Indie Game Devs - How to Actually Find your First Players

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Getting players for your indie game in 2025 isn't about having a massive marketing budget. Here's what's actually working, according to developers who've done it.

The Free Route Worked #

One dev managed to get 148,000 wishlists in about 6 months with almost zero marketing budget. Here's what they did:

Then they focused on Steam's free visibility tools:

Not too bad eh? You can see their progress here.

The TikTok Success Story #

Another indie dev shared their journey with their game PANICORE:

The game has reached a point where we don't actively market anymore, since players create material themselves. However, putting extra effort into marketing on our side is often rewarded with slightly higher sales.

The Steam Festival Strategy #

An ex-AAA developer who recently hit 10K wishlists shared their experience with AETHUS:

  1. Released a high-quality demo
  2. Reached out to content creators before launch
  1. Participated in Steam Festivals:

Success Stories From Small Teams #

Here's a great example from an indie dev with Mighty Marbles:

How to Find Your Target Audience? #

Now some advice from us... here's how to research your market:

  1. Use Available Tools:
  1. Research Similar Games:

For marketing advice and data analysis, we recommended checking out Chris Zukowski's talks.

Takeaways? #

Remember: These are real results from actual developers. While not everyone will hit these numbers, these strategies have proven successful for multiple indie developers in 2024.

We know it more than anyone else, getting players playing your games isn't easy. We've share some other tips on how to get people discovering your games for free. We hope those real world examples help you in your journey. Good luck on promoting your game!

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