David & Goliath: How a Newbie Solo Developer Landed on Xbox Game Pass

[Music] on y'all welcome to the party thanks for coming through my name is dave john gooden i'm the creative director over at studios of year and today we're going to talk about how my newbie solo self somehow landed on xbox gaming pass still not really sure how that happened but i have a few very educated guesses that's what we're going to talk about today but uh first off as a little brief disclaimer i'm just speaking from my own personal experiences yours might be very different and i'm still figuring out this whole thing because video games are weird i'll also be talking a lot about xbox game pass but all the advice i'm given still applies like any type of platform holder talks or just any company negotiation or relationship in general uh so with that out of the way a little context about myself uh i'm a 22 year old cleveland based developer uh i've been making games for about 10 years now but she dreams elsewhere is my

first commercial big boy title so to speak i've also worked in film directing screenwriting photography and just all types of weird creative diy stuff in general as for steve dreams elsewhere itself it's a surreal adventure rpg you're playing as a woman named dahlia and you're in a coma and you've got to figure out how you got in a coma find a way to wake up confront your own inner nightmares and have a horrible trippy experience throughout the entire way um so i'm a little bit biased i think it looks pretty cool sounds pretty cool but it definitely didn't start out like that at first um so flashback to four and a half years ago when i first started development uh i was a wee young lad in my senior year of high school uh and i was like hey i want to make this big game and i think i can finish it in five months while also being a senior and making a feature film for my senior project so needless to say that didn't work out but hey you know we'll get there but still i knew that if i wanted some metric of success

i had to get the word out there somehow while having no money or resources of my own as one does while being a broke high schooler so as you can see when the game first started out out development it was a lot more colorful and cartoony but also a bit like rough on polished and a little bit generic when being totally honest uh but so i was like gotta get the word out there somehow and i gotta get on steam so i posted the game on steam green light when it was so active back in the day and the results were uh not too hot um there's some good comments here and there but a lot of it was pretty negative uh a lot of it justifiably so um and it was a real shocker to me because i never i never like posted any of my games on such a big mainstream site such a wide audience um so yeah it was rough at first but still in my eyes feedback is so feedback so i took it um and what i really ended up realizing is that the game wouldn't have its own unique personality yet uh and the audience

reacted to that and they realized that i really had to do a lot better with the game itself but i also had to do a lot better when it came to games marketing and doing a better job of communicating the game my vision to potential players so i kept at the game kept developing throughout the next few years um get the core black and white aesthetic purely by accident one day so that was fun so yeah as a game uh development progress and i grew as a person the game grew too and eventually it found its own unique voice and became something that was actually worth paying attention to so i've had if i had any one big piece of advice throughout this entire talk is that if you want to get attention the game itself has to deserve it first um i think the big thing why she news elsewhere had that really negative reaction at first was because it really came across as like a low effort like rpg maker game um so yeah it took me a while to find that unique voice but eventually i got there

so definitely be patient but it is key to actually find that unique voice first because nothing is worse than spending all these years on your precious little child only for them to get bullied and ignored on their first day of school so yeah that's a that was fun also stay hydrated y'all it's a rough year out here you gotta stay safe stay healthy all that fun stuff so yeah i had to get the word out there somehow still even with finding my own unique voice um and i still had no money no resources and also no clue what i was doing uh but still had to do something about it uh so i went to social media uh and that's kind of ironic because i hate social media still due to this day but hey what can you do so i mainly post on social media sites like twitter reddit instagram all that stuff um and i utilized hashtags a lot uh stuff like scree hashtag screenshot

saturday indie dev game dev anything that could really just take the game out into a wider audience so i wasn't just you know yelling to the two people who followed me at the time um and i never i kept it pretty low low-key like there was no like big press beats or big review or like any any type of like hype building it was just more of me just like like slowly posting bits and pieces of progress and slowly gaining traction as the month progressed i also lean on my rpg maker community a lot too because the game is also built in rpg maker and they are a great book for just support and advice and tips but also for just having that small initial group of like first adopters who really champion the game in the years to come so yeah after i find my again unique voice so to speak uh i officially announced it in summer 2018 with the nice little teaser trailer and the launch of the same page which another pro tip if you're using steam

get your page up as soon as possible definitely get that sweet wishlist action going uh i'm really glad i had that huge head start now because if i put that page up like a month before launch uh it'll just be a pretty bad time so yeah it was a much better reaction this time around but still even though it looked and sounded good so to speak uh it still had to play good since you know it's a video game uh and at that point i hadn't really done a lot of like external like play tests so i went up to my local game dev group the cleveland game dev shout out to them um and i found out through them that they were going to be splitting a booth costs and an upcoming convention and i was like oh that's pretty cool you know never really been to a convention before so i might as well give it a shot see what's happening uh so a few months later i went off to gdex 2018 my very first convention and it was a rough rough show but it was very necessary

