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Industry connections are essential to your success as an indie game developer. They can vault your game, studio, and career into the stratosphere. This site wouldn’t exist if I didn’t seek industry connections.
The nice thing about networking in the video game industry is that most people are really cool. You’re talking to fellow developers, artists, producers, composers, etc. Like you, they all share a passion for video games. They’re sympathetic to the plight of indie developers (and industry employees in general). In short, they’re easy to talk to.
The tough thing about networking in the video game industry is that it’s still networking. You will hear back from less than half of the people you message. It’ll be demoralizing.
My number one rule for effective networking is to do it before you need something. Obviously there will be times when you have to reach out to a publishing scout and say “hey, I’ve got this terrific game, check it out.” But they’re a stranger, and they probably get solicited all the time, so you’re not exactly standing out from the crowd.
Now imagine how much more effective networking would be if you already had a connection. You’re no longer a stranger, and you didn’t start off with a plea. It’s a much warmer, more genuine relationship, and it will pay dividends.
And honestly, networking just feels better when you’re not soliciting. I’ve met some incredible people in my search for production and publishing advice. I wasn’t waiting for some convenient moment to drop an ask. I was just genuinely asking for advice on subjects I’m passionate about.
If I were you, I’d want to hear tips on managing a studio, I’d want to know more about the publishing landscape, and I’d want advice on avoiding common first-time studio pitfalls. Who can you talk to? Scouts and producers from indie publishers, and lead devs and producers from indie studios.
Here are a few ways to find and connect with them:
Dread it, run from it, LinkedIn returns all the same. It’s a bastion for bullshit, but it sure has its uses. Those uses? Meeting interesting people.
LinkedIn is pretty straightforward. If someone has gold, or if you’re connected with them, you can message them. If not, you can’t. You can bypass this restriction with LinkedIn Premium, which is a cool $100/mo. I’ll leave that decision to you.
I recommend telling people what you find cool about them and asking them if you can pick their brain on a 30 minute call. Lots of people don’t respond after the first message but will after the second. The second message sometimes awakens this “oh shit, I forgot about that message, let me respond now” feeling in people, so you should get another burst of responses. I recommend 1-2 follow-ups.
Try to keep your timing consistent. There’s some informal research that suggests people respond most consistently on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (their timezone), and I’ve found that to be the case.
You can often hunt email formats online (or just guess at them). firstname.lastname@website, [firstinitial][lastname]@website, etc.
Email’s a nice option because everyone checks their work email. Not everyone looks at LinkedIn. It also just feels a little less icky than LinkedIn. I usually get enough traction from LinkedIn, but your mileage may vary.
Discord
Hop into your community’s Discord channel and lurk around for awhile. See who’s posting, attend events, and check out the resources that people are sharing.
Over time, you’ll start to find some interesting people—particularly fellow indie devs. Drop them a message. You already have a warm connection by virtue of sharing a city with them, so they’ll be a bit more likely to respond than your average LinkedIn user. It’s also a lot more casual.
Here's a list of Discord communities organized by location: Game Dev Discord Communities.
This article marks the end of the Production section of this website! If you're ready to start thinking about the future, head on over to Intro to Pitch Prep.
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