Start, finish, and market your indie game
My name is David and I make games
…which blows my mind, since I'm horrible at coding and I'm self-taught with art/design. A few years ago a friend showed me Unity, and I knew I just had to make a game. I worked hard, released my first game on Steam called Home is Where One Starts…, and used that to help me land my dream job: Unity technical artist at The VOID, where I worked on VR experiences like Ghostbusters Dimension, Avengers: Damage Control, and Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. While my game was a great portfolio piece, it didn’t exactly top the Steam best-selling chart. I realized all the stuff I did wrong in my game dev journey, and I wanted to do it right. An idea popped into my head while doing the dishes: a fox looking for the first tree on earth and learning about life and death. The First Tree was born… so I got to work.
It wasn’t easy of course. It was exhausting balancing a full-time job along with taking care of a new baby. I had to learn to let things go and compromise my vision to a degree. I had to stick with a strict schedule and work even when I hated it. My coworkers kept talking about all the awesome shows and games that were out, but I had no idea what they were talking about because every night I worked on my game. I almost gave up several times, but I stuck with it because I wanted to tell my story and share it with the world. I marketed it every week because I knew without it, my launch would 100% fail. Finally, in September 2017, I released my second game The First Tree on Steam.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. My small hobby project was being featured next to some of my favorite games like INSIDE and Divinity: Original Sin 2. It had worked: my original hook, my marketing plan, my launch blitz checklist, all of it. I was on the front page of Steam for five days, which led to my life being irreversibly changed in a big way. I used the money to put a down payment on a house, and used the rest to port my game to Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. I quit my job shortly after to become a full-time indie developer.
What is Game Dev Unlocked?
Along with the unexpected success came another thing I didn’t expect: people asking me for advice. When I spoke at GDC (again, something I never thought would happen), I had people come up to me and literally say “Hey David, if you say I should quit my job to make games, I will seriously call my boss right now and put in my two weeks notice.” HOLY CRAP I thought, people wanted to learn everything I knew about making the indie dream work, and it was terrifying. My inbox was full of hundreds, if not thousands of people asking me how I did it. I tried my best to answer all the emails I got, but eventually I started to wonder if there was a better way to teach people and to help them finish their games.
Enter Game Dev Unlocked!
On this website you’ll find lots of cool free stuff like asset packs, articles, videos, etc., but there’s also the official Game Dev Unlocked school which is the ultimate learning resource for starting, finishing, and marketing your indie game. Designed for newcomers and experienced devs alike, this is my magnum opus in a lot of ways: it’s everything I’ve learned boiled down into a high-quality online school designed to help you finish your game and reach as big of an audience as possible.
I’d love for you to enroll in the school and join the private Discord server, but if you’re just looking around and checking out the free resources here, that’s awesome too! Be sure to sign up for the GDU Newsletter below where you receive the occasional email article on how to succeed with your indie game, along with a free asset pack consisting of 270 MB of goodies!
GDU enrollment is open!
After years of writing, editing, and polishing, the full Game Dev Unlocked school is open for enrollment. Not only will you master Unity 3D and Unreal Engine, but you’ll learn every important facet of launching an indie game, all without prior coding or artistic knowledge.
The 7-Day Game Launch Challenge
If you’re looking for a smaller introduction into game development, then you should check out the 7-Day Game Launch Challenge! This new mini-course leads you through the game dev process in only 7-days, from brainstorming to release. It’s a sample of the full GDU course, so it’s perfect for those who just want to dip their toes into the GDU pool.
Click here to learn more about The 7-Day Game Launch Challenge!
Have a question?
Email us at help@gamedevunlocked.com, or use the contact form below:
NOTE: Please read the FAQ before asking a question, my answer is probably already there. Thanks for your interest!