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The big GMTK update post
🕑 Added 2021-11-16 08:24:30 +0000 UTCHello everybody. Hope you’re doing well.
So it’s been four months since I dropped this update video on y’all. In it, I talked about feeling burned out by GMTK, and my plans to fix that. Namely: continuing my interview series On the Level, documenting the process of making a game, and creating a podcast series for Design Icons.
So, I wanted to check in, let you know what’s been happening, and tell you what’s next! This is a bit long, so I’ll chuck a TL;DR at the bottom.
On the Level
First up, On the Level. This is a series where I play great video game levels, alongside the designers who created them - and we chat about how the levels were made. I’ve done episodes on The Last of Us, Ori, Dishonored, and It Takes Two.
Now, I think these videos are pretty cool because it’s information directly from the designer’s mouth. And the format is quite unique - a mix of let’s play, interview, and video essay.
Sadly, this series is proving really hard to get traction on YouTube. The three episodes I’ve done in 2021 have had the slowest growth of my videos this year, as seen in this chart which shows how many views a video has had in its first two weeks of life. OTL episodes are in red.�
Now, I have a hunch why this is. Interviews can be a tough thing to get people to watch, especially compared to the tightly edited, heavily scripted, laser-focused scripts of normal GMTK videos. So I’m assuming that people just get a bit bored of the videos, and click off. That’s a signal for the YouTube algorithm that people aren’t into this video, so YouTube doesn’t recommend it any further.
I tested this, by looking at the engagement stats for the same set of 12 videos. How many people were still watching these videos after 30 seconds? 3 minutes? 10 minutes?
Well! That’s pretty telling. There’s a pretty dang strong correlation between a video’s engagement and its ability to rake in views.
Now, this is a little sad because I spend so much time making these videos more engaging and better paced. I take a 1 to 2 hour conversation and reduce it to about 20 minutes by removing fluff, repetition, and “uhm”s and “ah”s. I reorder the conversation to build a better narrative, and re-record my questions to make the whole thing flow better.
But! At the end of the day, people will watch what they want to watch. And people are clearly signalling to me that these videos just aren’t as interesting as my normal content.
Now, as I always say, the numbers don’t drive what content I make - I make what I think will be interesting, useful, or important . But they do help me decide where to prioritise my time and how to package or format the content.
So, I’ll put On the Level on break for a bit and rethink it.
I could perhaps do a different format - for example, the Hitman 2 episode did indeed involve me interviewing the designers, but I used the interview clips sparingly and the video was mostly just me talking. That one’s fared a bit better, engagement and views-wise. (In fact, as I write this, I realised that the video's received over 1 million views! Wow!)
So perhaps I should ditch the “let’s play” aspect? Or edit it down even more? Not sure - we’ll see!
Design Icons Podcast
Okay, so this was an idea to reboot the beleaguered Design Icons series as a narrative podcast. This can be a very quick update, because I haven’t started this. At all.
It might have been one of those ideas that sounded really fun and exciting in the moment, but I lost interest over time. Or it might just be that I’ve been busy with the thing I’ll be talking about next.
Either way, this is still just something bouncing around in the back of my brain. I’ll maybe revisit it when I’ve finished with…
Developing
Aha! Now this is the real deal. So Developing is my series where I make my first (proper) video game, and document the process as I go. It’s a very different series for me, because it’s not about analysing existing games, and because I’m on camera for the first time.
And… it has been going so well! Unbelievably well! My metrics for what makes a good project are 1) I enjoy the process of making it, followed (a little distantly) by 2) people enjoy consuming it. And Developing has absolutely smashed it on both counts.
So, it turns out that I absolutely love game development. It’s just a million creative decisions all the time, and it’s such a joy to put into practice everything I’ve been learning these last seven years. I get so much enjoyment out of working on the game in Unity - and when I’m not working on it, I can’t stop thinking about the game! I’ve got it bad, y’all. So that’s metric one ticked.
Now, as you’ve seen above, my little passion projects and spin-offs (like On the Level and Design Icons) don’t always translate into YouTube success. But, so far, Developing has bucked that trend. The first two episodes, on learning Unity and building prototypes, have exceeded expectations and are completely comparable to normal GMTK videos in terms of views. Metric two, ticked.
