Game Marketing
Budget Estimator
Input five variables. Get a data-backed spend estimate — channel breakdown, benchmarks, and strategic guidance calibrated to your game's platform, genre, and stage.
INPUT 01 / 05
What platform are you targeting?
Platform determines your entire marketing approach. PC, mobile, and console require very different strategies, channels, and budgets.
PC / Steam
Wishlists, Steam launch, influencer-driven
Mobile
iOS & / or Android — UA driven
Console
PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
What genre is your game?
Genre affects competition, audience size, which channels perform best, and how much paid media spend it takes to cut through.
Where are you in development?
Timing shapes your campaign structure significantly. Starting marketing earlier compounds results — but the spend profile changes at each stage.
Early Dev
12+ months from launch. Build foundations and audience now.
Pre-Launch
3–12 months out. Build wishlists and ramp paid channels.
Launch Window
Within 3 months. Maximum spend, maximum visibility.
Post-Launch
Already live. Drive sales through updates and events.
How much have you invested in development?
This helps calibrate a starting point — but your marketing budget is not fixed by your dev cost. A game made cheaply can still justify significant marketing investment if the commercial ambition is there. Use this as a baseline, not a ceiling.
Under $30KSide project / solo dev
$30K – $100KSmall indie team
$100K – $300KFunded indie
$300K – $750KEstablished studio
$750K+AA territory
How will you run your marketing?
This affects how we size your budget. The more you handle in-house, the lower the cost — but specialist expertise in paid media, influencer management, and campaign timing typically delivers significantly better results per pound spent. Most indie developers without a dedicated marketing team benefit from more agency involvement than they expect.
Agency manages everything
Strategy, paid media, creative, influencers, PR — handled end-to-end. You focus on the game.
Agency leads, we help
Agency owns paid media, influencers, and strategy. Your team handles community, social, and day-to-day comms.
We lead, agency advises
Your team runs the campaign. Agency sets strategy, activates key channels, and provides expert oversight.
Why this matters: Campaign timing expertise — knowing when Next Fest creates a multiplier effect on every paid channel, when to hold budget back, when to ramp — typically determines 40–60% of campaign performance. An experienced team makes that call. The budget figures below reflect the realistic cost of achieving the output, not just the media spend alone.