Indie devs ‘should promote each other’

Pickford Bros has posted a section on their website devoted to ‘games we like’, an initiative in which the developers post ten games they feel are worth sharing.

John and Ste Pickford, the indie duo behind BAFTA nominated Magnetic Billiards, believe indie developers can and should help each other promote their games, and so launched the initiative with the hopes that others would follow suit.

"The dev community is a very friendly place, and game developers are always ready to help each other out with technical advice and support via informal networks, forums, Facebook groups and the like," said Ste Pickford.

"But one area where small, self-publishing indies really struggle is promoting their games, so we thought we’d try and kick off an initiative where indies also help each other out with visibility as well."

Focusing on iOS titles for now, the brothers plan to promote indie titles on other platforms in the near future.

"Our idea is to encourage every indie game developer out there to pick a few of their own personal ‘Games We Like’, and promote them within their products and on their websites," said John Pickford.

"None of us are really in competition, and we’ve each carved out a small audience. Why not connect those audiences?"

‘Games we like’ has only two rules: promotion is free, and comes with no obligation to return the favor.

"It’s unilateral promotion, and given for free," said Ste, "so it’s totally in the same spirit as indies helping each other out with technical and design problems, which they already do."

"Advertising and cross-promotion platforms already exist, and this initiative won’t compete with them. This is something extra that indies can – and should – do, and may even be more valuable than advertising."

The Pickford Bros will regularly update the list, and will include it in new updates to their iOS titles.

"I’m looking forward to seeing some other ‘Games We Like’ lists appearing soon," concluded John,

"I think we’ll see some very interesting and surprising games getting a bit of well deserved exposure."