I’m really proud of this because I’ve been working so hard to make Developing successful. I decided early on that the series wouldn’t just be a typical dev log / dev diary of “here’s what I coded this month”. Instead, it should be a story, with a proper narrative arc. It should provide general advice about creative work. And it should show the real icky ins-and-outs of the development process - with no hiding my mistakes (and solutions).
Also, the feedback has been incredible. I’ve had so many emails, DMs, and comments saying how Developing has inspired people to make games themselves. And I’ve had so many professional designers reach out with offers of support, help, or just well wishes. It’s bonkers.
I’m also very proud of the game! It’s funny - I’m not sure what’s most important, I make a good video series or I make a good game. But the game is going very well.
You’ll have to trust me though: Developing, as a YouTube series, has quite a big lag behind the actual development of the game. In the next episode (releasing late this week or early next), I’m talking about what I did way back in September - so the actual game is much further along.
In fact, I want to give you a Patreon-exclusive sneak peek of what the game looks like as of November 16th. Here’s a level from the game with much more polished art assets and everything. I hope you’ll agree that it’s looking more and more like a real video game!
The only downside of Developing is that it takes a lot of time to make a game. So that is slowing me down. But I think it’s worth it. This is some of the best content I’ve ever made, I’m having an absolute blast doing it, and I’m 100% sure that this whole process will make me better at analysing games when I get back to GMTK.
It is wins all round, and as long as you’re okay supporting me while I work on this, we’ll be golden.
GMTK Burn out
So, in the original update video I explained that there are two aspects to my YouTube channel that keep it so engaging and enjoyable for me. One is learning (both video editing and game design) and the other is challenge (getting lots of views, subscribers). When I hit a million subscribers in late 2020, I felt like the challenge had gone. And the more I thought about it, I realised I wasn’t learning as much anymore, either about editing or game design.
So, have I fixed this? Emphatically: yes. And it’s 100% down to Developing.
I now have new challenges. I care about how these videos are doing because I know, from experience, how hard it is to get a new spin-off series to find success. So I’m having to work really hard to win people over, through my editing, my story-telling, and the quality of my game. It’s so satisfying when it works.
I also have a challenge to make a good video game! I’m not quite sure what targets I’ll set for that. I still don’t know if this thing will be a freebie on itch.io or be on sale on Steam. But I do have my own personal targets for the game’s quality, and its hitting them!
And in terms of learning - oh my god, it’s endless. On the one hand, I’m learning how to make videos where I’m on camera. I’ve learned so much about how cameras work, and about how to present without following a set script, and how to edit conversational footage. And on the other hand, I’m learning incredible amounts about game development. From specific things in Unity, to more abstract lessons about creativity and design. I have so much more to learn and I’m really excited.
Oh, and I guess there was actually a third aspect to job satisfaction that I maybe missed before, and that’s being proud of what I make. And I suppose that had dipped a bit too. It’s not like the videos got worse or anything, it’s just that I had gotten use to my own ability to make videos. I was no longer impressed or surprised by what I produced. I’ve made 100 episodes of GMTK, after all!
But with Developing, I get to feel immensely proud of the new video format. And proud of this game - because I genuinely didn’t know I could do it! Every new level, every new thing I code, every new sprite I draw gives me a fresh sense of “oh wow, I guess I can actually do this!”. And that feeling is potent.
And so, the short of it is that right now, I’m feeling like I did in the early years of GMTK. When I was at my most excited, engaged, and enthused about the channel. And that’s because I’m back to being challenged, back to learning, and back to feeling proud!
All in all, I think we can say that this was a success.
And a success for speaking out, I suppose. I was nervous to talk about my burn out. Part of me didn’t want people to know I was a bit bored of GMTK - why would you (financially) support a creator who wasn’t passionate about the stuff they were making? Maybe I should just keep quiet and hope no one notices?
But, of course, that’s not the right move. It was so much better to say “I have a problem with GMTK”, suggest some solutions, and try them. And, to my great delight, one has worked. That’s better for me and better for you.
Other videos
Like I said before, the only downside of this is that Developing doesn’t leave me much time for other videos…
Though, I am proud of how I was able to make the Metroid Dread video in the midst of it all. That video required a lot of work and analysis, and multiple playthroughs of the game, and I was able to release it just 20 days after the game was released.
