I posted a survey about how people are using AI to develop their games, and the results were interesting. They also point to a potential problem that may happen in the future.

Here is the breakdown:

• 41% of users use two or more LLMs in development.
• Claude is the most-used LLM, followed by OpenAI.
• 65% of developers use the $20/month plan, and if you include free users, that number jumps to 80%.
• 79% of game developers are not paying for extra tokens.
• Among the developers who do pay for extra tokens, most only spend between $20 and $50. The $1,000/month response was sponsored by their company.

My takeaway is that game developers are willing to pay for LLMs, but not very much.

The reason this may become a problem is that when AI companies raise prices, there is not strong evidence that game developers will pay those higher prices.

Right now, someone may pay $20/month and still hit their weekly limits, but the real cost of that usage may be closer to $200/month. If someone is using Codex plus a lot of regular ChatGPT, their real cost may be closer to $500/month.

Thanks to investors like SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and others, billions of dollars are being used to keep subscriptions around $20/month while training people to make this technology feel “irreplaceable.”

When that “free ride” ends and AI companies have to become profitable, that is where the tension between developers and AI usage will likely happen.

If you are a developer who wants to keep making games, you should prepare before that time comes:

1. Actually try to make your project profitable. Fully commit to making a successful game, but also something that could support your lifestyle, and maybe even a small team.
2. If you are purely vibe coding, learn how to code so vibe coding becomes optional instead of required.
3. Build reusable infrastructure now that you can apply to future games.

Just some forethought while we're in this Ai Bubble.

Shamless Plug: Still got $20k in free codex credits to give away.

While people are stilling filling out this form for AI Usage (please fill it if you haven't already) , one of results, Claude is wining by a land slide. But there is a free ChatGPT hack you can use to get an infinite of coding on the $20 plan.

1) Pay $20 for ChatGPT/AI and Use Your Limit On Codex

That rights, blow through your limits. In fact, I would recommending using both Claude code and Codex to get a lot of done.

2) Out Of Credits - Zip Up Project and Upload To ChatGPT

On the $20 plan, while Codex has a hard limit, ChatGPT is infinite. So what you do is you zip your project and upload to ChatGPT. I think the limit in size is 800 MB, so don't include modules and stuff you don't need.

3) Tell ChatGPT How To Use Your Local Computer

Here is what I do in my prompt:

>My downloads folder location is ~/Downloads
My game project folder location is ~/somefolder/mygame

>I want you to write me a patch script that I can download and run in my terminal/command line that does the following: [tell it the changes that you want]

>Make sure I can just run the patch that will automatically apply the code improvements to the code base I gave gave from the downloads folder

ChatGPT will give you patch scripts that you can run that will make the changes to your game locally for you. You can do this about 3-5 times before ChatGPT will start messing up because of code drift and you have to upload a fresh zip.

Its slower, but won't cost your more credits and you can continually do this!

I wish there was still poling on reddit...

Claude and Codex offer the $20 plans and the $100 plans. To develop your games, I wanted to see how many subscribe to each plan and do you also pay for extra credits?

Anonymous Poll Here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4-hdKqL6vM1txjqJ3VxHKL9KhrL32KgOW_M3lTH0DSOZqHg/viewform?usp=header

I'll post results.

I've been working on building out glitch.fun with a different model for games, ranging from free games to games where users can pay rental-style prices.

We have browser games built in ThreeJS, Unity, Godot, and even higher-end browser games built in Unreal.

We're now offering free influencer access for games that get set up within the next week.

Our goal is to bring in new creators every week to play and promote new games to their audiences.

For creator sourcing, we look at popular games being played on stream and invite creators who are already making similar content to play your game.

Right now, we have a co-op game. So we are finding influencers who are currently playing other co-op and creator-friendly games like Meccha Chameleon, Hades, and It Takes Two. They are usually pretty excited to check out something new.

If any games are interested, sign up and DM me for the code.

Got our landing page up and our stance on being pro-ai games and how we're going to be working with ad pro-ai creators for audience that will judge a games based on their quality (AI or not), not how they are made.

Putting together this AI Festival (register your game here if you haven't already) not only to help attract players to some really cool games built using AI, but also educate other developers on the uses of AI outside of artwork.

As expected, programming took the lead. If you aren't augmenting your programming with AI at this point, its like riding a bicycle in a motorcycle race.

Artwork is higher than I expected and marketing is right where I thought it would as there is a large focus on creation but very little discussion around distribution (which I see changing as the games mature).

I am going to have the festival split between and Steam and online for games not on Steam, so please submit your game.

Does anybody use this in their development? What there is experience? https://github.com/pamirtuna/gamestudio-subagents

Ever wonder if having social media for your game has any effect on Steam Reviews? We have some data to share. Before reading the rest of this post, make a hypothesis and think about what the answer might be.

