[Ep583] The Day Before Launch: Scenario Planning for Indie Game Devs

In episode 583 of 'Coffee with Butterscotch,' the brothers are one day out from the How Many Dudes launch and walking through everything still in motion, from wishlist momentum and embargo management to Steam Deck verification and what the algorithm might actually do. They share how they're thinking through best and worst case scenarios, what lessons from Crashlands 2 are shaping their expectations, and how to stay sane when everything is out of your hands. Support How Many Dudes! Official Website: https://www.bscotch.net/games/how-many-dudes Trailer Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgQM1SceEpI Steam Wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3934270/How_Many_Dudes 00:00 Cold Open 00:29 Introduction and Welcome 01:57 Pre-launch preparations and expectations 03:58 Tracking wishlists and launch momentum 06:01 Understanding platform algorithms and visibility 08:14 Managing embargoes and influencer coverage 10:09 Dealing with embargo breaks and public reactions 12:02 Impact of demo updates and new content 15:06 Community feedback and stereotypes in game content 18:56 Post-launch content and ongoing engagement 20:50 Leveraging short-form videos and social media 24:03 Viral content and audience engagement 30:02 Platform feature opportunities and challenges 33:02 Lessons learned and final advice for indie devs 41:44 Initial challenges with verification and wishlists 45:27 Audience demographics and regional differences 48:18 Comparing launch metrics: Crashlands 2 vs. How Many Dudes? 51:52 Managing launch day activities and team coordination 55:14 Handling community feedback and negative comments 01:00:17 Setting expectations and scenario planning for launch 01:07:09 Post-launch analysis and adjusting expectations To stay up to date with all of our buttery goodness subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts (apple.co/1LxNEnk) or wherever you get your audio goodness. If you want to get more involved in the Butterscotch community, hop into our DISCORD server at discord.gg/bscotch and say hello! Submit questions at https://www.bscotch.net/podcast, disclose all of your secrets to [email protected], and send letters, gifts, and tasty treats to https://bit.ly/bscotchmailbox. We also built Ludokit, a tool for managing store pages, promo art, localization, achievements, credits, fonts, change logs, and more. Check it out at https://ludokit.com! Finally, if you’d like to support the show and buy some coffee FOR Butterscotch, head over to https://moneygrab.bscotch.net. ★ Support this podcast ★