The Community Manager Who Teaches You How to Survive Your Own Fandom
When gaming community manager Bria Davis describes fandom as an ocean, she's not being poetic — she's being practical. Drawing from years of managing Discord servers and navigating fan expectations, Davis reveals why gaming's approach to community management offers crucial lessons for brands aspiring to build passionate audiences. From defining true fandom to managing its unpredictable waters, her insights show what actually works in modern community building — and what can go catastrophically wrong.
Don’t worry about marketing your game yet.
Be different and indifferent—it's the whole reason you're independent in the first place.
Your audience isn't on Steam (and that's ok)
For artists making culturally ambitious games, the conventional wisdom of "just get on Steam" isn’t the whole story.
While Steam represents the largest PC gaming marketplace, its algorithms favor established genres and heavy users—creating fundamental mismatches for experimental work. This piece explores alternative distribution strategies that prioritize direct audience relationships and cultural ambassadorship over algorithmic optimization.
Why Your Game Marketing Campaign Feels Like a Full-Time Job (And How to Fix It)
The mythology of overnight indie game success creates unrealistic expectations about marketing. Most developers follow three exhausting paths: complete self-reliance, platform proliferation without strategy, or hiring external help with unrealistic expectations. The hidden costs of marketing campaigns often consume more time than doing everything yourself, but strategic planning can fix this.