"The Xsolla Partner Network": Promoting Your Game with Streamers
New Tool from Xsolla automates collaboration with streamers and video bloggers. How to use it is explained in our material.
It is commonly believed that on traditional platforms like Steam, algorithms mainly promote AAA titles. As a result, independent games have a harder time finding their audience. Therefore, it's not surprising that experienced developers are increasingly calling for a reevaluation of marketing strategies. For instance, the creators of Enter the Gungeon, which achieved commercial success thanks to streamers, advise indie developers to further promote their games through influencers, instead of relying solely on store algorithms.
The market has also responded to the interest of game studios in collaborating with streamers and bloggers, resulting in several tools for facilitating work for both parties. One such tool is the Xsolla Partner Network. This network allows developers to advertise their games with influencers through a revenue share model. The advantage of this model is that a studio can begin promotion at any time, even without a minimal budget.
We recommend launching affiliate programs for influencers both before and after the game's release. However, if your game is still in development, the ideal time to start an affiliate program is no later than a week before the release.
Product Marketing Manager, Partner Network
Xsolla allows the creation of affiliate programs and collaboration with an ever-growing international base of 4,000 influencers and 50 affiliate networks. We provide details on how to get started with the service and engage influencers in promoting your game.
Getting Started
Filling out the game profile is one of the necessary steps to start working with the Partner Network and creating a program for influencers. Developers need to:
- Specify the game's name and its genre.
- Add a description and a logo, which will be displayed on the influencer program details page. If the game is already on Steam, the necessary information for filling in the details can be automatically imported in a couple of clicks.
- Add a landing page for the game, to which tracking links will lead.
- Select the minimum number of subscribers for platforms (YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, etc.) and the percentage of sales that the influencer will receive for each attributed game purchase.
To make your program appealing to influencers and stand out from other offers, it's advisable to set the revenue share at no less than 30%.
Product Marketing Manager, Partner Network
The Key is to Engage the Influencer
Once it passes moderation, the program will appear in influencers' personal accounts. Upon launch, the proposal to work with the game will be automatically sent via email notifications to all influencers registered in the Partner Network.
Developers can create a partner network on their own domain (white label) and invite known influencers there—this way they will only see the developer's affiliate programs. This is convenient if the developer has an established community of influencers and several games for which they regularly create content.
In the Partner Network, developers can set any minimum number of subscribers necessary for content creators to participate in the program. It all depends on the marketing strategy: a game can be promoted through major content creators with a million-strong audience for maximum reach and visibility worldwide, or through micro-influencers with a small yet loyal subscriber base for dedicated players.
If you're releasing an indie game, micro-influencers—bloggers and streamers with a subscriber base from 1,000 to 100,000—are suitable. Research shows that micro-influencers have a more dedicated and loyal audience that trusts advertising integrations more than the audience of major bloggers.
Product Marketing Manager, Partner Network
Influencers receive a personalized weekly digest with the most attractive new partnership offers. If they are interested in the game and the offered sales percentage, influencers will start working through the Partner Network. They automatically receive the necessary promotional materials—access keys, promo codes, and tracking links—to include with their created content. In revenue share programs, influencers are motivated to create quality, sales-driven content about a game they find interesting, as the affiliate program can become a major source of income or a nice bonus for them.
Monitoring Results
The Partner Network allows developers to monitor the results of launched programs in real-time and highlights the most effective influencers who have driven the most sales. With multiple methods for identifying traffic sources, the tool helps developers accurately track each conversion using cookies, promo codes, and fingerprinting data. Content creators receive their share of the sales only when subscribers purchase the game.
As with all processes in the Partner Network, influencer payments are automated, so there's no need to worry about payment timelines, percentage calculations, and other formalities. Additionally, Xsolla handles all legal and tax matters, allowing developers to focus on improving their game and finding new channels to attract an audience.
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By connecting to the Partner Network, developers gain access to other Xsolla tools and services for publishing the game, such as the Site Builder, Login, and Launcher. These tools enable the release and promotion of games directly without intermediaries.
