Do you run into branding problems after making multiple games?

Summary · qwen2.5:32b

A solo indie Steam developer questions the effectiveness of their branding strategy after releasing nine games, noting that only the two most recent have gained significant traction. The developer is unsure whether to focus marketing efforts on new games or continue promoting older titles, given the competition for audience attention under a single account. This dilemma arises particularly because all games share a similar art style and universe but feature distinct gameplay elements.

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branding for indie game developers

Excerpt

<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>I'm a solo indie Steam developer, and I'm currently working on my 9th game. I've been releasing games at roughly one per year.</p> <p>Only my two most recent games have gained any meaningful traction. My older titles have mostly reached a point where player growth has slowed down, but I still include them in Steam sales, online festivals, and occasionally post about them on social media.</p> <p>Recently I've started wondering about my overall branding.</p> <p>On platforms like X, YouTube, and some Chinese social media, I have to decide what to post next. Should I focus almost entirely on my new game, or should I continue promoting my previous games as well?</p> <p>The situation is a bit tricky because my newer games share a similar art style and the same universe, but they're different games with different gameplay. Sometimes I worry that people who discover my account won't immediately understand which game they're looking at.</p> <p>As a solo developer, I don't have separate marketing or community teams. Everything goes through a single developer account, so every post competes for attention. It sometimes feels like I'm running a small publisher, except it's just me.</p> <p>For those of you who have released several games:</p> <p>Do you separate your branding for each game, or keep everything under one developer identity?</p> <p>Do you worry about confusing your audience?</p> <p>At what point did you feel it was worth treating yourself more like a small publisher instead of promoting one game at a time?</p> <p>I'd love to hear how other developers handle this.</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Competitive_Bee_7496"> /u/Competitive_Bee_7496 </a> <br /> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1unt610/do_you_run_into_branding_problems_after_making/">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1unt610/do_you_run_into_branding_problems_after_making/">[comments]</a></span>