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On the topic of reviews:

• Nearly half of new games released on Steam get fewer than 10 user reviews
• For every 50 sales, a game will get 1 review

Ok so at Glitch, we're more than just a distribution and marketing platform. We collect A LOT of data on everything game. And we love to find potential "trends" that can lead to aha moments.

Two pieces of data we track are the review count for every game on Steam, and the social media presence for every game on Steam. The sample size for this data we gathered was from 15,000 games. Of those 15,000 games, 6,238 had some sort of social media presence and 8,762 did not.

We look at median numbers because the average can be skewed. For example, if 9 games had 3 reviews each, and one game had 100 reviews, the average would be 12.7 reviews, which feels wrong because of that one game. In that case, 3 is a better representation for most games.

Games with some sort of social media had a median of 15 reviews, while games without social media had a median of 11 reviews.

Then we broke it down to see which platforms the game had a social media presence on, and whether that h ad an impact on reviews.

And the winner was BlueSky, followed by Reddit.

Interpreting These Results

First, I wouldn't say that having social media directly impacted the number of reviews a game had, even though those with social media did have more reviews.

What I would say is that having a social media presence likely meant the game engaged in some sort of marketing and brand development. As a whole, those efforts likely led to more reviews.

15 vs 11 reviews, is that a huge difference? Well, if we use every 50 sales gets 1 review:

• 11 reviews means that game sold about 550 copies
• 15 reviews means that game sold about 750 copies

200 more copies can be impactful, especially for an indie. Now for one of the most interesting pieces: Reddit, BlueSky, and Reviews.

BlueSky: My hypothesis on why games with BlueSky got the highest median reviews is because BlueSky is a new platform, and the developer is an early adopter to even be on that platform. With an early adopter mindset, they are likely taking more risks and trying more innovative marketing strategies.

Reddit: For Reddit, I have two hypotheses for why it got the 2nd highest median review:

1. Reddit is an opinionated platform where people freely speak their minds. Therefore, behaviorally, acquiring users from Reddit likely leads to more reviews.
2. Most developers advertise on Reddit more so than other platforms. From the games that use us for advertising, over 70% of the indies use Reddit. That can contribute to why having a Reddit presence has more reviews than other platforms.

Bottom line, while I don't think having a social media account directly leads to more reviews, I think when put in perspective of marketing efforts as a whole, it translates to more sales and, as a result, more reviews.

Have Your Own Questions?

If you have any of your own questions you want answered using data, NOT just on this topic but any topic around game data, leave in the comments and we'll trying to do a post on.

Ever wonder if having social media for your game has any effect on Steam Reviews? We have some data to share. Before reading the rest of this post, make a hypothesis and think about what the answer might be.

.

.

.

On the topic of reviews:

• Nearly half of new games released on Steam get fewer than 10 user reviews
• For every 50 sales, a game will get 1 review

Ok so at Glitch, we're more than just a distribution and marketing platform. We collect A LOT of data on everything game. And we love to find potential "trends" that can lead to aha moments.

Two pieces of data we track are the review count for every game on Steam, and the social media presence for every game on Steam. The sample size for this data we gathered was from 15,000 games. Of those 15,000 games, 6,238 had some sort of social media presence and 8,762 did not.

We look at median numbers because the average can be skewed. For example, if 9 games had 3 reviews each, and one game had 100 reviews, the average would be 12.7 reviews, which feels wrong because of that one game. In that case, 3 is a better representation for most games.

Games with some sort of social media had a median of 15 reviews, while games without social media had a median of 11 reviews.

Then we broke it down to see which platforms the game had a social media presence on, and whether that h ad an impact on reviews.

And the winner was BlueSky, followed by Reddit.

Interpreting These Results

First, I wouldn't say that having social media directly impacted the number of reviews a game had, even though those with social media did have more reviews.

What I would say is that having a social media presence likely meant the game engaged in some sort of marketing and brand development. As a whole, those efforts likely led to more reviews.

15 vs 11 reviews, is that a huge difference? Well, if we use every 50 sales gets 1 review:

• 11 reviews means that game sold about 550 copies
• 15 reviews means that game sold about 750 copies

200 more copies can be impactful, especially for an indie. Now for one of the most interesting pieces: Reddit, BlueSky, and Reviews.

BlueSky: My hypothesis on why games with BlueSky got the highest median reviews is because BlueSky is a new platform, and the developer is an early adopter to even be on that platform. With an early adopter mindset, they are likely taking more risks and trying more innovative marketing strategies.

Reddit: For Reddit, I have two hypotheses for why it got the 2nd highest median review:

1. Reddit is an opinionated platform where people freely speak their minds. Therefore, behaviorally, acquiring users from Reddit likely leads to more reviews.
2. Most developers advertise on Reddit more so than other platforms. From the games that use us for advertising, over 70% of the indies use Reddit. That can contribute to why having a Reddit presence has more reviews than other platforms.

