It’s been a while since I last updated my devlog, and a lot has happened over the past few weeks. First, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Gamescom this year, where I was given a booth to present my game. Shortly after returning, I faced some personal and family issues that required my attention. Despite these challenges, I’ve had time to reflect on my experience at Gamescom, which I’ll share in this post.

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of my experience from Gamescom this year and whether it’s worth participating as an indie developer. First, let me clarify what I mean by "indie developer." This term is used quite broadly these days. An indie developer could be someone with no budget, working alone or with a small team, or it could refer to a team working on a AA game with a budget of $10 million. In my case, I’m referring to indie developers with little to no budget, and I’ll discuss what value Gamescom can offer for developers like us.

Gamescom Steam Festival

First and foremost, I want to mention the Gamescom Steam Festival. Most of the indie developers I spoke with at my booth received around 1,000 wish lists for their unpublished games from this event. This can be a significant boost if you’re just starting out, so I’d say this is one of the most tangible benefits of attending Gamescom. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the Steam event due to an issue with my application form, so I had the opportunity to find out how useful a booth is as a standalone service.

Types of Indie Sections at Gamescom

Gamescom offers two types of indie sections. The first is the Indie Arena Booth (IAB), where you apply as an individual game developer. By individual, I mean you're not applying as part of a delegation as it was in my case. If you're applying for IAB,  Gamescom has a committee that reviews all the games and handpicks those that best fit the spirit of the Indie Arena. I want to emphasize "fit" rather than "best" because these games are chosen based on how well they align with the Indie Arena's spirit.

The second section is the Indie Area, where publishers or associations showcase indie games at their booths. In my case, I participated in the Indie Area through the Game Developer Association of Greece, which provided me with a free booth to present my game, Spellbound Hearts.

My Experience in the Indie Area

On average, I had about 50 to 60 people playtesting my game daily. Although I didn’t need extensive feedback, as Spellbound Hearts was released last year as part of the yaoi jam, and I had already received feedback, it was refreshing to see people playing my game and receiving direct input. Interacting with players is always valuable, even for a visual novel where gameplay feedback might be limited. For other types of games, I imagine the playtesting feedback would be even more valuable, especially regarding gameplay mechanics, controller responsiveness, and UI navigation. In summary, you'll get plenty of feedback from the event for sure.

What I was expecting, however, was more coverage from the press and streamers. I understand that my game is niche, but I hoped that other developers at my booth with more mainstream games would receive some coverage. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this happening to the extent that would benefit an indie developer as myself. Yes, some press members came by, asked questions, and took our business cards, but I haven’t seen any significant coverage or streams yet. We did get some attention from local Greek gaming websites, but this could have been achieved through other means, such as a direct email or reaching out to them through social media.

Regarding publishers, only Greek publishers approached us at our booth. I didn’t see any other developers being approached by publishers, except for those from Greece. However, Gamescom does offer a separate business area where developers can meet with publishers, co-developers, and others to discuss their projects. I had the opportunity to pitch my new game, Parallel Pulse, to some publishers there. Being in the business area is definitely valuable if your goal as an indie developer is to connect with publishers.

Is It Worth It?

Now, the million dollar question: is it worth participating as an indie developer in Gamescom, the biggest game dev event in the world?

All in all, it is worth attending Gamescom as a budget-constrained indie developer only if someone else is covering your expenses, such as access to the Steam event, business area, and booth. If that's the case, then absolutely, go for it. However, if you’re operating on a tight budget, participating could cost you around $5K as an individual indie developer. In that case, I don’t think it’s worth paying that budget out of your pocket, especially when those funds could be better allocated elsewhere.

Gaming events like Gamescom are more of a marketing tool rather than a sales channel. You need a marketing strategy, and as we all know, marketing is costly and not for indie developers as myself.

This was my second time attending Gamescom, and the reason I wanted to write this post after my second experience is because the first time I went, the experience was so overwhelming that I couldn't judge things as objectively as I should have. I still believe that if you manage to find a YouTuber with a big audience who could stream your game, it could be a huge win. But after being at Gamescom for the second year, I haven’t seen this happen for the vast majority of indie developers, and it’s not like you can’t reach out to them influencers via social media or email.

Have you attended other game dev events? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

I'd like to close my post with a video reel of all the games of the Greek Expedition.

Check out my blog https://www.alexitsios.com