gistfile1.md

The Viral Success of PIH 🐖

This was a quick interview with the dev

References

Steam Page SteamDB Instagram TikTok YouTube Shorts

Gameplay Snippet

From TikTok https://i.imgur.com/CRT5THp.gif

Explosion of Followers

From SteamDB https://i.imgur.com/M630z9r.png

Popular TikTok Vids

https://i.imgur.com/bOe0rdE.png

Popular Instagram Vids

From Inflact https://i.imgur.com/Yau2d4H.png

Q&A ⁉️

Question 1

  In the beginning, did you know your game/video was going to blow up?

Answer

  No, I had no idea it was going to blow up, but I knew I had something funny/weird (the PIH physics mechanic) that would be a good hook for short-form content.

Question 2

  What TikTok strategy did you use? (Because like 3 of your videos got millions of views 👀)

Answer

  I basically just posted random videos of the game from the beginning on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. No clear strategy at first, just gameplay videos.

Question 3

  Are hashtags really crucial for going viral?

Answer

  Hashtags aren’t crucial at all. I barely use them... maybe only a few videos out of hundreds.

Question 4

  Are YouTube Shorts even worth it compared to TikTok?

Answer

  YouTube Shorts are still really low in views, but Instagram is huge for me compared to TikTok. The conversions aren’t that great from Instagram though.

Question 5

  The videos that went viral, what made them go viral compared to your other videos?

Answer

  It all happened randomly. For example, on Instagram I got around 500k on one video after months of posting, but it didn’t impact sales much. What really made the game blow up was a TikTok where someone commented “dawg wth are you playing,” and then a bunch of meme pages posted it. Just a random video. I didn’t think much of it, I posted it, opened the app the next day, and it was viral. But I knew something would work eventually. You just have to keep posting. It took over 6 months for that TikTok to blow up.

Question 6

  Were you shitposting videos or did you originally have a plan?

Answer

  Just shitposting. In the beginning I didn’t even have “funny” or cringe descriptions, I was just posting “big pig on Steam” lol. I wanted to see what happens when you rely only on the hook (the “pig physics” mechanic). Plus I was focused on improving the game, so posting took only about 30 minutes a day.

Question 7

  Based on what you’ve learned about marketing the game, what would you do differently?

Answer

  In the beginning I posted 1 minute videos. But now I would post only 15 second ones. Other than that, not much I’d change.

Question 8

  Were there any videos that popped off that directly drove sales?

Answer

  Yeah, the one I mentioned in question 5. It’s the winter level video I have pinned on TikTok. That one directly drove sales.

Question 9

  Did changing the name from BIG PIG to PIH help at all? (Did it make it funnier? 😂)

Answer

  It actually hurt the game short term, but I had to do it even though I didn’t want to. I was getting too many warnings constantly. I even got warnings for using the pig emoji… pretty stupid.

Question 10

  Did the bad reviews about the name change bother you?

Answer

  I actually reached out to each person who left a bad review because of the name change. I managed to get more than half to change their review from negative to positive. I just explained the situation and asked them to judge the game based on the game, not the name.

Question 11

  The game supports VR… so are most of your users VR players?

Answer

  Actually, the game was supposed to be VR only lol. I launched the PC version because it was already part of the plugin I use to switch between the two, and it was easier for testing. Steam doesn't show this data, but from what I see, most people play on PC.

Question 12

  Does being in VR help with sales?

Answer

  I don’t think VR helps much. I’d release it without VR if I did it again. It’s just an extra headache for optimization and testing. I hate it.

Question 13

  Based on your success, is this a viable career for a solo indie dev?

Answer

  Definitely. I would say 100%.

Additional Comments 📝

Basically the most important thing is this: How do you deal with haters, trolls, etc.?

• You need a strategy for that.
  • It’s already so hard to make and launch a game, you can’t let people bring you down.
  • You need to prepare and not act defensively when they “roast” your game.
• Engagement is engagement, good or bad.
  • Most of the time I ignore them, but I’m glad they exist because it boosts the algorithm.
  • In the beginning I mostly got people making fun of the game, which is exactly when you need to keep going.
  • After you have real players and millions of views, it’s way easier to ignore haters.
  • But in the beginning I’ve seen people give up because of it. If the game is actually fun and people love it, I don’t care how many hate on it. That gets easier with traction.

And now some extra info on what I did: I tried to repeat the virality as much as possible.

• So I kept reposting the videos that went viral

  • Until TikTok actually restricted those videos and I had to wait months to post them again lol.

  • That’s the only reason I would stop posting a certain video.
  • If you have 4–5 videos that always go viral (which is random and impossible to predict), you can just repost them forever.

• Not only did I ignore haters, I started “roasting” my own game in descriptions and on video text. That helped a lot.

  • If you make fun of your own game, people will come in angry defending it because they don’t realize you’re the dev lol.
  • A lot of people comment without checking who posted the TikTok.
  • So that’s super important, not just ignoring haters, but using them in a positive way.

• Then I looked at what comments got the most likes, and I started using those exact words in my descriptions and text.

  • It’s guaranteed people will get the joke since the comment already had tens of thousands of likes.
  • For example, I never knew about the “pig physics” meme from OneyPlays, but once everyone mentioned it in the comments, I leaned into it.
  • So these are some ways to guarantee going viral repeatedly once you’ve done it once.

• In the beginning, quantity is more important than anything for TikTok/Instagram.

  • You need to find something viral, so the more you post, the faster you find it.
  • Then you improvise.

• And even then, some videos will get barely any views.

  • To this day, even after tens of millions of views total, some videos flop.

  Another thing to prepare for: Going viral once doesn’t mean it will happen over and over.

• After the first viral video, it would be nice if things got easier, but they don’t.

  • You have to manually keep momentum.
  • And even if you lose it, you can get it back.

• Overall, the mindset is what matters.

  • It’s a roller coaster, one day everyone goes crazy about your game, and the next month nobody cares.

I personally prayed a lot because I’m very religious. That helped me get through the rough parts, especially in the beginning.

Put together by: Simple Man
Idea by: Tarkos
Sponsored by: Jorge