Plus, it did give me a chance to take a break from developing the game, which is important. I know full well how I can get completely stuck into a new creative project and burn myself out fast by working every waking second. And so having to force myself to put Unity down for two weeks while I worked on Boss Keys was definitely a good thing.
As such, I’ll definitely still be doing other types of videos during this process. Besides, I feel excited to return to normal GMTK videos now, and that sense of boredom has gone. It’s almost like taking breaks from creative projects is a good thing! Who’d have thunk it! Someone tell the games industry!
And this is good timing, because December is when I do some annually recurring videos. There’s my “most innovative game of the year” series, which I’ve done every year since 2015. I’m not missing that! And we’ll see about a new instalment of my “how accessible were this year’s games?” series. I'm a bit behind on new releases, but that's always a fun video. No promises but I'll try.
So, anyway. I want to say a massive thank you for sticking with me during all this. I hope you're enjoying the new content!
I plan to do some Patreon-exclusive content soon to reward you. I apologise that that stuff has also slowed down a bit because of Developing. If there’s any specific content you’d like to see, let me know.
For now, though, I’ve got to get to work on episode three of Developing! See you soon.
TL;DR - On the Level is going on hiatus for a while and I haven’t started the Design Icons podcast. However, Developing has been going incredibly well and has single-handedly cured my GMTK burn out. Episode three is coming very soon, and then I’m working on at least one of December’s annual videos.
Comments
Celes
Regarding OTL: From my perspective the YouTube algorithm is at fault as well because some videos aren't even popping up in my recommended list. e.g. the latest Boss Keys was featured pretty prominently, but the OTL videos were not. Also from my personal experience as someone with a serious pile of shame problem, I tend to not watch things that may spoil something. I still have to finish all three games you featured in OTL so I will not watch them before that. More general videos or Boss Keys don't spoil anything so I watch them immediately. Maybe the almighty algorithm is aware of that. Who knows?
Mark M
Glad to hear changing things up has helped you! I think it's important for a creator to follow their passions rather than what they think an audience wants. I've really enjoyed Developing so far and am looking forward to more.
Benj
I can see why people might not be jumping into On The Level, but I've been finding them very interesting.
Mark Gould
I really enjoy these longer blog posts. All of the information here was very interesting to me and it's really cool to see this kind of behind the scenes stuff.
+1 On not watching all On The Level videos due to wanting to play the games first. It's a good incentive for me to do so though
John Roebuck
Like I've seen others here say, my views will be added to the On The Level videos once I've finished the games (or decide that I probably won't be playing them ever).
Game Maker's Toolkit
Good feedback, cheers!
Jason K
Hi Mark - I know you probably don't read all the comments, but on the off-chance you see this one, I wanted to clarify an important point about video viewership. In your post, you wrote a lot about how viewership numbers are a factor that influences your decisions on which types of videos to produce. However, I think the reason I - and many others - have decided to support you on Patreon is exactly because I *don't * want you to feel encumbered by the YouTube algorithm. I want to support you directly so that your focus doesn't have to be on making videos that will get the most views, but on making videos that you think are interesting and give you satisfaction. Now, that's not to say that you can't consider the metrics at all, but I also hope you understand that, speaking generally for this community, we want you have the creative freedom to do what you want. That's why we're here. Thanks for this update, and I'm looking forward to the next Developing video!
Lily W
Regarding On The Level, I think doing more videos like the Hitman one would work well, but I also think the longer OTL interviews would work well as an audio-only podcast. I don't think there's much lost from having to explain what's happening on screen as opposed to showing it in a video, and I assume it'd be slightly lower cost at least for editing. Plus that way if it stays a less popular series than the others, it wouldn't hurt your overall channel metrics
Even slightly older games such as Jedi Fallen Order, or something from the Halo series
Totally agree with the other posters about OTL. As a level designer myself, I find the information completely invaluable, and I learn and I'm inspired by every episode. It is going to be more of a niche audience in general for that type of video, but like others have said, I find myself waiting to watch them until I've played that game because I don't want the spoilers. No one is going to complain when you "spoil" a game mechanic, but levels are the way that games tell stories, and if people haven't played the game, they don't want narrative beats or puzzle solutions spoiled for them. I would love to see if you can wrangle up some interviews for levels from older, more classic games.
Mustafa Haddara
I’m sad to see OTL go— I quite enjoyed it —but I understand why. I’m looking forward to more episodes of Developing, and I’m really glad to hear that it’s been going so well!
