Market Research Your New Indie Game Idea So You Design A Game People Will Buy
If you're a small indie game dev with a new game idea, but you're not sure how to test and validate your idea to make sure it can be profitable, then here's what you get... and how much...
What You Get
My goal is to help you find demand for your game idea. And what I mean by demand, is something tangible like downloads, discord followers, Steam page followers, email subs, or feedback.
I want you to be 100% confident that you've found a profitable game idea before you spend time, money, and energy on a game that may or may not sell.
And the best way to gauge that is with tangible, concrete numbers like I mentioned above.
Anyway, let me show you exactly how it works, and how much it costs...
Get A "Market Research Report"
How it works is, I'll create a 15 - 20 page "Market Research Report" for you. Here's what you'll get inside your Report...
My Approach: Win Beforehand
I want to help you test your innovative game idea at a small scale to see if it resonates with players BEFORE you spend money or time on this project..
So before we do anything huge, I like to start small, and low-cost.
This approach is important because if I want to learn what works, I must test, iterate, and test again. Once I find something that works for you, then that's when you put everything like time and energy behind your game, and scale it up.
Another reason for this approach is, marketing mistakes will cost more later on. It's better to make mistakes now, when less is invested into the project.
Ok, here's specifically what you'll get in your "Market Research Report"...
Part 1: Research Your Genre And Competition
I'll look at your genre and uncover any hidden opportunities that you might be able to take advantage of with your idea.
I want to discover what your potential customers are going through right now in your genre. What do they hate, love, and are frustrated with in your genre?
For example, there may have already been a game that tried to do what you're doing, and players hated it, and the idea just didn't work. So I want to discover what mistakes have been made already, so that you avoid making the same mistake.
But I also want to discover what players are yearning for, but aren't getting. This will help you see if your new idea has demand or not.
Part 2: Player Research
After checking out your genre and competition, I then shift to the player. I'll reach out to potential customers. What I want to figure out is...
- Is your potential customer motivated to buy and play a game like yours?
- Is your potential customer proactivity looking for games like yours?
- Does your potential customer have lots of options?
There is no point in making a game if players aren't motivated, they're not looking for a certain game, or if the market is already full of games like this.
In other words, you don't want to enter an oversaturated market, or enter a market where there is zero demand.
So let me show you how I do this, and the benefits you'll get...
Part 3: Validate Game Ideas By Talking To Potential Customers
Talking to potential customers will tell me everything I need to know if a game idea has a high probability of working.
And I don't send out questionnaires or surveys. I need to talk to players one-on-one because it provides the best intelligence. I can ask back-and-forth questions to fully understand what they want and don't want. And by talking to customers one-on-one for a few weeks, I start gaining new insights to help you market your game.
I do this in two ways:
- I approach them on Reddit, and send them a chat request
- And later on, once you decide to scale up, I'll do a paid ad campaign to reach more players faster
Ok, next...
Part 4: Get Feedback And Start Building A Following
As I talk to players one-on-one I will be gathering feedback and tracking it for you. This data will be your "raw resource". Meaning, you can use this knowledge to improve your prototype. And then when your new prototype is done, I'll get back out there and get new feedback. Iterate. Develop. Get more feedback. Iterate. ...and repeat.
That's how you slowly start crafting a game that people want to buy.
And please know, I'm not saying that we need to pander to the audience. Your vision and how you develop your game is very important. But at the same time, I need player feedback to make sure what YOU want is also what PLAYERS want.
Again, if there is NO demand for a game, then no amount of marketing is going to convince players to buy your game. And it's best to figure this out now. Because marketing mistakes later on will cost a lot more.
At the same time, as I'm doing this player research, I will deliberately ask these potential fans to follow you on your Steam page, or join your Discord, or download your demo from Itch.io. The idea is, while I'm doing this research, I'm also slowly building you a following -- a following that will turn into wishlists and game sales.
How Much Does It Cost?
For only $557 CAD, here's everything you get...
- Validate your game idea so that you're confident it will be profitable for you
- Validation will come from tangible data (like downloads, discord followers, Steam page followers, email subs, or feedback)
- I'll find your target audience, and reach out to them directly, one-on-one
- I'll test your idea or prototype with potential customers and how they resonate with your game
- I'll collect this data for you so you can use this feedback to iterate and improve your idea or prototype
- And I'll do another test on your new prototype -- rinse and repeat until you get a solid product that will sell
- You'll start to build a following of your core audience -- because as I conduct research, I will direct them to your discord, email list, social media, or follow you on Steam
- You'll get a Market Research Report. This is a 15 - 20 page guide that will show you how your game fits in your genre / market, and what your players want and don't want
- Your Report will give a step-by-step guide showing you how to develop a product your market will buy
My 100% Guarantee
Again my goal here is to help you create a marketable game players will buy, and get you to start building your audience. I'm confident in my work... but also, I know you're taking a risk with me. So after your market research campaign is done, and you're not satisfied for any reason, then you are entitled to a full refund. No questions asked.
Your Next Step
Ready to test your game idea for its potential profitability? Then here's what to do:
Open your email. And copy and paste my email in the address line:
dariusz@mainquestmarketing.com
...and in the subject, copy and paste this:
Indie Game Market Research
And in the body of your email, tell me more about yourself, and your game idea.
Send it, and I'll then write back with some initial questions. I ask these questions because before you and I start this project, I want to make sure we're a good fit.
Thanks! And looking forward to helping you market research your indie game idea so that you create a game people will buy.
Dariusz Konrad
My Entrepreneurial Story
Work: Game devs I've helped so far