Marketing User_Unknown was an extremely important aspect of the project, as building visibility and attracting player interest was essential for gaining traction within the games industry space. Throughout development, we aimed to establish a recognisable online presence that reflected the tone, aesthetic, and identity of the project.
I was primarily responsible for setting up and managing the foundational structure of our online presence, including creating the social media accounts for the game and establishing the platforms we would use to promote development progress and interact with players. While my teammate Camilla took on the majority of the responsibility for producing the social media video content itself, we worked collaboratively to analyse platform performance and audience engagement.
During this process, we experimented with uploading the same promotional content across both TikTok and Instagram to compare audience reach and interaction. Through this testing, we found that TikTok performed significantly better for our target audience and generated far higher engagement levels. As a result, we focused more heavily on TikTok as our primary marketing platform. This strategy proved successful, with one of our promotional videos reaching over 2,000 views and helping increase awareness of the project beyond our university audience.
To improve accessibility across all of our platforms, I created a Linktree page that consolidated links to our game build, website, social media pages, and other important resources into one central hub. This made it far easier for viewers and playtesters to navigate our online presence and engage with the project without needing to search across multiple platforms individually.
I also set up the game’s YouTube channel, which acted as a space for hosting larger-scale promotional content and development-related videos. Although the majority of the video production itself was handled by Camilla, the platform became an important archive for key promotional materials, including trailers and documentary-style content surrounding the development process of User_Unknown.
Alongside our more entertainment-focused social media presence, I also took the initiative to promote the project professionally through LinkedIn. I regularly posted updates about our development process, production milestones, and technical progress, which helped us gain visibility with people already working within the games and creative industries. These posts performed particularly well, averaging around 500 views each, and allowed us to present the project in a more professional and industry-facing context compared to our other social platforms.
To further support promotion during in-person events and playtests, I designed and produced business cards for the team. These cards helped reinforce the game’s branding and provided players with a direct way to remember and revisit the project after interacting with it. Having a physical promotional item also made the project feel more professional and memorable during exhibitions and testing sessions.
In addition to social media promotion, I also created the game’s website, which acted as the central hub for all promotional material related to User_Unknown. The website brought together information about the game, screenshots, links to builds and social media platforms, and additional development content in one cohesive location. This helped strengthen the game’s overall branding and provided us with a more polished and professional public-facing presence.
Overall, our marketing efforts became a significant part of the project’s development process. Through experimentation with different platforms, consistent posting, professional networking, and cohesive branding, we were able to build a growing audience around User_Unknown and gain valuable exposure both from players and individuals already within the games industry.