Mark van der Salm
It's wonderful to read that the Developing series is helping combat the GMTK burnout! I've enjoyed both episodes thoroughly and am eagerly waiting for the next instalment. You mention the narrative structure of the series and contrast it with the "dev blog" style. I'm really glad you're doing it the way you're doing, because both videos have a clear message and they really teach something related to game development, instead of, as you say, just talking about what you built this month. That makes the videos feel like proper GMTK videos despite the different topic. I love it! Keep being awesome! P.S. I hope you're enjoying married life 😄
Virak
Oh, I'd be excited to see your game on Steam! I imagine that the "getting my game on Steam" process isn't 100% straight-forward and can probably an episode all its own. Maybe can even make an episode about the virtues of having a game demo (instead of relying on Steam's 2-hour/2-week refund policy).
Virak
Oh wow, I think you nailed it on the head for what was happening to me too. I didn't know how to put it into words but that's a big part of it.
I have no idea if this is helpful or not, but for whatever reason, my brain tells me that there's no point in watching On the Level videos for games I haven't played. It feels like a deep dive into something I don't really have the context to appreciate. I sort of had a similar reaction to boss keys. There's other videos that *are* deep dives into specific games, like "How the Nemesis System Creates Stories", but for whatever reason I see that and don't feel the same need to have played Shadow of Mordor to watch the video - my brain assumes you'll give me all the foundation I need to understand and appreciate the subject (which you of course do, you King of Kings). I don't think that's necessarily *true* of the videos, but it's my perception and is the reason the last two On the Level videos are the the only GMTK videos of the past year I haven't watched.
Kai Lancaster
As others have said, glad to hear the new direction is working out for you! I've really enjoyed the On the Level videos (and have recommended them to students), but similarly to other people I wonder if I'd have been as engaged if I hadn't played the game featured. I think your videos work particularly well for me when they pose a particular question that they set out to solve. The introductions to the videos always do a great job of making me curious about a particular element of game design, which pretty much guarantees I'll always be curious enough to watch to the end. I wonder if the On the Level videos would engage more people if they were pitched in a similar fashion, e.g. 'how does (x game) create/use ____ in its level design'. I think they're excellent videos anyway so I hope you find a way to keep them going!
Tomas Gimenez
The only video I watched from On the Level is the one about Dishonored because I don't think I'll end up playing that game. However, after watching the video I fell in love with its level design and added it again to my To-play list! I get that On the Level may not be the most popular series, but I really hope you don't drop it, as there is a lot to learn from them!
Tomas Gimenez
On the Level and Developing might be my two favorite video series! I personally love level design as it is the section of game design I enjoy learning the most! Nevertheless, I've also got the bad luck that you chose all levels from games I haven't played yet but want to play in the future, and there is no way to do those kinds of videos without spoiling how the level works.
I would offer a counterpoint to your analysis for why your On the Level videos are being viewed less... For me, while I appreciate this type of lengthy in-depth video and want it to exist, I have avoided these particular videos (for now) because they are ALL for games I have not played yet and I don't want to spoil the experience by seeing a detailed breakdown of a level before I've had a chance to explore it myself. So these videos go in the Watch Later list until such time as I actually play these games. I hope you do continue making these types of videos, but one suggestion I would make that could help, at least for this specific situation, is to focus the level design series on less recent games so there's a higher chance that most of your audience will have played them so no danger of spoilers + bonus nostalgia.
Bryan Gillis
Some personal feedback on On the Level: This seems to hit a different circuit in my brain compared to more analytical videos, where I find myself making the judgment before watching, "Have I played this level myself? If not, I probably won't understand it well enough to follow." Whereas with the more analytical videos, you've built up enough trust in me from past experience that I know I'll be able to follow it well enough regardless.