like i had absolutely no clue what i was doing no to what to do before showing up i came with just only the bear essentials the monitor the game a controller a few business cards and now it's really it and also candy too because that works every time um and yeah it was also first come first serve so i only had the small end of the end of a table because i arrived like really late um so yeah that was that was pretty rough um but so even in that little dinky state it accomplished my goal of getting players hands on with the game and directly getting their feedback um it also helped that it was still pretty cheap to attend to the cost overall was about 300 for the weekend uh mainly because there's a two hour bus ride down the road and i stayed with a college friend i was there split the booth costs just basically kept things pretty low but either way it confirmed me that there was an action audience for this game and that somehow they actually liked it which is pretty cool i'm not used to compliments so

it was pretty pretty new to me so next convention would be dream hack atlanta two months later um and here's the organizers they actually reached out to me first uh because they had found my game through some weird channel that they had been you know doing their thing on um and i was kind of a shocker too because i'm not really used to attention i'm still not um it was just crazy to see like who's watching you from afar even when you don't know it so yeah i went down to atlanta got a carpool from a friend um and this one was a much bigger convention and it was also a weird dynamic too because it was like heavily esports focus so you had like these big names like halo overwatch cs go like on one side and then right across the aisle which is my tiny ass pixlr narrative based indie game and i'm just like please just play my game like i'm just i don't know what i'm doing just give me something um so that was weird but even still i got

like really great feedback i even won best art house that year um and it was a great chance for me to just go outside my comfort zone both in terms of like event setting and also just socializing with players because of gdex i didn't really know what to do when people were playing the game i would just kind of stand back and like watch them from afar didn't really know what to do with my hands or like how to talk to people like that um but here it was a lot more natural and i was just talking players getting their feedback making friends just had a pretty good time in general um not sure if i would have done it again if it wasn't as close by or as cheap because this one was a little bit more expensive but still pretty cheap around like 600 bucks um but yeah it was one of those neat little learning experiences and it was good practice for what was to come next which would be the biggie gdc 2019 uh i got into the indie mega booth here uh this is also where i met microsoft and the xbox reps um

and this is a totally different rodeo compared to the past two events like it had actual networking involved it was like all these developers some big and large i had no clue what i was doing i was just some rando there um see it was definitely a pretty interesting experience uh definitely the most expensive chip up to this point too uh a lot of my costs were subsidized thanks to the india mega booth uh they provided the actual tv as a moderate headset i really just had to like just bring myself in the game and it was a much different atmosphere compared to the previous two like it had a much more like triple a feel if we're talking in gaming terms um it was also a lot more precise feedback wise because like it was other developers um it was great too because i actually got to like meet a ton of contacts there like publishers pouring houses pr companies just new friends in general um so that was pretty cool so i showed off the game for the first two days there and the rest of the week was just free for me just do whatever i wanted to just

make as many connections as possible um that's kind of a toughy because at that point i was cool and comfortable like just showing off the game itself but when it came to actually like networking separately i was like i have no clue what i'm doing i have mad anxiety all these people seem to like know each other already and meanwhile i'm just in the corner being like hey how do i talk to y'all i don't know what i'm doing kelp um but somehow we made it happen but yeah uh here's a very brief guide to networking how i did it um well first off just remember that you're always networking even when you don't realize it like the way you present yourself the way you talk to other people the words that gets around about you you're always pitching and you're always networking no matter what you're doing um see another tip i would have just go out there and talk to people already like it's a networking event people are there to meet other people

um and ask some questions you know ask them about their favorite games their own games like people love talking about themselves uh and it was also great for me because i've always been a listener in general so it was important to just be an active listener and actually engage with them and see what they're actually saying and like all that fun stuff um it goes without saying but you know cheap people ask people don't be an um you know you think it would be pretty obvious but you'd be very very surprised um but yeah definitely go into like any of these relationships business or otherwise just trying to trying to make a friend first and foremost at least that's how i always do it um and definitely don't be afraid to like reach out to like other friends or contacts like help you make those conventions you know have them go out with you like when it's safe to do so um have them introduce you to other people just all that fun stuff um masters yard following up uh if you are