Bottom line, while I don't think having a social media account directly leads to more reviews, I think when put in perspective of marketing efforts as a whole, it translates to more sales and, as a result, more reviews.

Have Your Own Questions?

If you have any of your own questions you want answered using data, NOT just on this topic but any topic around game data, leave in the comments and we'll trying to do a post on.

Ever wonder if having social media for your game has any effect on Steam Reviews? We have some data to share. Before reading the rest of this post, make a hypothesis and think about what the answer might be.

.

.

.

On the topic of reviews:

• Nearly half of new games released on Steam get fewer than 10 user reviews
• For every 50 sales, a game will get 1 review

Ok so at Glitch, we're more than just a distribution and marketing platform. We collect A LOT of data on everything game. And we love to find potential "trends" that can lead to aha moments.

Two pieces of data we track are the review count for every game on Steam, and the social media presence for every game on Steam. The sample size for this data we gathered was from 15,000 games. Of those 15,000 games, 6,238 had some sort of social media presence and 8,762 did not.

We look at median numbers because the average can be skewed. For example, if 9 games had 3 reviews each, and one game had 100 reviews, the average would be 12.7 reviews, which feels wrong because of that one game. In that case, 3 is a better representation for most games.

Games with some sort of social media had a median of 15 reviews, while games without social media had a median of 11 reviews.

Then we broke it down to see which platforms the game had a social media presence on, and whether that h ad an impact on reviews.

And the winner was BlueSky, followed by Reddit.

Interpreting These Results

First, I wouldn't say that having social media directly impacted the number of reviews a game had, even though those with social media did have more reviews.

What I would say is that having a social media presence likely meant the game engaged in some sort of marketing and brand development. As a whole, those efforts likely led to more reviews.

15 vs 11 reviews, is that a huge difference? Well, if we use every 50 sales gets 1 review:

• 11 reviews means that game sold about 550 copies
• 15 reviews means that game sold about 750 copies

200 more copies can be impactful, especially for an indie. Now for one of the most interesting pieces: Reddit, BlueSky, and Reviews.

BlueSky: My hypothesis on why games with BlueSky got the highest median reviews is because BlueSky is a new platform, and the developer is an early adopter to even be on that platform. With an early adopter mindset, they are likely taking more risks and trying more innovative marketing strategies.

Reddit: For Reddit, I have two hypotheses for why it got the 2nd highest median review:

1. Reddit is an opinionated platform where people freely speak their minds. Therefore, behaviorally, acquiring users from Reddit likely leads to more reviews.
2. Most developers advertise on Reddit more so than other platforms. From the games that use us for advertising, over 70% of the indies use Reddit. That can contribute to why having a Reddit presence has more reviews than other platforms.

Bottom line, while I don't think having a social media account directly leads to more reviews, I think when put in perspective of marketing efforts as a whole, it translates to more sales and, as a result, more reviews.

Have Your Own Questions?

If you have any of your own in answers you want using data, NOT just on this topic but any topic around game data, leave in the comments and we'll trying to do a post on.

Came across this site they paying to play games: glitch.fun Want to know if anyone else tried this site and if its scam?

The only way to break the stigma of AI Gaming and Slop, is to show them that AI != necessarily mean slop.

In fact, their are many different ways AI can be used should be highlighted that artwork is not everything. So here is a festival just for that:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4UHHYGeGWVJf64W92IYSL1rrKa9LYiktTmh8E_K0oEAJIiA/viewform?usp=header

Please both share with other AI developers and sign your game-up and let's start to change the perception of AI.

Its exciting in general to see people actually willing to pay for something you built; whether thats a game (which is next) or tooling.

Finally getting my first customers on my agentic marketing/vibe marketing for gaming: https://youtu.be/B2ASCTomtIA

It actually hasn’t been the easiest launch, even with vibe coding.

So I started vibe coding this about a month ago. Before that, I had coded up non-vibe influencer, social media, and ads marketing tools.

Each one of these tools already had AI automation built in, essentially as separate apps. The problem is that developers like to build, but they do not like to market and often find marketing challenging.

So I tied everything into a prompt to allow full execution of campaigns in one to two prompts.

The AI had to be “trained” on how to correctly call all of the endpoints inside the current application to create a prompt system that correctly returns the right information.

This took about a month and about $10k worth of tokens to build out the system and get it working for influencers, ads, social media, and PR against all its edge cases. (I wonder would that this been cheaper not vibe coding)

Results From 1 week:

• 6 Developers (1 AA) have signed up and paid, and one AAA Game Marketing Agency
• It has sourced 305 influencers and sent out 32 emails
• 12 social media post created with a reach 17,712 views from those posts

The Hard Part

Next, the hard part was explaining to developers what AI marketing is, because there is often a misconception of AI slop, or that AI marketing is not creative and there needs to be a real person. The irony is trusting AI to code, but not trusting it for marketing.