For On the Level, rather than rather than editing it down even more, my suggestion would be to go in the opposite direction and lean harder into the let's-play angle. See, as it is right now, it's quite easy to tell that it's not a real conversation - your own lines sound scripted and the whole thing feels heavily edited. Which is great for making it flow better and making it all more easily digestible, but it also gives off this impression that you HAD a conversation with this person, but you've artificially re-created it for us. I think more people would be interested in seeing the raw conversation as it actually happened - even if it would be longer and not as well-paced as the edited stuff. Cut out the boring parts by all means, but otherwise, if you were to keep editing to a minimum and treat it more like a podcasty-type thing where you just play games and chat with game design people, maybe that would do better? Obviously that's very different from anything else you've done on GMTK, but if you do decide to continue OTL, that's what I would be most interested in seeing.
your On The Level videos might be not so popular vewer-wise because they're mostly interesting and highly valuable for a small target audience such as level designers or wanna-be's. you've gathered an enourmous audience with different interests and it's really hard to please every lat one of the viewer at this point) if you;'re really interested in the series you might do it for this small audience just from time to time because it would be highly apreciated)
Game Maker's Toolkit
Good plan, I'll see what I can do!
Game Maker's Toolkit
Don't feel guilty - that's good feedback and not at all weird. I know that feeling well, to enjoy a thing for specific people. I've definitely skipped podcasts because my favourite host wasn't available that week!
Tom Stuart
I must confess that I don’t watch the OTL episodes. I feel guilty about that now! But it’s not because of the quality of the content — how would I even know how good they are if I haven’t watched them? The embarrassingly basic reason is that I come to GMTK to hear & see Mark, so I’m just not as interested in videos with other people in them. That sounds weird when I write it down, but brains are weird. It’s not just GMTK; I also skip episodes of my favourite podcasts when they have (atypical) guest/interview episodes, because the regular hosts are what I show up for. I think this is probably a mistake because I’m clearly missing out on some great content and I should just get over the instinct to pass over anything with unfamiliar faces or voices, but it’s hard to be rational when there’s so much good stuff out there waiting to be clicked on. Anyway, sorry they haven’t been more successful, and sorry for being a tiny part of the reason for that. Developing is just fantastic and I’m so excited to see more of it. Good luck.
Dominik Bartsch
For Patreon exclusive content an idea: how do you produce your new videos? Are you just capturing every second of code and the cut this down tremendously? Or are you "faking" some things by redoing it? Something in between? How do you find the narrative? How do you record your talking head shots, ... Just again some behind the scenes ;)
Lovely to hear your progress and how you adapt and deal with finding the right focus & perspective to get the gears going and the creative juices a'flowing... There is so much to have fun with in game development! The possibilities are endless. Can't wait to see what you've learned and applied to the game and I am particularly interested to know more about your camera equipment! I still struggle with showing myself on camera and I think I just don't have the right gear or setup! Massive appreciation and respect for you doing you as always Mark!
Glad to hear everything in this update, Mark. I'm relieved that you're finding new ways to love your work; we should all be so fortunate. Sorry that On The Level isn't getting the traction it deserves, because like all your content it's informative, entertaining, and very high quality. I'm a non-games developer, but I still reference your videos on accessibility to help raise visibility on this stuff in our product. Looking forward to whatever shows up next.
Ryan Aston
My thoughts, for whatever they're worth - I don't know how much value there is in getting caught up with the metrics, over just making the content you want. The better metric would be what brings in, and keeps people, on Patreon, versus what YouTube says is being watched. For one, there's been a trend of people using youtube-dl/yt-dlp to download videos to watch later instead of ON YouTube, and subsequently those aren't metrics YouTube's system can track. This is especially an issue with longer videos, where people don't have the time to necessarily watch on YouTube but can save to watch on their phones or tablets or whatever later. Blah blah I'm really enjoying your current output, keep up the great work, do whatever makes you happy and I'll keep supporting it
Naryoril
Speaking as someone who usually watches all your videos: I only finished 2 of the On the Level videos. Namely the first of them (don't remember which one it was) and the one of the game i played (It Takes Two). To me, watching people talk about a level of a game i haven't played simply isn't that interesting. Yes, it's very interesting if i actually did play the game, but otherwise it's a pretty boring affair, even though some of the stuff talked about is actually interesting, it's buried in too much uninteresting stuff. That said, i'm also someone who doesn't see the appeal in let's play videos, or rather, i only see the appeal in very specific circumstances (e.g. i like watching people play Gothic 1 or 2 for the first time). I'd rather play the game myself than wasting time others watching playing a game. But clearly, A LOT of people like watching let's play videos, even though i can't fathom why.
Blackreach
I love On the Level (although haven't got round to watching the It Takes Two one yet; probably still smarting because my wife gave up playing the game with me after only a couple of levels)! I really hope it will return in some way in the future!
