How we built a commercial game with our community

What the talk is about

Aku Jauhiainen explains how the indie studio Fake Fish built the commercial game Barotrauma together with its community, and how that community was grown in the first place. He advises starting to build an audience alongside development, relying on existing followers, making a distinctive game that is also fun to watch, and working with streamers and YouTubers. He then covers open development: a license agreement sets the boundaries, builds and source code are shared with players, the game is easy to mod, and the community helps with testing. After a publisher came on board, openness was restricted step by step. He stresses that developers keep the final call on decisions, and that studios should talk to players openly and consistently. Useful for indie teams, community managers and anyone planning early access.