Marketing can be broken down into two parts:

1. Creative: Positioning, designs, artwork, and other items that AI cannot fully convey, and this should be done by a human.
2. Research, Repetition, and Scaling: This part of marketing is all about math, experimentation, and what is objective, not subjective.

So the creative side still needs a person to create the content, video, or artwork, and then brainstorm on the positioning. It gets submitted to AI, which researches and collects data.

For example, if the AI notices a particular hashtag or wording is getting more conversions on socials and/or ads, it will suggest a certain outcome based on the data. Often, that outcome, after lots of testing, should be the one that is doubled down on.

AI in game marketing expedites how fast a human can reach a data-driven decision about marketing; it does not replace the human.

And finally, it’s the developer who decides the final output that is displayed.

That is the challenge that I’m slowly working through: educating people and gaining trust around what Agentic Marketing actually does, 1 day at a time, 1 person at a time.

I think this is a critical discussion about vibe coding smartly.

I saw the game called Whispers From The Star talk about building their own model for responding to users in the game. And it got me thinking: “Cool, but why?”

>How much time did building their own model take away from developing other aspects of their game? Why is our model better than current LLMs? Is there a long term cost benefit?

Then I posted this thread, along with a response I got from a publisher, and there were conversations about never paying for tools again when everything can be built.

We’re entering a new era of: “Yes, you can vibe anything, but should you?”

Vibe coding is like an all-empowering drug that we haven’t fully learned how to correctly moderate ourselves with yet, so I want to brainstorm some rules for build vs. buy.

And as I write this, I think one tool should be created, if it doesn’t already exist: a vibe coding time and cost calculator.

I’ve come up with some parameters to start:

1. How much does the tool cost, and how long do you plan on using it?
2. To build it yourself, does it require knowledge that you might not have?
3. If you are using a vibe coding subscription with a cap, how many sessions or weeks will it take to complete building the tool yourself?
4. If you are using an API plan where you pay for tokens without a limit, how many tokens will this cost?
5. If it has other costs, such as hosting, other APIs, etc., how much will those tools cost to use?

All of these questions formulate into a decision-making matrix that looks like this:

1. If the length of time you are using the tool costs less than what it does to build it, pay for it; otherwise, vibe code it.
2. If the payback period for when the tool pays itself back is years, pay for it; otherwise, if the payback period is immediate to only a few months, vibe code it.
3. If the tool requires deep expertise that can take weeks or months to learn and distracts you from your core objective, buy the tool; otherwise, vibe code it.

I’m still playing with the idea of a decision-making matrix for when to buy or code, but I wanted to get others’ thoughts as well.

While the gaming space, particularly indie games, constantly tests new ideas, AAA studios tend to release safer bets. But when it comes to AI and business innovation, the industry often acts like it wants to stay in the 1800s.

I sent a publisher this video: https://youtu.be/B2ASCTomtIA

I understand why people are get angry about AI stealing artwork or causing talented people to lose their jobs. Those are legit concerns.

But using AI for development and business operations is different.

A lot of code is already open source and publicly available. Before AI, people copied and pasted answers from Stack Overflow that someone else had already figured out. Now, AI helps speed up that same process without digging through 15 wrong answers.

For business, AI is about drastically increasing the speed at which someone can research, analyze, and create useful output.

I think in five years, we are going to see a new kind of game developer and publisher emerge: one that can simply outmaneuver the people who are stuck being anti-AI about everything.

Someone once told me, “Not using AI is like riding a bicycle in a motorcycle race.”

We’re featuring Exo Mayhem: Open World Supervillain Simulator, and this one has a clear playable hook instead of just trailer noise. Short version: Exo Mayhem is an open-world sandbox supervillain game, with flight, gadget combat, and time loops set in a tropical mega-mall where you try to escape the time loop and return home to your future. What I’d watch for: whether movement, timing, and threat priority matter. Really cheap discount of 6 hours of gameplay for $1.99

• Play It Here
• Influencers Get Access Here

Monster Battle is looking for a few creators that are interested in card games to get paid to create some content for the game and get people playing: https://www.glitch.fun/influencers/f21dda03-dac7-4179-9aec-d4d4a3b1cde8/campaign

If this already exist, sorry for the duplication, but here is a list of AI Development tools and also publishers to reach out.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10LtnutxIzaOO3p8c73EyvAg9KLEKLI37/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101145796026083063462&rtpof=true&sd=true

Some of the AI Tools of discount codes for free access.

And then there is a verified vs unverified publisher list.