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The issue is not due to quality, said Josh Bautista, one of the co-founders of Let’s Play Manila.
“Talent and passion are in no short supply with our local game developers; their ideas and skills are all very impressive and the games they make are all equally great in terms of quality,” Bautista shared.
Bautista speaks from personal experience. As the development manager at Japanese game company Skillshot Labs, he has an on-the-ground view of the Philippine gaming ecosystem.
To him, the problem is that while local game developers may be skilled in making video games, they are not necessarily skilled at marketing those games. They need to learn how to promote their work.
This is where Let’s Play Manila comes in. The grassroots organization wants to help with the professional development of local video game creators. (READ: [Executive Edge] The game you want to play)
As part of this initiative, Let’s Play Manila hosted this month a panel discussion at bookstore Uno Morato in Quezon City. The goal was to give the participating local game developers a way to learn first-hand how to approach media, as well as how to pitch their games to them, Bautista said.
Bautista believes that getting media support is important to the future of the industry.While some of the advice that the writers gave could apply to media relations in any industry – such as not being too pushy in getting your product featured – much of it was specific to the world of video gaming.
For example, game creators were advised to set expectations early on, if a game was still an alpha or beta release, or if there were features still being developed.
“The writers may be in charge of what they write about your game, but the feedback it receives from their readers is beyond their control. So informing them in advance that your game is still in its infancy could be beneficial to your game,” Bautista said, summing up the advice of the panelists.
Another key takeaway is that the media can only do so much.
“While the writers do make the articles, it’s still up to the developers to show the world that what they made is newsworthy,” Bautista said.
While the media can raise awareness of a particular game, it is still ultimately the developer’s responsibility to deliver on that buzz.
Focusing beyond the craft
It is also important to remember who game developers are at heart – gamers.
“The local game dev (development) community isn’t as media-savvy as we’d like to be, mostly due to developers wanting to focus on what they do best, which is making games,” Bautista said.
Bautista noted that in larger video game companies, where the roles are more diverse, there would be a specific person in charge of marketing. Yet as most game companies in the Philippines are still small, it is important for all team members to be able to sell their products.
They must know everything from how to angle their game when writing the press release, to what kinds of gameplay footage to use as part of their teaser.
Overall, local game developers no longer have the luxury of focusing only on their craft – they must strive to ensure their work finds its way into the hands of people willing to play it.
In the end, Bautista wants video game development to be taken more seriously as a career, and away from the assumption that they just play games all day.
“Yes, we play games, but developing them is much more complicated than it looks. It’s a real industry and I really wish people wouldn’t just reduce it to ‘playing games all day.’” – Rappler.com
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