Interview: how #PitchYaGame helps developers creating better games

Game developer Liam Twose came up with PitchYaGame to help indie developers who are frightened to correctly pitch games. With the Twitter hashtag #PitchYaGame he gives people a chance to grab the spotlight they deserve. Liam is very happy with the first round but is now very tired. He longs for some rest. Although he finds it very cool, it was a grueling day and night task to keep track of all the messages submitted to the hashtag. Luckily he found some time to tell us more about this project.

How would you look back at the first edition?

“On reflection, everything went really well, we put together a whole days events which really kicked off the whole momentum. People resonated with the message we were bringing. Some of the most amazing reactions and touching ones have been developers being noticed and one teacher who got so much out of the event that they now have more insight to offer to their students.“

How did the idea come about?

“The idea came about because I wanted to give developers a voice. To swap the tweet and hope method to tweet and have faith. Knowing that someone is watching. On round days we’re doing our best to get as many eyes on the games as possible. Our mission is to get the industry watching. This is an important part of the game development process and its no easy thing to do.

Game Development can be extremely lonely at times. That feeling when you put something out there and literally nothing happens is the worst thing ever. #PitchYaGame is about breaking through the noise and helping developers to make better pitches on twitter and to publishers, investors, and ultimately their main audience. The players for years to come.“

What makes you so passionate about #PitchYaGame?

“I’m passionate about it because I had two years out with anxiety and depression. As a result, my Twitter had to take a backseat so I went from 300-500k impressions per month down to 10-40k in some months. It reminded me of the struggle we’ve all faced at some point. I’m in a position to open doors for people.

Did the event take long to prelare?

“Preparation was fine because I was geared up for making the event a success. I immediately started piecing together a great team of people to make sure everything went as smoothly as it could on the day. 100% the event was phenomenal, possibly too phenomenal (we’ll get to that) we were all blown away by the number of pitches we started to receive from the get-go.

In the feedback, most people said they entered because they saw the hashtag being used which shows the immense powerful movement it created. From my own personal perspective, there were a lot of pitches that didn’t include a link or some form of a call to action.“

Are there general tips for #PitchYaGame?

“There are! We’re collating a tips guide that will go live on the landing page at http://pitchyagame.com to help people get the most out of their twitter pitches for future rounds including the next round set to go live on 2020-06-30. There have been so many amazing games shared with it, and its testament to just how beautifully diverse our industry and the games being made are. “

Which pitches stood out the most?

“Without a doubt, the ones that stood out were VenbaGame, Philomena’s city builder, and the BPM fps. Not to forget of course the winner of the Best Twitter Pitch Stelex Software with Monorail Story. We’re extremely proud of everyone that pitched. Especially those that maybe broke through their comfort zone. Selling what we do is hard! So to pitch to the world must have been a pretty daunting thought.”

What are your future plans on this project?

“We are now looking to make round 2 bigger and better than round 1. However, we’ve learned a lot from round 1 so we’re also going to be implementing strict rules around the use of the hashtag. We’re going to do our level best to ensure the hashtag is highlighting to only use it during certain times.

Hopefully, the incentives we have planned will help it to go radio silent much quicker once the event has finished. The first round tailed off after 5/6 days. We’re hoping to tail it off within 5/6 hours max. Also, the #PYGAWARDS on the day should help with this also as any Twitter pitches made after 1800 will not be considered for any of the awards we have planned. So we want the message to be loud and clear that all use of the hashtag pre and post-event will not be included in any of the main promotional campaigns.

We want the event to shine a beacon of light on the amazing game developers that go unseen, day in and out working on their games, and who knows, hopefully, open some doors for some of them along the way. Or at least give them a much-needed boost to things like wishlists, downloads, sales, and more.“

Live on Twitter!

#PitchYaGame happens live on Twitter on the last Tuesday of each month. The first #PitchYaGame event took place on Tuesday 26th May. New rounds start 30 June, 28 Juli, and 25 August.