Level Up KL 2020: The key to building a good game is to listen to your audience

• Game developers need to be sensitive towards the demands of their audiences
• Don’t just focus on creating a game; aspects like marketing, market validation are important

“Listen to your audience. Especially if there are issues, you should communicate this well with your audience base, make updates accordingly and continue building awareness of your game. There is always an opportunity for your game to take off. But it requires dedication, hard work and your tenacity to adapt to make things happen,” says Erik Peterson, Steam business development executive at Valve.

Peterson was speaking as part of the joint keynote address for day 2 Level Up KL 2020’s Biz Day Conference, on the topic of “Getting the Most out of Steam: The Top Frequently Asked Question.” Steam is, for the uninitiated, the video game distribution service by Valve – the largest one for the PC market.

Peterson, together with product designer Alden Kroll, acknowledged the immense opportunity out there for game developers as the digital games scene continues to exponentially grow. They advised existing and aspiring game developers to be sensitive towards the demands of their audiences, especially since gamers now have a wider selection of games to choose from.

It was, if anything, an apt beginning to the second day of Level Up KL 2020’s industry conference, held virtually for the first time by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). The day saw a slew of other thought-provoking panel sessions from known developers like Metronomik, Ten Ten Studio, The Gentlebros and Toge Productions.

Toge Productions’ founder Kris Antoni Hadiputra, for one, reflected on his personal experience as an indie game creator. His advice to new industry entrants is all about not being too critical of all the details when developing their games.

“Sometimes the game you want to make may be dead before you even know it. This happens when developers only focus on creating the game without looking into other aspects like marketing, target audience, market validation and value proposition. Just because you can make a game, doesn’t mean you should,” he said.

LEVEL UP KL 2020, Southeast Asia’s premier gaming festival is back for its sixth edition from October 10 until the November 29 2020. To find out more about LEVEL UP KL 2020 and register for its events, log onto www.levelupkl.com.