Grow Your Game Dev Success Gradually

This is a conversation with Stephen Huang from @isto_inc. They made games such as "Get to Work" and "Atrio: The Dark Wild", each game more successful than the last. Sptephen tells his story and shares his best advice on how to grow your game dev success long term.

Links to my Guests

➤ On YouTube: @isto_inc

➤ Get to Work on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2706170/Get_To_Work/

➤ Atrio: The Dark Wild on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1125390/Atrio_The_Dark_Wild/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

0:52 - From Microsoft to making the first game

2:49 - Disjoint’s gameplay

4:28 - Paid mobile launch flop

6:25 - $30k total; hard lessons and humility

10:45 - Starting Isto Inc; choosing automation-survival (Atrio)

13:50 - Why picking a good idea is so hard

15:29 - Atrio architecture (Zenject)

17:58 - COVID, starting the YouTube

19:56 - Early Access launch

21:54 - A lucky break: Atrioc and the Xbox exclusive deal

23:58 - 1.0 goes a bit better

25:04 - Atrio postmortem: hook too abstract

26:06 - Art/style didn’t signal the automation audience

27:32 - "We didn’t validate early" (and why that hurt)

30:06 - Learnings for next time

34:36 - From Atrio to Get To Work; the key‑remapping fiasco

36:42 - Building Isto Core: reusable systems

40:35 - Pitching Atrioc: data, strategy, and a rage game idea

44:49 - How they got Atrioc to care (Reddit bits, rapport)

46:43 - Standing out in easy‑to‑make genres

49:44 - Get To Work explained: a flowy rage platformer

54:32 - Story focus and landing CDawgVA

01:02:06 - Skipping Next Fest for streamer momentum

01:05:55 - Wishlists via YouTube and what streamers value

01:12:00 - Launch plan: hold Atrioc; run a speedrun contest

01:14:36 - Designing the Hat sequence for streams

01:18:37 - Many paths to success; regional surprises (KR/China)

01:21:11 - 3‑part postmortem framework

01:25:57 - YouTube vs Steam

01:27:16 - Engineering the speedrun comp—and the viral video

01:32:33 - YouTube as insurance; leveraging big videos for sales

01:35:55 - Build your channel vs courting creators

01:47:08 - Short‑form vs long‑form videos

01:48:34 - The “Idea Gap”: from “cool” to “I must play this”

01:50:52 - Pivoting the next game; streamers as partners

01:54:25 - The four most streamable genres

01:58:58 - Next up: online co‑op multiplayer

02:01:17 - Think long‑term; add one big skill per game

02:05:28 - Closing

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