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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Past Events   >   Edinburgh Interactive: 2 talks by me, FREE to all

Edinburgh Interactive: 2 talks by me, FREE to all

By on July 28, 2011

I’m speaking at the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival as part of their Public Programme.

Edinburgh Interactive

Which means that both of my talks are free.

They’ve asked me to speak on two topics:

  • How to get into the games industry: my advice is just to make games: I can’t advise on how, specifically, to get a job at a studio. I can help you think about what you can do to help your chances – and perhaps make money – during your three years doing a games degree, or in your spare time
  • How to make money giving your games away for free: I’m a cheerleader for free games, and this session aims to be a rapid-fire introduction into how the model works, and how you can can make good games that are also profitable.

I’m speaking on Thursday 11th August for two hours and twenty minutes. I’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A.

Come along and ask me questions. And spread the word.

* * *

11:10 – 12:10: Why you don’t need anyone’s permission to get into the games industry. Just do it!

Want to make a game? Go on then.

Five years ago, it was tough to get a game a market. Only the major publishers with relationships with retailers across the globe stood a chance.

Now things have changed. One person studios, two person teams and small groups are all making a living making games on a growing variety of platforms: iOS, Facebook, Steam, browsers, Unity, and more. It’s not easy, and there’s no guarantee of Minecraft-style success. But if you want to get into the games industry, you should start by making games.

And who knows, you might be able to make a living from it sooner than you think.

12:30 – 13:30: New business models: how to make money giving your game away for free

“Free” is proving to be the most profitable price point for a game.

It’s working for giants like Zynga (Cityville) and Bigpoint (Dark Orbit). It’s working for small companies like Nimblebits (Tiny Tower) and Snappy Touch (Flower Garden). If you make games (or want to), you need to understand the power of free.

In this session, you will learn:

  • How to use “free” as a marketing technique, not a business model
  • How to use the power of “free” to attract customers, and how to keep them
  • What people will pay for, and what they won’t
  • How to make lots of money by giving your game away

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com