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Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

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Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#61

Post by hatenberg »

bckr wrote: post #13
EncomLab wrote: post #11

Hard facts: Steam has over 73k games - and is growing at over 10k games per year and increasing. The median game on Steam earns less than $800 - down from $4k in 2020. Making a game is not hard - marketing a game is.

I think that, while making a game is not hard, making an excellent game is hard. And I think making an excellent game is a lot like reaching product-market fit. It takes fast iteration with user feedback to find the fun, then a ton of polish to make it extraordinary. It has to be so good that, out of those 73,000 games and counting, I’ll spend some of my money and time on it. The way GenAI can help here, I think, is…

You won't find them.

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#63

Post by SubiculumCode »

EncomLab wrote: post #11

Hard facts: Steam has over 73k games - and is growing at over 10k games per year and increasing. The median game on Steam earns less than $800 - down from $4k in 2020. Making a game is not hard - marketing a game is.

I find it sad that this post is dominating this conversation.

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#64

Post by dkersten »

perks_12 wrote: post #42
misnome wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Making good games is easy This is entirely you hallucinating an opinion they never expressed. The op said: > Making a game not a _good_ game.

OP basically implied this, by arguing about marketing being the culprit, not the quality.

It requires both a decent (doesn’t have to be amazing, but has to have some hook or draw or something interesting to keep people’s attention) game, and marketing (people who don’t know about your game can’t buy it).

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#65

Post by phone8675309 »

Tade0 wrote: post #43
bloopernova wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone tried to create an LLM based crew on the bridge of a ship or spaceship? Being able to delegate tasks to competent subordinates would be very helpful.

Even a failed attempt at this would be great - imagine your crew frequently misunderstanding your orders and the ensuing chaos.

Or them giving you the answer to questions you give them in an ambiguous manner.

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#66

Post by baobabKoodaa »

dkarras wrote: post #26
EncomLab wrote: post #11

Hard facts: Steam has over 73k games - and is growing at over 10k games per year and increasing. The median game on Steam earns less than $800 - down from $4k in 2020. Making a game is not hard - marketing a game is.

It is not just about marketing though. There is this belief, especially among fledgling indies that if they make a game that they think is good, and if they are able to market it well, it will be a success, even a hit. A hit in gamedev is not easier than creating a hit in the music industry really. Even the veteran composers are not able to replicate (or even achieve) creating a hit. Possibility of success depends on…

> If you are a beginner composer creating a hit, it is an extreme fluke.

You're punching too high. Music is a passion for many people. Same as game dev. I would expect >95% of game devs to be perfectly happy if they can make a living creating indie games. Of course it's nice to make a hit that makes you tens of millions of dollars, but most game devs would be happy to make enough to pay themselves a salary to live on.

Now, if we're not looking to make a hit, but we're looking to make a living, there are a lot of composers out there who can consistently achieve that (e.g. beatmaking for rappers advertising on youtube and such).

> I'd honestly struggle to find any good games (right for their time and audience) that failed because of a lack of suitable marketing.

I'll offer Flappy Bird as an example.

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#67

Post by bavell »

dwallin wrote: post #29
bckr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that, while making a game is not hard, making an excellent game is hard. And I think making an excellent game is a lot like reaching product-market fit. It takes fast iteration with user feedback to find the fun, then a ton of polish to make it extraordinary. It has to be so good that, out of those 73,000 games and counting, I’ll spend some of my money and time on it. The way GenAI can help here, I think, is…

Making an excellent game isn't even enough these days, that's just table stakes. With so many games out there it's a market of lemons. You need to have a way of rising above the noise. For AAA, it's having budgets to make games on a bigger scale than everyone else. For mobile games, it's generally about leveraging a large war chest to fuel an advertising-driven margin game. For prestige/indie games you need something…

Just get some popular streamers/channels to do a review/let's play and if they like it you'll get tons of free exposure. I've spent probably hundreds of dollars on indie games in the last year or so from first seeing them on a gaming channel and then pulling it up in steam.

Channels like Splattercat are a great resource for indie gamers & studios alike: https://youtube.com/@splattercatgaming

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#69

Post by SubiculumCode »

EncomLab wrote: post #11

Hard facts: Steam has over 73k games - and is growing at over 10k games per year and increasing. The median game on Steam earns less than $800 - down from $4k in 2020. Making a game is not hard - marketing a game is.

Is this on topic?

Re: Building an AI game studio: what we've learned so far

#70

Post by skeeter2020 »

password54321 wrote: post #28
EncomLab wrote: post #11

Hard facts: Steam has over 73k games - and is growing at over 10k games per year and increasing. The median game on Steam earns less than $800 - down from $4k in 2020. Making a game is not hard - marketing a game is.

Word spreads fast on good games due to Reddit and Twitch. Look at the success of Balatro and how much marketing that had. The number of games you listed just highlights how little Steam filters.

By definition you can't pinpoint (but I think it's a fair assumption) the many great games that don't gain traction on Reddit and Twitch, and silently sink without notice. You've just picked a single anecdote.
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