looking for something give them a way to contact you don't waste your time it's very clear when someone wants something and it's just waiting for that time to just slip in and set that bomb off so yeah this is very very brief guide if you want a much bigger and much better and much more fleshed out guide definitely check out victoria trans and introvert's guide to networking article because it's great and she's great um and yeah so as you can see in the picture it was my first time meeting xbox and that whole uh rep over there um and yeah when it came to actually like getting on xbox and talk to them i didn't really know what i was doing i didn't really know how the whole process went um so it was really good to have like a rep there in person to kind of like walk me through step by step just like see how to get those initial steps started so we kept in contact throughout the coming months uh we met in person again during the game as a color expo another great expo because it was a very

targeted very niche event so i was able to directly connect with my target audience and uh so xbox was a sponsor there so we got there in person together and i received word that they were going to be having a little open house uh before pax west next month uh and i've never been to pax west they'd have been to seattle uh so i was like hey like you know you know definitely consider me if you want to let's just keep in touch you know keeping it pretty casual um but eventually i was formally offered to spot the show and i made my way off to seattle now the open house itself went really well if not pretty overwhelming it was directly like on their main campus and again still having no clue what i was doing which is there with the game but again at this point i was still pretty comfortable like showing it off having like learned those lessons in the past like few events um and one of the perks of showcasing there was i got a free entry to the first day of pax but uh didn't have a pass for the rest of the weekend until another concert hooked me up shout out jen but even with that free

pass you know i had no permanent booth no way to actually show off my game other than a few uh scattered events here and there but i was like hey i'm still at pax my audience is here like i still want to straw off the game somehow so with that my phone and instagram became an absolute godsend my instagram page is essentially a little mini portfolio of the game itself so i'd walk around with that show to people casually of course like not just you know having it out you know showing my game everywhere um and yeah i just use it as an opportunity to casually connect with other devs and people within the industry so after the id xbox open house i received a few a few hints that i was going to get a game pass to you but i didn't really know what that meant and what that like involved um but it was like formally offered in early october 2019 um and it was pretty huge like it's still the biggest financial deal like i've ever gotten like ever

to the point where i had to ask them to like repeat the numbers that i got over on our phone call and while i can't go into some civics uh i was given upfront support in addition to the rest of the actual like licensing fee uh and it was really cool because at that up until that point i just been bootstrapping like the game was just fun and out of pocket just through videography gigs and other just random one-off hustles um and i was also doing publisher negotiations at the time too and the game passed through allowed me to fund the rest of the game make it profitable and still do everything i wanted to do with a publisher without even having to get a publisher so yeah it was a pretty big deal but if a big number like that comes certain challenges and that's where we get into the fun boring complicated lego fun time bit what joy what joy see i actually had to really get deep in

the biz dev around this time very first thing i did was to get a lawyer and i cannot stress out enough enough please get a lawyer um i can't read legalese at all so it was really important that i that i didn't miss out on anything that could have impacted the game negatively down the line so definitely get a lawyer have them look over everything have them tell you exactly what the contract is saying and what you have to do on yada yada um this also goes about tang but definitely double check that your other company and business elements are also in order like have your company set up your bank account all the tax info all that stuff so yeah the entire process from the initial offer to the signed deal was actually pretty short in my case it was about like three weeks um up from what i hear that's actually pretty atypical um for a lot of devs it can be weeks if not months before like anything really happens um so it really just depends on the situation and just luck to

so be patient be persistent nothing's wrong with like giving them a little poke they haven't answered for a while and don't feel bad about it like at the end of the day like it's your baby it's your game you gotta do what's best for it and you gotta like have as much info as you want to with it uh so with that being said this did take up all of my time at certain points um which really kind of sucks when you're solo dev because when i'm like heavy in like biz deaf tasks or even any task that's like not directly making the game my mind is like hell hey here's a bunch of ideas and like other stuff for the game itself that you can't work on because you're doing boring business stuff um so if i had to do it all over again i honestly might have just hired someone to just take care of all that stuff if not for just a few weeks just so i could like focus on what actually matters which is like actually finishing the game um and yeah as like i said earlier i was

also going through publisher negotiations too um and it was weird because compared to that uh the game pass offer was like a lot more straightforward and simple and so much less stressful like publisher negotiations all required so much extra materials like demos pitch decks timelines all this type of stuff versus xbox they were just like hey we want you on game pass here's the contract you go with the paperwork cool all right feel free to sign it when you want to um yeah it was pretty simple and straightforward um but yeah overall it was a lot to handle in general and it came with some uh unforeseen downsides too um like one of the females that popped up is that there was a much more increased sense of pressure and depression regarding the actual development of the game like i often felt like i wasn't even good enough to be a developer let alone to be on game pass or even or anywhere else and that i would let everyone down i

