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In Simon Sineks now famous TED Talk<\/a>, he\u00a0reveals a pattern among great\u00a0organizations and leaders (if you haven’t seen it, it’s certainly worth the\u00a0watch). He\u00a0states\u00a0that\u00a0most people\u00a0operate from the outside in – we have a clear idea of what<\/strong> we do, some idea of how<\/strong> we do it, but few can articulate why<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “But the inspired leaders, the inspired organizations, regardless of size or industry, act from the inside out…They know beyond a shadow of a doubt their purpose, their cause, why they get out of bed in the morning.”<\/em><\/p>\n This lead to the\u00a0big\u00a0insight –\u00a0“People don’t buy WHAT\u00a0you do, they buy WHY you do it<\/strong>.” The competitors may be\u00a0just as qualified, but we choose the inspired companies\u00a0because they\u00a0inspire us.<\/em><\/p>\n It’s worth repeating. People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.<\/strong>\u00a0Why this is so important for indies? Look at\u00a0the market right now – most will agree we are at the end of the Indie Bubble (thoughts from people smarter than myself @spiderwebsoft<\/a>, @tiedtiger<\/a>, @gamesbrief<\/a>).<\/p>\n The easy routes\u00a0are gone – if your\u00a0WHY was\u00a0to make boatloads\u00a0of fast money, stop reading and get out now. The indie game scene\u00a0has grown into a market with hundreds of competitors, just like other industries. It’s not enough just to be an\u00a0indie anymore – you need to convince your customers\u00a0that you are the<\/em> indie company they want to support.<\/p>\n Transistor from Supergiant Games<\/p><\/div>\n So how does\u00a0WHY work?\u00a0Let’s consider an indie success story, Supergiant Games. Compare these two pitches for their title Transistor:<\/p>\n 1. “Play a\u00a0sci-fi themed action RPG that invites players to wield an extraordinary weapon of unknown origin as they fight through a stunning futuristic city.”<\/em><\/p>\n 2. “We’re Supergiant Games, a small company of artists that creates beautiful, soulful titles. We craft\u00a0our games to be\u00a0as stunning\u00a0and unique as any painting. We believe in powerful\u00a0audio and spare no expense in creating amazing narrative and music. Play our sci-fi themed action RPG…”<\/em><\/p>\n They’re both the same product, but that 2nd pitch is the one that grabs you, right? The first pitch could be a random\u00a0title on the Steam Store. The reason you chose\u00a0Transistor isn’t the description or price; it’s because Bastion, because of that trailer<\/a>, because of that music<\/a>! Other companies can\u00a0make sci-fi themed action rpgs that are longer\/cheaper\/use more pixels. But you pick Supergiant because of their WHY.<\/p>\n Codemancer, from ImportantLittleGames<\/p><\/div>\n But what if you aren’t an established brand? Take\u00a0look at\u00a0my friend & colleague\u00a0Robert Lockharts Kickstarter<\/a> for his\u00a0first independent title, Codemancer. Again, compare\u00a0these pitches:<\/p>\n ‘Codemancer’ is an\u00a0educational game, set in a fantasy world,\u00a0designed for\u00a09 to 14-year-olds.\u00a0Players will code their way through a fantasy world full of rival sorcerers and their minions. It will be available for\u00a0PC, Mac, iPad and Android Tablets.<\/em><\/p>\n I’m Rob Lockhart, and I’m building a game to teach the magic of programming to children.The goal of the game is to be as broad and inclusive as possible. A gender-neutral fantasy setting, a female protagonist, a narrative backbone, and a language designed for accessibility; these are all ways to\u00a0knock down barriers that prevent some kids from engaging with programming.’Codemancer’ is an\u00a0educational game, set in a fantasy world,\u00a0designed for\u00a09 to 14-year-olds…<\/em><\/p>\n Rob knows\u00a0his WHY and communicated it effectively. I’m happy to report his campaign was featured by Kickstarter and finished at over 4x the original goal (you can support it as well by pre-ordering the game here<\/a>).<\/p>\n This isn’t a good long term strategy<\/p><\/div>\n Could you just\u00a0make up a WHY as a marketing pitch? Yes, but it won’t\u00a0have any lasting power. It’s manipulation instead of\u00a0inspiration.<\/a> Being an indie success\u00a0is no longer winning\u00a0the Steam\/iTunes lottery; you are competing in\u00a0a market of experienced, perhaps jaded consumers that have many, many options.\u00a0Manipulative sales tactics – forced virality, exploitative micro-transactions, price slashing – are becoming less effective. Inspiration is becoming more important, especially with technology (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) that makes\u00a0your fans your biggest advocates. Inspire\u00a0people to follow, support\u00a0and love your company.