BattleBit Remastered Developer on Marketing Multiplayer Games
"If you are planning to make a multiplayer game, don't!"
BattleBit Remastered awed many players when it came out in June, becoming a Steam bestseller on the launch day. However, the development of the game has been very long and challenging. Made by three people, the low-poly FPS had to try hard to get the fame it deserved.
Talking to Chris Zukowski for How to Market a Game, one of the creators, SgtOkiDoki, shared how the game was marketed to audiences.
As Zukowski notes, to make a successful multiplayer game, your project has to be good. This, most of the time, requires experience. Two of the BattleBit Remastered devs were modders for Unturned and Ravenfield, which probably added to the final result.
Another great point is choosing a genre where players starve for new games. Low-poly shooters are the area that doesn't have too much to offer yet, and BattleBit fits right in.
The problem with multiplayer games is that you need plenty of people to test them, which is difficult when the game is new and unpopular. When asked about the biggest mistake indie developers make with such games, SgtOkiDoki said: "You are making a product that only works when someone else is playing. You must have a player base."
BattleBit has been in development for almost 7 years. Back in 2016, the developers offered to sign up and play for free, getting players from their mod player base. Then they moved to playtests with 20-30 players on the weekends to make sure the servers were populated.
Gradually, the team collected information and improved the game further, attracting more positive attention. But in 2018 they realized there was a gap between the marketing and the game itself.
"Our game played like Squad but looked like Roblox. That was a terrible move. ... We had to make a decision. We had to pull back and make the game more open for arcade. It wasn’t a decision I enjoyed, but I had to do it."
The developers also tried to mention everywhere that BattleBit was made by only three people, so players would "lower their expectations heavily": "The lesson here is to keep expectations low and then surprise them in your gameplay."
In 2020, the game finally saw 100 concurrent players. The devs started posting the game on Steam using the Playtest feature, and BattleBit started getting recognition, but already in 2022, when Battlefield streamers began playing it and spreading the word.
Eventually, BattleBit launched in 2023, getting the popularity it deserved after years of work. As final advice (or a warning), SgtOkiDoki says:
"If you are planning to make a multiplayer game, don't! I am not going to lie, don’t. Make a single-player game (if this is your first game). It is very trying. If you are going to accept that, you are going to be slammed by a hammer."
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