Intel has been an amazing partner for The MIX and supporter of indie game development. Since some of the earliest MIX showcase events in 2014, Intel’s support has played an integral role in helping to provide developers with important equipment for MIX events – displays and PC hardware.
About Intel’s GameDev Boost program
Intel’s GameDev Boost program provides a wide range of initiatives for assisting teams of all sizes. With Intel’s sizable reach, audience and infrastructure, the GameDev Boost Program can help connect games with new communities, elevate awareness and provide hardware support. GameDev Boost marketing programs for qualifying games include direct outreach to gamers through email, social media, promos, events and more – additional GameDev Boost details here. The Intel GameDev Boost program support also helped make last week’s first multi-day, worldwide MIX Live Showcase possible!
Intel’s GameDev Boost Programs for Recent Launches
Here are a few examples of marketing programs that Intel’s GameDev Boost program has delivered.
Frostpunk | 11 bit studios
11 bit studios first success came with the Anomaly series of real-time strategy tower defense games. The studio then began to pursue its vision of developing ‘meaningful entertainment’, beginning with This War of Mine, which presented the experience of war from the point of view of a civilian fighting to survive. Additionally, 11 bit has shown games at a number of MIX events
Intel’s GameDev Boost program helped support the studio’s recent release, Frostpunk, which is a steam-powered survival city-builder set on a 19th-century planet Earth that has entirely frozen over. Intel GameDev Boost initiatives for Frostpunk included:
- Visibility boosts through Intel email newsletters and social media channels
- Intel sponsored article on VentureBeat
- Promotions on Green Man Gaming store
- Profile article at Intel site
“The Green Man Gaming recommendations to gamers boosted sales,” said 11 bit’s partnerships lead Pawel Miechowski. “When it comes to Intel’s audience, not all of them are gamers, but they are super interested.”
A technical article posted on Intel’s site about the snow system optimizations in Frostpunk provided additional visibility, and ultimately helpful in reaching a group that might not otherwise have come into contact with the game.
Frostpunk released in April 2018, has sold over 1.5 million units to date.
Dreamscaper | Afterburner Studios
Dreamscaper, a rogue-lite hack ‘n slash from Afterburner Studios, is the story of a character who learns how to cope with a mental ailment. The game’s lead character struggles with depression and the inner demons she has to fight in her dreams. The demons are representations of her feelings, such as isolation and anger. While many can never fully recover from depression, there are ways you can cope with it and Dreamscaper shares that experience. The dev team treats this topic very seriously, while making sure that the game is engaging for players.
Intel GameDev Boost initiatives for Dreamscaper have included:
- Visibility boosts through Intel social media, including amplification for Dreamscaper’s Kickstarter campaign
- Intel sponsored article on VentureBeat
- Profile article at Intel site
Afterburner co-founder Robert Taylor comments “I thought this was a good opportunity to reach people who like tech, Intel and video games, to drive some traffic for us. As the only engineer on the project, I really appreciated having very technical people from Intel reach out and talk to me about tech and help me do profiling of the game—it made me feel like I was part of a team of engineers again. So it’s been interesting to see what Intel’s process is like, and it’s been an absolute joy to work with the people there. Additionally, when we talk with potential partners, I point to our relationship with Intel to show that we’re a studio to be taken seriously. Working with one of the largest tech companies on the planet gives people confidence that we know what we’re doing. It is very important in business development—for relationship building.”
Dreamscaper is planned for release in Summer 2020.
Last Year | Elastic Games
Elastic Games joined the Intel Game Dev Boost program after Last Year secured its “Runs Great on Intel” certification.
Last Year released in late 2019, has had visibility boosts through Intel social media, and this article from the Intel team.
“Having partners like Intel is not just about an opportunity to reach more people,” says executive producer Justin Vazquez. “It’s really about the credibility that a partner like Intel brings to the table. Having that seal of approval means so much because people trust Intel and therefore trust us. We want to showcase all of the amazing things that we can bring to life with the tools that Intel provides, as well as other development tools. We’d love to show off what we can accomplish because of our partnership with Intel, and give people insight into the video game industry.”
Getting connected with Intel’s GameDev Boost program
Developers interested in additional information about Intel’s GameDev Boost program and ways to get involved can learn more here and here. This article from last week also provides more details on how the program works.