Sky Sanctuary: VR Communication launch review
Hey there!
Ben Dimanche & I worked with Glitchr Studio to help them on their game, Sky Sanctuary. It’s a HTC Vive VR game which launched Feb 15th.
On the plan
- Press Relationship with VR specialized press
- Youtubers & Twitchers influencers contact
- Light community management and social network posting
- Outreach to specialized groups of VR
- My pal Ben Dimanche helped on a bit of everything, mainly PR.
- Reddit test advertising. Not enough budget for bigger campaigns.
Please note that we’re operating on a quite low budget, we’re all indies :)
What went right
Create the basic layers of communication
When we got on the project, there were only two social media in place, 2 or 3 videos, a few gifs. The people at Glitchr worked very hard to give us assets, a new website, 2 new trailers. Our work gave them context to refine their communication. But now, on our side, the project is over. They now have all the basic layers of communication and community in place. They can also use our organization process and contact lists we built.
Finding new leads
VR is made of passionate people and you always have to keep this in mind. Finding new good leads for VR is quite easy. Type the main headsets in Facebook and you’ll stumble upon many groups. On Twitter, there are active hashtags such as #VR and #HTCVive. The problem is that, outside people passionate of VR, the other care less. Why would you be interested in a game you’ll never be able to play?
Getting high quality feedbacks
Through finding new leads, we reached people that were deeply passionate in VR. One of the developer of Portal even tried the game and recommended it. Some people noticed how natural and precise the interactions are. These feedbacks are important to improve the game significantly. We’re glad the game was seen to those high quality players.
Good team effort
It was really nice to work with Glitchr and Ben Dimanche. We were integrated on their slack, the schedule was clear and they always helped when needed. We had a lot of fun working on our first VR game and learned a lot of things.
What went Wrong
Video producing delays
There are always things that’ll be delayed in a game production. The people at Glitchr had problems with their green screen for the mixed reality trailer. It was also the first time they were doing one. We could only reveal the trailer on the launch day, and not a week before. It hindered a bit our plans to raise the hype for the game.
Missing some targeted group
Even if finding new leads is easy in some cases, it can be harder depending on the platform. For instance, finding streamers on Twitch is harder. Streaming VR demands huge PC specs. People don’t always write down they stream VR. Highlights are always long and hard to scrap, to check if an influencer covers VR.
We also didn’t integrate enough of the Steam groups in our communication plan.
Sales
Obviously, I can’t say more, but it’s not lower than what we hoped. Why? There could be several reasons:
- VR gamers are tired of Early Access.
- People expect more and more content from a VR game comparing to the first wave of VR games. (April 2016)
- The market seems less active that before. Maybe it will rise again later.
Sales means everything and nothing. You can make a great game and have few sales. You can make communicate the game to few people and still have sales. It’s frustrating, but it’s life. I hope their future updates will bring them more players.
Feedbacks from the client
From what they told us, we should have used more hashtags on Twitter to promote the game assets. Also, the sales are a bit deceiving but it’s hard to say why. They’ll focus on improving the game in the next month. Their updates will be communicated through Steam Announcements. If you want their opinion directly, feel free to mail them: contact@glitchr-studio.com
Stat Results
Some stats about how Ben & I performed. Thanks to Glitchr Studio for allowing us to share it.
I’m making a game called Neurodeck! Check out the steampage!
