What do I do?
Ultimately I’m here to help developers keep things together, to give them the support they need to finish their game and release it to the world. I’m willing to wear all manners of hats in pursuit of that goal, but there are four pillars in which I excel.
Project Mangement & Consulting
Sometimes it can feel like you’re doing everything you can, and nothing is moving. You’re burning the midnight oil, working nights and weekends on your game, and somehow it never seems any closer to being finished… This is a common problem in game dev, especially for indies.
The cause is most often a lack of proper planning and organization, as without that consideration for project management, it’s easy to fall prey to your worst instincts.
You’ll excitedly add new features… inflating your scope.
You’ll get emotionally attached to ideas… making things that don’t work difficult to cut.
You’ll work on the easy things first… rather than focusing on the hard tasks that support everything else.
My bread and butter is exactly this sort of project management. I help teams figure out the best way to approach making their dream project come to life, give them the tools and structure to make it happen, and help them clear away the blockers in their path that hinder their progress. I’ve already helped other teams make this happen, most notably leading production on the major 3.0 overhaul of Terminals.io, and now I want to help make your game a reality.
With more games releasing year over year than ever before, having a strong early plan for PR and marketing is absolutely key if you want your game to succeed; while good promotion can’t save a bad game, doing it poorly or not at all can kill a good one. The problem is that this is often a very different sort of work from actually making the game itself and outside of the comfort zone and knowledge base of most developers.
This is where I come in. With time spent on both sides of the fence when it comes to getting the word about out new games —doing my time as both a games journalist and spending over a decade in the PR trenches— I know all the ins and outs of this confusing side of the industry landscape. Most importantly, I specialize in planning when it comes to PR. I can figure out how to use your limited time and resources to make the biggest impact, help you swerve when delays or unforeseen circumstances arise, and advise on how to deal with the fallout should things go to pot.
And while planning is where I shine, I can also help support those efforts once things get going. Whether that’s narrowing down the right press and content creators to reach out to, sorting through a massive backlog of review key requests, or keeping track of all the coverage and feedback those promotional efforts create, I’ve done it all.
PR Planning & Support
Copy Writing & Editing
Not everyone has a way with words, and that’s completely fine as like art or music it’s a discipline unto itself, but without a keen wordsmith on hand it can be very difficult to figure out how to tell people what your game is even about. Messaging is key to any project and you need to make sure you’re painting a picture with your words that authentically evokes your game, well before people ever play it.
Thankfully I’ve been writing in various professional capacities since I was in high school, and I can lend my letters to your efforts. Regardless of the tone of your game or the subject matter, I’m especially adroit in finding the language and structure to help its central essence shine through in text, whether that’s in a press release, on a store page, or even in the game itself. I can craft copy for whatever purpose you need, and similarly I can edit through whatever you might have already written and give it an additional layer of polish while ensuring that your own character and writing style stay intact.
Trailer & Video Production
A skill I’ve been more quietly honing over the last several years has been video editing and production, specifically doing longform content on YouTube. I’ve been delivering exhaustive in-depth breakdowns there covering old cult classic games to a small but devoted and ever-growing audience, and over the years I’ve gained quite a sense for smooth pacing, clean cuts, and eye-catching transitions that keep my viewers watching for hours.
All those tricks are something I can put to work for your video content as well, creating snappy low-budget gameplay trailers that punch above their weight or cutting together short-form content that demonstrates your game’s best attributes at a glance. While this is admittedly not a discipline I have as much professional experience in as my other pillars, it’s been honed throughout the years thanks to the feedback of my audience, regular people who buy and love games as much as I do.
Their passion and mine guides all the work I do, but it’s most evident and direct in the videos I make, and I can take all the lessons I’ve learned there and use them to craft video content that shows your game as it deserves to be seen.
Reach out to Chat
Grab a slot off my calendar or shoot me an email and we can discuss how Barrel Band Games can best support your game and its development or marketing!