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Happy Sunday Techtopians. This week issue is a little different, we're talking with the team behind Astrarium Games, an independent game development organization that's reimagining how newcomers enter the video game industry. In this interview, we'll explore:

• How Astrarium Games provides volunteer opportunities for aspiring game developers

• The organization's approach to mentoring and professional development

• Ways they support out-of-work developers and recent graduates in building meaningful portfolios

Now, over to Astrarium Games!

Astrarium Games, an Independent Video Game Development and Publisher

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your company?

Astrarium Games is an independent video game developer and publisher, providing volunteer work for out-of-work developers, new graduates and anyone interested in joining the games industry. By volunteering a few evenings a week, we help developers to grow their portfolios, provide professional experience, advice and mentoring, networking and any other support that new developers are looking for to get their foot in the door, even helping them publish their own titles in the future.

What was your main inspiration for getting into your business?

I've been in love with the games industry for my entire career, and I especially love playing and creating independent, creatively driven projects, they really inspire me. It took me a year of night shifts in a supermarket after graduating before I was able to launch my first game myself, which got me my first paying studio job, and there are lots of talented people out there who need some help and motivation to get on the first rung of the ladder themselves. Astrarium is about giving people a chance to flex those creative muscles in a zero hour, low stress environment, and we are able to utilize this talent pool to create some really interesting titles.

How do you define success in your niche?

We are aiming to find success in two areas - to provide a strong network of developers and administrators who can provide projects for volunteers to help develop and inspire them to create their own projects in the future, and an established publishing pipeline with an extensive network of partners, social media and marketing strategies to not only launch our own games to success but to help publish other indie titles to success as well.

If you were to start again from scratch, what would you do differently?

I would have started networking much earlier in my career! One tough hurdle for a lot of game developers to overcome is understanding that success in this field is 50% developing a well-built, original and entertaining game and 50% marketing that game - and both require the same level of dedication and effort. While it's comfortable for some developers to close themselves off in their comfort zones and create something that they would love to play themselves, one very sad term in gaming is 'Hidden Gem' - a really good title with a lot of creativity and passion, that has been horribly marketed, or not marketed at all, therefore has been seen by no-one.

The games industry is saturated at this point, there are over 14,000 titles released on Steam every year, and over 80% of them have little to no marketing done to bring them to consumers' attention. The fallacy is that developers believe that a great game will do its own marketing, because people will be drawn to it ("Build it and they will come"). I want to make sure that part of our volunteering is to make sure that volunteers do what I didn't in my first few years, which is to build up their online profiles, engage and be engaged on social media and make sure that when they launch their first titles, that consumers will take notice.

What advice would you give someone just starting out with a similar development studio?

My main advice is that no-one succeeds alone. There are a lot of studio partnerships, funds and accelerators / incubators out there that are run by people who get their joy from helping new developers find their place in the industry. The games industry is rare in that everyone who works in the industry wants to be here. Passion and dedication is ubiquitous and growing your personal network is the key to success when it comes to growing your own studio. There is a culture of collaboration, and free advice and mentorship are always available if you know where to look.

How does your studio approach mentorship and skill development for volunteers who may be new to game development? Could you share an example of how a volunteer has grown their skills or launched a project through your support?

One key aspect of being a game developer is being self-motivated and driven. This is a highly competitive field that is in great demand, so aspiring developers have to be passionate and dedicated to succeed, and our volunteering program is based on this philosophy. We try to give everyone who applies an opportunity to contribute on a zero-hour, task-based schedule that is very similar to how a remote freelance role in the games industry would be. Once a volunteer has signed the NDA, we provide a non-binding document similar to an employment contract, which asks that volunteers let us know which days they would be willing to contribute time to a project.

Once they have chosen which fields they are interested in contributing in, they are assigned to a project that is underway, and are assigned tasks by a producer on the days they have stated they want to volunteer time. It's up to them to stay vocal and engaged with the team, and they are free to leave whenever they like. If they are dedicated, active on social media and with the team, and show skill in the work they are doing, then they can be promoted to senior and lead positions with more responsibility and more input on the projects.

If a volunteer has an idea they want to pursue, then our senior members with industry experience help them to flesh out their idea, reach out to volunteers who may be interested in collaborating on the project, and help build their team out to either develop and launch a project under Astrarium Games' banner, or form their own indie studio. We will offer marketing and launch support under a publishing contract for these studios, and help them start generating revenue.

Our entire studio is volunteer-driven, and has organically grown - we have hundreds (not exaggerating) of examples of talented, driven individuals who have transformed Astrarium into a hive of creative activity, and produced some truly incredible work that we are very excited to launch. I'm extremely proud of the entire team, and it personally drives me to continue growing this studio into something capable of assisting as many people as possible.

Beyond technical game development skills, what kind of networking and professional guidance does your studio provide to help volunteers build meaningful connections in the gaming industry?

One of the easiest, most accessible ways for developers to grow their brand and network effectively is on social media - I personally like LinkedIn and BlueSky for networking opportunities in gaming. A very simple thing is for volunteers to post in their online CVs that they are volunteering with Astrarium Games and list us as a professional reference. Beyond that, we try to put out regular posts that drive more people to notice us as a studio, and we have initiatives launching soon to showcase individual developers to help them grow their networks.

Apart from technical advice about development, I have given advice about how to refine ideas, the best structure for a one-page pitch document, and interview advice. I have also helped connect volunteers with recruiters at gaming recruitment sites and encourage other senior developers at Astrarium to do the same.

Where can people find you?

Here's our social media links and our website:

https://www.astrariumgames.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astrariumgames/

X: https://x.com/AstrariumGames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrariumgames/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@astrariumgames

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/astrarium-games.bsky.social