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The classic itch.io spike: How do you revive traffic after the initial launch?

A topic by Juba created 5 days ago Views: 259 Replies: 24

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to start a discussion about analytics and post-launch strategies. I've attached screenshots of the analytics for my two free browser games (a tower defense and a logistics tycoon).

As you can see, I got a nice spike in early October, but since then, it has settled into a very low flat line.

On paper, I know these numbers aren't bad for itch.io: I've had over 1,700 plays on one game and 650 on the other. I even got 33 comments and 50 collections, which shows some players really connected with them.

But looking at the daily graph flatlining is a bit demoralizing. It feels like the games have faded into obscurity.

My questions to the experienced devs here:

1. Is this drop-off completely normal for browser games on itch.io?

2. How do you decide when to keep updating a game that has plateaued versus just moving on to a new project?

3. Has anyone successfully revived traffic for an older game? (Maybe through big updates, Steam releases, or web portals?)

I would love to hear your thoughts or see your own graphs. Let's learn from each other's data!

CoderGenius725 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

1: Yes, dropping off is completely normal

2: I only work on one game, even though I have 13 projects.

3: This is mine *Weekly views*

Timeline:

Release: Late February: Some botted views involved, so off the graph.

April: Few views, no marketing

May: Itch.io community.

June - July: Consistent Marketing, lucky community post (~5k views on a release announcement that was not mine)

Early August: r/GameDeals and 50% off

Late October: Itching for Games 3

*The download metrics are not accurate

No money spent on ads, Steam releases, or followers.

CoderGenius725 days ago

You are doing good though. It took me 9 months to get the results you did in one month.

Wow, then you must be very successful when it comes to marketing—because since the game’s release date, I’ve never been able to get anywhere near those peak figures. Would you be willing to share anything about your marketing approach?

CoderGenius725 days ago (3 edits)

Firstly, please note that this is per week not per day.

That high August spike is ~40 views a day.

Secondly, reddit.com posts and certain jams can help a lot.

I used r/GameDeals, r/itch.io and r/GameBundles

Be careful though:

r/GameDeals: Limits to once per month, doesn't work for free games.

r/itch.io: You can't directly advertise, as it will do NOTHING.

r/IndieDev, r/gameDev, r/gaming: DON'T USE. They don't do anything unless you have a AAA game.

r/GameBundles: You need a bundle

You want a high general vistors and a low general post rate for any site you use. Low site visitors won't give enough traffic to posts, and too high general post rate for sites will lead to post burial. It definitely takes a few trys to get right.

Yes, yes, I realize the chart is on a weekly basis. There could be many reasons why our figures differ, so I’m not really hung up on that; your chart actually seems more reliable to me. If I were to switch my own traffic chart to a weekly view, it would look like an absolute disaster—it resembles a sheer drop-off. It’s as if no one who played the game ever came back, or perhaps my marketing efforts simply weren’t sufficient, causing everything to crash.

Regarding Reddit—sure, if you have an AAA-tier game, I’m certain you’d get great feedback, but for anything else, it seems like there’s hardly any chance. Do you make use of social media? Or, if your games are web-based, do you leverage other platforms that host browser games?

CoderGenius723 days ago

" Do you make use of social media? ": No, I stay off of all social media sites except reddit

"Or, if your games are web-based, do you leverage other platforms that host browser games?": I tried CrazyGames, but failed. I attempted too early.

"Regarding Reddit—sure, if you have an AAA-tier game, I’m certain you’d get great feedback, but for anything else, it seems like there’s hardly any chance. ": This is not true, except for huge subreddits

Focusing on one project and providing constant updates really helped.

So far, the only platform where I’ve managed to get any results is YouTube—though I’m not even sure if it’s worth the effort involved. A video with 2,000 views only generated 20 plays. Reddit seems to be the most useful platform here.

Honestly, X, TikTok, and Instagram just feel like shouting into a void.

CoderGenius721 day ago

I personally don't use these other platforms for marketing. I have heard that X is impossible to crack the algorithm, and is basically pay to win. The other 2 probably have certain other requirements.

I will say, if a "discovery site" is missing any of the following:

A way to see new or "new and popular" posts/games/projects
A relevant, functional search bar
Indexing: You can find your post via search

then it is a waste of time to post and requires thousands of followers.