would get exposed for being a fake developer or all that stuff yeah impostor syndrome it's uh it's not fun but that's a whole that's a whole other separate talk where you get into um i was also pretty burnt out at the time too because i was doing so much traveling and promo and all this other stuff unrelated to the actual game and i didn't really have a good balance of you know actual development and biz dev pr and actually taking care of myself which is like the most important part of anything um and because of everything surrounding the deal i didn't really have much time to actually decompress myself and just chill out for once especially since uh x19 was coming up in the next month i had to prep for separately so yeah wasn't really having a very fun time but one day i tried it with a friend and mentor about it and he reminded me that ultimately they wanted me on service and that tons of people already seem to love the game so clearly i was doing something right

i don't know um i always just think negatively about just myself and everything that i'm going through but in any case he reminded me to just take breaks love yourself love the game and just take things one day at a time because we're all human um so yeah definitely talk about these things with someone like it's hard to like keep these things close inside especially when you're a solo dev and like you don't really have really anybody on your team to talk to you about that um see just let it all out don't keep it in because it eventually it'll just eat at you and it'll just negatively impact both just the biz dev side and just the development side too and remember that ultimately they want the best for you the game and the players uh so yeah it's it can be hard advice to actually practice if you're someone like me who is very bad to even take their own advice but hey we're all trying our best out here y'all so yeah even with all that stress a few

weeks later the deal was actually officially signed and it was done so um the actual inclusion it was announced the very next month at x19 a few weeks later and yeah even with all that time and stress to finalize the deal it was it was still pretty dope to actually like have it announced an actual xbox event and have it like on stage from an audience it was it was really cool um so yeah ever since then i've done a few other deals with both big and small companies uh and it was really good to have all this knowledge acquired from uh that whole shenanigan um so yeah the actual results of game pass will be seen when the game actually releases which it's still a few months away so stay tuned for that but yeah what did we learn today um see i definitely have a project that's actually worth the attention first and foremost uh remember that you're always pitching even if you don't know it like you never know who's like in the corner just watching you from afar and you never know who actually knows about

your game um shoot your contacts with people first um you know check in with them not just to like see like any progress and like an actual biz different but like hey like how are you doing how are the kids how's your mental health especially in uh the year of covid uh especially important just remember that human element and just treat people as people first um and find and embrace those champions of your game like i said earlier like having that small rpg maker community first that could champion the game just like this other uh to my target audience first and foremost was dope but it also applies to just you know platform holders in general like there were a lot of people within the id and xbox team that like knew about the game and were just like you know hustling about it like talking about it like within their internal meetings so i think that was really important to like keep up that relationship and just really just like embrace them um be proactive about any opportunities coming up uh you know what i like to do on twitter is

to like search and submit your game and like see what's happening and see what's upcoming and just any way i can like get the game out there in front of like any new eyes was pretty important because again you never know what opportunities will come up and never know what's going to happen um but with that being said take care of yourself uh don't burn out like i did and don't overextend yourself i did a lot of events both in person and virtual last year and i was just pooped by the end of it um definitely look out for that unique money too uh and by unique money i mean the money that can only like that's very specific to your situation rather than the standard publishing deals or crowdfunding or stuff like that um and you never know where it comes from so just be on the lookout for it um if you have questions ask them ask for help ask for tips and advice um as my 911 said rest in peace uh close mouths don't get fed so open your mouth and speak up um

and honestly sometimes a lot of it was just luck and some of it was like unluckiness too um i would never like i never would have even gotten the ceo if you know don't want microsoft rep actually came by my booth when i was at uh ggc last year so you never really know it just it takes weird stuff like that happening um and again be patient and pers and persistent it's a marathon not a sprint take care of yourself take things one day at a time uh and like these business deals and stuff like that they don't happen overnight so just keep it chill uh be patient and again and i can't stress this enough remember the human element of it all because again we're all trying our best out here um so yeah that's my weird little story about xbox game pass and how i somehow went from being a scrappy dinky little a one man show to being a slightly bigger but still one-man show and still having

no clue what i'm really doing uh so yeah game will be coming out pretty soon i hope it does well uh but yeah i guess we'll cross that bridge as we come to wood uh but for right now i got a game to get back to uh so yeah thanks for coming to my talk will come in my talk watching my talk really uh have a good one stay safe out there wear your mask and uh be excellent to each other [Music] [Applause]