Top 7 Sources for Game Development, Marketing, and Publishing News

Making a game involves a lot of different skills. Along with programming and game design, you need to understand how players find games, what publishers are looking for, and how other studios bring their projects to market.

There are some great publications covering the work that goes into developing and releasing a game. Here are seven sources for news, interviews, and analysis, along with what each one covers. We have also included a marketing resource that can help you put what you learn into practice.

1. Game Developer

Game Developer covers game design, production, technology, and the business of making games. Its interviews and features are especially useful for understanding the work behind a finished release.

The production articles are particularly interesting if you work with a team. For example, a game may be successful at launch but require more updates and player support than the developers planned for. Reading about how another studio handled that workload can help with planning your own releases and assigning work across the team.

2. The Game Business

The Game Business publishes industry reporting, market analysis, interviews, newsletters, and podcasts. Led by Christopher Dring, it focuses on the commercial decisions shaping the games industry.

The interviews are a good starting point when researching a publisher. You can learn about the types of games a company is interested in and the audiences it wants to reach. If you are preparing a pitch, that background helps you explain where your game fits and what kind of publishing support you need.

3. PocketGamer.biz

PocketGamer.biz focuses on the mobile games industry, with news and analysis covering studios, publishers, monetisation, user acquisition, and live operations.

If you are releasing on iOS or Android, this is a good site to bookmark. User acquisition covers how you attract players, while live operations includes the events and updates that keep a released game active. Both affect your plans: a campaign bringing in new players may need to be coordinated with a content update or seasonal event.

4. GameDiscoverCo

GameDiscoverCo, written by Simon Carless, examines how people discover and buy games. Its newsletter covers topics such as Steam, launch performance, festivals, Early Access, and trends across PC and console games.

One of the interesting parts is its analysis of game launches and sales. For example, if you are considering Early Access, you can read about how games performed when moving to a full release. Check which games are included in the analysis, since results from a different genre or price range may be less relevant to your project.

5. How To Market A Game

How To Market A Game is Chris Zukowski’s site for practical game marketing advice. His work focuses on areas such as Steam discovery, store pages, understanding your audience, and email marketing.

The site focuses on teaching marketing, with advice you can apply while preparing your game for release. For example, your Steam page needs to communicate what the player will actually be doing in the game. The store page and audience advice is especially handy for developers who are handling marketing themselves.

6. Deconstructor of Fun

Deconstructor of Fun publishes game analyses, business commentary, interviews, and podcasts, with a strong focus on mobile games.

The game breakdowns connect design with the business of running a game. For example, progression gives players goals to work towards, while new content gives returning players more to do. When applying an idea to your own game, consider how much content your team can produce and how often you can release it.

7. GamesMarket

GamesMarket covers the European games industry from Germany, including development, publishing, distribution, company news, and events. It also publishes interviews about topics such as Steam sales and responding to player feedback.

The regional coverage is useful for discovering studios, publishers, and events in Europe. You can follow companies releasing games in your genre, or find events where you might meet potential partners. Its Steam sales interviews also cover how developers choose which events to participate in. Some interviews and analysis require GamesMarket Plus.

For a PC release, GameDiscoverCo and How To Market A Game are good starting points. For mobile, PocketGamer.biz and Deconstructor of Fun cover more of the relevant business and design topics. Add Game Developer for production and development, and follow the publishing coverage when you are researching partners or planning how to distribute your game.