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Out of Sync
Sorry I’m off schedule. With my brother’s passing, work and the holiday I’ve been falling behind. I know it probably doesn’t matter to you, but it does to me. I don’t want this to be just another newsletter. This is a campfire where we all get together and share what works, what doesn’t and encourage each other to keep the project moving forward. This campfire should be something you can count on because it’s not a bunch of ai linkedin “experts” it’s coming from your fellow developers. It’s cited and directly linked so you can wishlist their projects as a “Thank you” for sharing. This is how once a week we lift each other up. Today I’m going to share a list going around (there are several) of remote jobs. Taking a side gig or full time remote job isn’t throwing in the towel. It’s a stability move so that you can create without putting yourself (and your family) through unnecessary stress. Stress can motivate, like when you “burn the bridges” behind you so that there is no choice but forward. It can also deteriorate the foundation of creativity. find a compromise and remote gigs are the way.
Thanks for your readership - Erik
Remote Gigs
Thanks to Tim Plöger (Astrogon Entertainment)and Amir Satvat (Tencent) have both been building communities and lists. Amir was a lightning rod for those looking for jobs going back as far as 2022—ish and built what came to be ASGC.gg. Tim constantly adds remote specific jobs to his open list.
Having Trouble Finishing Your Game?
This is not an ad. I personally haven’t tried this service but I’m intrigued. Anyone tried DevPods? Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to do it all. Full creative control. Maybe we could use a boost from meeting someone likeminded. My biggest advice is set expectations and paper the deal.
Wishlist Growers
Unyverse has some big beats coming up. We got accepted in the Lvlup Ventures Accelerator and Marketing Labs. We are also being featured in some showcases:
May 28 to June 4 - Insider-Gaming Indie Showcase (free) - The editorial team chose us because they see our vision and know our journey hasn’t been easy but they believe that RPG gamers want to play in different worlds
June 1 article with Cxmmunity and activation with our Unyverse Fortnite Game (a side quest within the Unyverse universe)
June 21 Mundo Network Showcase (paid - $300) - Deep reach into LATAM and this is their primary business model. What I liked about the deal is 1) The Price, 2) The region targeting 3) Its a steam curator event, 4) The stream numbers are not big but the full network of articles and socials make it a worthwhile experiment. 5) Its happening 1 month after Insider Gaming so I can measure the effect of a powerful 45 days of Unyverse coverage and community response. We participated in the December PC Gamer Most Wanted (Free - Selected by Editorial Team) and saw mixed results as we were literally the last mentioned game but it taught us that our assets were too early and probably still are, but the risk of making a bad impression is less interesting to us than the invitation to gamers to follow our journey.
Code Monkey posted a breakdown on how he’s made a living making Indie games
Code Monkey - Unity Developer for hire and Youtube Developer Influencer just posted a great short post on Facebook (linked) on how to afford to be a developer (This week’s theme) and also posted a great video about expectations - His first game made over $1 million, his next game failed.
“Part of the secret for my survivability was just my cost of living. Here in Portugal my goal was $2000 per month which allowed me to have a pretty nice life. With that a one year game just needs to make $24k to make a profit, whereas if I were living in San Francisco and needed $10k per month just to survive then that same game would need $120k to make a profit, that's a LOT more difficult.”
Jerome Labelle posted a great guide on how to make a trailer as an indie. It all sounds simple until you are in the fuge state of recording game play, polished the three character models you have finished and feel dwarfed by the “Indie Studio” (Owned by a VC with endless money bags who just published an epic trailer that probably cost at least $250K.
I’m not a fan of looking at the leaderboards and being influenced to make a style of game that isn’t your passion. I do like to be informed though because I’m constantly asked questions about my game and where it fits in the world.
Most slide chaos starts innocently.
A few decks. A few folders. A few “final_v2_final” files.
Then suddenly brand teams lose control and consultants lose time.
SlideHub brings shared slides into one place, so presentation content stays usable, current, and much easier to manage.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Festivals, showcases, influencer and media showcases and their submission windows.
Steam Next Fest (Feb / Jun / Oct)
One of the strongest wishlist drivers if you have a demo ready.Steam Genre & Theme Fests
Smaller, more targeted, and often overlooked—but great for niche games.IndieCade Festival (May)
Insider-Gaming Showcase (May 28)
PitchYaGame (#PitchYaGame) A biannual social-media indie showcase on Twitter/X where developers pitch their games using #PitchYaGame. (June)
Summer Game Fest / Digital Showcases (June)
High noise, but useful if you have a strong visual hook.Mundo Gamer Network (June 21)
PC Gaming Show (PC Gamer / Future) — big PC-first showcase that heavily features indies.
Future Games Show (GamesRadar / Future) — large multi-platform showcase (often indie-heavy).
Shacknews E4 Indie Showcase (Shacknews) — indie-only showcase timed around “Not-E3/SGF” season.
Nintendo Indie World Showcase (Nintendo editorial/publishing) — platform-holder showcase, but explicitly indie-only.
OTK Games Expo (OTK creators) — streamer network showcase with a strong indie focus.
New Game Plus Showcase (content creators) — newly launched creator-led showcase (notably “no paid placements” positioning).
Indie Quest (JRPG creator-led) — creator-led showcase focused on indie JRPGs.
Six One Indie Showcase (community/creator-run) — indie showcase brand built to spotlight smaller teams.
Links To Remember
I have NOT had a minute to consolidate the links post. I’ll get to it, I promise.
All the best links that usually disappear into the Reddit ether only to be reposted by the most diligent Redditors and game development and marketing gurus. Link to the website archive of these great resources (GDMR)
Tip Line: Got Ideas, Insights, or Opportunities?
Have a win, a learning, a question, or an opportunity worth sharing? Send it in. If it helps the community, we’ll surface it with credit. [email protected]