<\/p>\n WHY isn’t just about selling; it’s\u00a0a powerful tool for your own decision making and motivation. Having a problem deciding which idea\u00a0to work on? Pick the project that fits\u00a0your WHY the best. Not sure about using that partner or publisher? Learn\u00a0their WHY is and see if it matches up. Wondering who you should connect with at a conference? Pick people who have a powerful WHY that is similar to your own.<\/p>\n Perhaps more\u00a0importantly, WHY makes you\u00a0look in the mirror and decide if indie gaming is where you want to be. If you don’t have an intrinsic love for game development &\u00a0design, you’re probably in the wrong industry. If you don’t have a desire to build a unique brand and message, you’re probably better off joining an established studio. And if you’re just looking for a quick buck, there are much\u00a0better\u00a0places for that.<\/p>\n Consider your WHY<\/p><\/div>\n I’ll be honest – when I started working on building Iterative Games,\u00a0I didn’t take the time to sit down and figure out my WHY. I had a nebulous idea that\u00a0I wanted to do games, that I\u00a0wanted to start my own company, but there was\u00a0nothing unique I could articulate. From my personal experience – it doesn’t become easier to figure\u00a0your why when you’re knee deep in development and marketing. And if you don’t figure it out, it’s easy to get lost. You make mistakes. <\/a>You become unsure if the work and the opportunity cost are worth it.<\/p>\n It will take some serious time and effort, but\u00a0it’s worth it; that is\u00a0why I’m taking the time, finally, to write and share the WHY of Iterative Games:<\/p>\n Iterative Games –\u00a0Better games, better lives, to share with the world<\/strong><\/p>\n Better Games<\/strong><\/p>\n We are a company of innovators that push the limits\u00a0of game design and user interaction. We see\u00a0gaming as a dynamic and interactive medium, distinct\u00a0from cinema or literature. Our titles\u00a0seek to increase\u00a0player agency, create\u00a0emergent narrative and support user expression. Our games will\u00a0always create value for players and the development community through\u00a0implementing new ideas or by improving & combining existing ones.<\/p>\n Better Lives<\/strong><\/p>\n We believe we can make amazing games and\u00a0improve the quality of life for all our employees and partners. \u00a0We respect our people and place them\u00a0before profits. We will pay a fair wage, we will not crunch and we will do everything we can to earn respect and trust. We know\u00a0that\u00a0happy and healthy employees produce better games. We understand technology has fundamentally changed the way we work and support\u00a0innovations such as remote work, third party\u00a0collaboration and employee-entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n To share with the world<\/strong><\/p>\n Whenever possible, we will build our games to be inclusive; to utilize technology as a tool to enable, not deny, access to our products. We seek to\u00a0design and create games\u00a0that do not discriminate against any\u00a0gender, race or creed.\u00a0We will\u00a0share our ideas, experiences and innovations with as many people as possible\u00a0through\u00a0transparent\u00a0development,\u00a0early access and releasing\u00a0open source. Finally, we support efforts to utilize\u00a0game development as\u00a0a tool to inspire, educate and empower people around the world.<\/p>\n Thanks for listening. I can tell you already that I’m not always going to get it right. I’m also certain I’m not going to be making a lot of money; I don’t\u00a0know if it\u00a0will ever be enough to quit my day job (I do hope it is, someday!). But\u00a0to me, a little progress toward those goals is worth getting up early in the morning (or, more likely for me, staying up long into the night)!<\/p>\n It’s a brave new indie world – time to figure out why<\/em> you want to be a part of it.<\/p>\n Final homage to a company that knows WHY<\/p><\/div>\n I’m Kee-Won Hong, the founder of Iterative Games, and I’m working on my first title Contract Work<\/a>. If you enjoyed this article, consider following me on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Simon Sineks now famous TED Talk, he\u00a0reveals a pattern among great\u00a0organizations and leaders (if you haven’t seen it, it’s certainly worth the\u00a0watch). He\u00a0states\u00a0that\u00a0most people\u00a0operate from the outside in – we have a clear idea of what we do, some … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/4\/41\/Transistor_art.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
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