, if players ask for more challenging boss fights, we might include that in the next update. We also keep engagement up by hosting events with gift cards or in-game rewards. And Discord both help automate some of those community activities, which makes managing everything easier while still keeping it fun for the players. Yeah, I know that both are really performing game changes for community management, right? Speaking of keeping things fun, I've noticed a lot of game companies are partnering with streamers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok for live streams. So Chad, have you worked with streamers before? Yes, partnering with streamers is a fantastic way to reach a large audience. During one of my interviews, we worked with a YouTube streamer who played a super popular Roblox game, Pet Simulator. We thought, hey, our target players are Roblox fans too, so why not? We only spent about $150, and the streamer brought in over 3,000 new users. The key is that streamers have such an engaged audience, and if they enjoy your game, it creates a ripple effect. That's such a smart move. It really sounds like you tailored the partnership to fit both the streamer's audience and your game's unique features. Chandler, this has been such an insightful conversation. Thank you so much for sharing all your tips and stories with us. Thank you for having me, Dayi. It's been really enjoyable talking about game marketing, and I hope your listeners got some useful ideas they can apply to their own subprojects. Bye! I'm sure they did. And to anyone tuning in, don't forget to subscribe to our Pixel Room so you never miss an episode. This is Dayi, signing off.