Successful game makers share indie biz tips at GDC 2015

What it takes to succeed as an independent game maker changes every year, and so today we're highlighting a few notable cutting-edge talks on the topic that you must see at GDC 2015 in March.

A few years ago, working with a publisher meant working with one team to do all your funding, marketing, distribution, accounting and outreach. Now, you might get funding from three different places, have two different teams working on marketing, distribute it yourself, and outsource the accounting.

What do we fund? Why? What sorts of marketing works? What's the overhead like? What sorts of deals should developers get? At GDC 2015, Adam Saltsman (Finji), Kellee Santiago (OUYA), Greg Rice (Double Fine) and Nigel Lowrie (Devolver Digital) will try to answer these questions as part of the "Indie Publishing: A Whole New World" panel.

Speaking of marketing: what about YouTubers? As YouTube and Twitch become more prominent in the video game landscape, it's become essential for developers to know how best to get premier video personalities onboard with game launches.

Catch former Gamasutra editor and current TinyBuild Games scout Mike Rose's talk on "How YouTubers and Twitch Streamers Can Help Sell Your Games" for advice on the best ways to get the big YouTube and Twitch names playing your games, how best to factor these personalities into game launches, and the various lessons Rose has learned across years of covering and marketing indie games.

Finally, don't miss BDA Entertainment's Greg Balajewicz speaking about what his company learned from six years of staying in business on the back of a single game: Realm of Empire​. In "6 Years, 1 Game - They Must Like Us! Lessons Learned From the Trenches" Balajewicz will share advice gleaned from years of catering to player needs and keeping diehard fans coming back for more.

Not enough? No worries; a list of all announced talks is available in the online GDC 2015 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to build your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon.

Also, conference officials look forward to announcing more GDC 2015 sessions spanning a diverse array of game industry issues in the months ahead.

For now, don't miss the opportunity to save money by registering early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is January 21, 2015. GDC 2015 itself will take place March 2-6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

For more information on GDC 2015, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

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