CoderGenius725 days ago

Also: /t/6398595/mnus-three-plus is just dumb luck.

camelle-9973 days ago

Le site fait un bon travail en séparant les informations dans des sections claires, ce qui permet aux visiteurs de se concentrer sur les sujets qui les intéressent le plus. J’apprécie particulièrement les guides spécifiques à chaque appareil, car les procédures d’installation peuvent varier entre les smartphones Android, les ordinateurs et les téléviseurs connectés. Les informations sur les genres d’anime et les préférences linguistiques rendent également le contenu intéressant pour un large public de passionnés d’animation. Dans l’ensemble, Senpai Stream Hub propose une collection d’informations bien structurée pour les personnes qui s’intéressent aux animés et aux technologies de streaming.

https://senpaistreamhub.com/

CoderGenius723 days ago(+2)

Also, itch.db shows you where your game is in terms of tags, visibility score, and total games (Not my website)

This is your main game (Image at Bottom):

2.7 stars lowers your game visibility. Itch.io is extremely leaned towards 5 stars.
- I would help you with a rate, but your rating is off. Turn this toggle on:

You have no helpful tags
- 8 of your tags have you so far down, they are not helpful
- html5 is not a suggested tag
- You can still use 1 tag
- You change the tags to raise the rankings, not change the game.
Visibility score is 29
- This is OK
  - Most of the time, my game had a 26 Visibility
  - Got it up to 51 suddenly 2 days ago
Good job reaching top 2k games!

Actually, the reason my rating is low is that I initially shared the game in the wrong Reddit communities. Before the game had even been indexed, I suddenly received three 1-star ratings, which made for a disastrous start.

I’ve reorganized the tags and re-enabled the rating option.

By the way, thank you so much for your help—the information you provided has been truly useful to me.

Interesting replies in this topic! I haven't really managed to get my game to take off at all, tried a few reddit posts without much luck. Of course, there are loads of games looking to be played out there, so not surprising. :) Still, if anyone has any advice, I am all ears!

Most of the traffic comes from Reddit. Are you sure you’re targeting the right subreddits for your game?

Probably not!

At least that’s been my own experience. Where does most of the traffic for your game come from?

A few social media posts, I'd say.

Do the interactions on social media posts actually translate into plays on Itch?

For instance, I had a YouTube Short with 2,000 views and another video with 1,500 views, yet they only generated 30 visits to my Itch page.

In contrast, a post on Reddit brings in far more traffic. I’m not sure—perhaps this is just because I’m not very successful on social media.

Interesting. Like for you, the conversion rate for the social media posts have been pretty poor.

CoderGenius721 day ago(+1)

You got to be careful with those posts. reddit.com will provide no results with direct marketing in most cases.

I played your game (on Android)

Onboarding
Explain powerups, I thought they were bad to hit
Explain the boss, ended up losing instantly
Tried to redo the boss but reset the game
Is there only 3 levels?
UI
Confusing
Rotated 90 degrees from the game

High Score: ~7391?

To answer your questions:

1. Pickups: The red triangles are enemies. The round glowing objects (green/blue/gold) are pickups — hovering over them collects them. They are all good!

2. Boss & "3 Levels": The game is actually a roguelite with no end. You die, keep your Skill Points (SP), upgrade your tree, and try again. Level 3 is just the first boss. You get stronger every run!

3. Resetting: To keep your progress, always click "Next Run" after dying, not "New Game" (New Game wipes your run).

4. Mobile UI: You are 100% right. The game is designed for PC right now, and the forced rotation makes the UI too small on phones. I am actively working on a dedicated mobile update (v3.8.0) to fix the layout and touch controls.

Thank you, appreciate the feedback! The game is definitely clunky on phones, and there is not much in terms of onboarding besides the "How to play".

There are no retries, the game is structured as a 3 x 5 level run, with meta progress unlocked between runs (like a roguelike), and I certainly take your point that it is not sufficiently well explained. I aimed for it being progressively discoverable, and without tutorial boxes, but that might very well be something to change!

CoderGenius721 day ago

Also, this is why you market. To avoid this:

blenser41 day ago

I find a small update with a clear note about what changed helps more than a big relaunch. It gives existing players a reason to return and share it again.

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