Turning Your Indie Game Into An Indie Franchise

Turning Your Indie Game Into An

Indie Franchise

@DanDaRocha

Who Am I?

• Made Q.U.B.E. after University• Since then made Mortar Melon, Hue, Gravitation and now Q.U.B.E. 2

Turning Your Indie Game Into An Indie Franchise

• Build upon foundations of existing game

• Plan for post launch of your first game

Humble Beginnings: Q.U.B.E. • Student project• Indie Fund• Steam release• Taking a break• QUBE for mobile• QUBE DLC• QUBE Director’s Cut for consoles • Mudvark / Fiddlesticks Games• QUBE 2 (UE4)

Sequels in General

• Not always done in the indie space

• Triple A game sequels churned out every year

• Milking the cash cow?

Why a sequel, then?

• Fan base • Safer bet • Proven IP is valuable to investors/publishers • Build brand awareness • Improve on weaknesses of the original• Know the pipeline process • Can incorporate new tech & features i.e. VR• Cross promotion• Fine tune marketing tactics from first release

Case Studies

• Hello Games: Joe Danger series & No Man’s Sky

• Klei Ent: Shank series & Don’t Starve

• Coffee Stain: Sanctum series & Goat Simulator

• Sarah Northway: Rebuild 1-3

• Build on foundations of existing fan base

Post Launch

• Just the beginning

• Plan for what’s next, before launch

• DLC vs Sequel

• Hue 2 -_-

Things to consider

• Make use of new tech / features• Make more accessible i.e. colour-blind mode• Build with Twitch in mind• User-generated content• Support VR from the ground up• Improve the visuals • Tune game feel• Discount price of original game • Cross promote / bundle games• Break game up into versions or episodes• Build a brand and studio security

dan@mudvark.com

@DanDaRocha

Thanks for Watching!

Check out Q.U.B.E. qubegame.com