The 90-Day Last-Minute Marketing Plan for Indie Game Developers

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Episode Summary

You’re 90 days away from launch, staring at your Steam stats, and thinking “I need wishlists, but I have no idea what to do next.” Sound familiar? Don’t panic – you’re not alone, and more importantly, you’re not out of options.

In this episode, we’re joined by Devin Dixon, founder of Glitch, an all-in-one game marketing platform designed to grow wishlists and increase sales. Devin breaks down his proven 90-day last-minute marketing plan that can transform your game from wishlist graveyard to Steam’s up-and-coming.

We dive deep into building lightweight marketing strategies, creating engaging content that resonates with gamers, evaluating social media campaigns to double down on what works, and developing post-launch marketing strategies that keep the momentum going long after release day.

Meet Our Guest: Devin Dixon

Devin Dixon is the founder of Glitch, an all-in-one game marketing platform designed to help indie developers grow wishlists and increase sales. With experience across multiple startups since 2006, Devin has built and scaled communities from 5,000 to 100,000+ users. His background spans from Sprout Connections (an Eventbrite meets LinkedIn platform) to Untapped Founders for founders of colour, which grew nationally within 6 months of YC partner funding.

After being aqua-hired by Roblox to build community platforms specifically for games, Devin discovered his passion for game marketing. His unique perspective combines technical development skills with deep marketing expertise, making him a powerful generalist who understands both sides of the indie game development equation.

Website: Glitch

Blog: Glitch Blog

LinkedIn: Devin Dixon

Key Takeaways

“You don’t stop marketing after launch. You keep marketing. Your first week sales might be 100-200k, but your first month could be 400-500k. Games continue to earn money over the entire first year.”
— Devin Dixon, Glitch

Start Wide, Then Narrow Down: Don’t stereotype platforms – test all social media channels simultaneously using scheduling tools, then double down on what actually converts for your specific audience and game.
Build a Brand, Not Just a Game: Stop doing mental gymnastics about marketing. Focus on creating a “cool brand” using all available content – concept art, dev footage, team interviews, and lore – rather than restricting yourself to only final game assets.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Track everything with UTMs, cookies, and fingerprinting. Look for 2% conversion rates from social views to wishlists, but remember that highly engaged content can achieve 4-5% conversion rates.
The Multi-Prong Approach: Successful 90-day marketing requires four channels: social media (1-1.5 months to warm up), influencers (1-1.5 months for quality partnerships), paid acquisition (immediate but costly), and PR (relationship-heavy with least control over timing).
Quality Over Quantity in Influencer Marketing: Target micro-influencers (10-100k followers) with 5-10% engagement rates in your specific niche rather than large general gaming influencers. Smaller, engaged audiences convert better and have higher retention rates.
Context Switching Kills Productivity: Batch your marketing work – spend entire days creating content rather than switching between development and marketing tasks. This prevents context switching that destroys efficiency.
Post-Launch is Just the Beginning: The first week might generate 100-200k in sales, but the first month could reach 400-500k. Games continue earning throughout the entire first year, so maintain marketing momentum with UGC campaigns, streamer outreach, and community engagement.
Avoid the Average Trap: Don’t rely on average metrics – they’re misleading. If 95% of players quit after 10 minutes but one player played 10 hours, your “average” playtime looks good while hiding a retention crisis. Use median values instead.

Show Notes & Mentioned Resources

Blog Posts:

Tools & Platforms Mentioned

Social Media Scheduling:
- Glitch
- Hootsuite
- Buffer

Shoutout of the week:

Balatro: Master class in strategic marketing with multiple demos, tournaments, and multi-platform launches
Populararium: Richard Garfield’s (Magic: The Gathering creator) newest game project

Chapters:

00:00 – The Last Minute Marketing Plan
07:55 – Understanding the Gaming Demographic
16:06 – Building a Marketing Strategy
23:58 – Engaging with Influencers and PR
31:56 – Optimizing Social Media for Game Launch
34:40 – Understanding Game Retention and Conversion Rates
37:00 – Estimating Game Pricing and Profitability
39:22 – Analyzing Game Engagement Metrics
41:17 – Building a Content Calendar for Game Marketing
44:52 – Leveraging Social Media for Game Promotion
46:43 – Utilizing Social Scheduling Tools Effectively
49:42 – Analyzing Social Media Performance
51:39 – Improving Game Mechanics Based on Feedback
55:12 – Interpreting Data and Avoiding Common Mistakes
57:16 – Last-Minute Marketing Strategies Before Launch
01:00:46 – Post-Launch Marketing Strategies for Continued Success
01:05:07 – Introducing Glitch: A Unified Marketing Solution

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