Creating with the Audience: Building Communities Around Games

The old publishing model for games, where creation is done away from audiences and marketed right before the launch, is no longer enough. As self-publishing becomes more important, creators must now seek to build their audience as they develop their vision into a game: forming a community, earning its trust, building feedback loops, creating anticipation and turning early supporters into ambassadors. This session explores what the games industry can learn from film and television about building demand over time all while sustaining attention. It will further consider how games and linear media can jointly rethink how audiences are reached, engaged and turned into supportive communities in an environment where attention is increasingly fragmented across platforms, screens and formats.