The Day Before Launch: Scenario Planning for Indie Game Devs | Coffee With Butterscotch Ep583

In episode 583 of 'Coffee with Butterscotch,' the brothers are one day out from the How Many Dudes launch and walking through everything still in motion, from wishlist momentum and embargo management to Steam Deck verification and what the algorithm might actually do. They share how they're thinking through best and worst case scenarios, what lessons from Crashlands 2 are shaping their expectations, and how to stay sane when everything is out of your hands. "How Many Dudes?": https://howmanydudes.com 00:00 Cold Open 00:29 Introduction and Welcome 01:57 Pre-launch preparations and expectations 03:58 Tracking wishlists and launch momentum 06:01 Understanding platform algorithms and visibility 08:14 Managing embargoes and influencer coverage 10:09 Dealing with embargo breaks and public reactions 12:02 Impact of demo updates and new content 15:06 Community feedback and stereotypes in game content 18:56 Post-launch content and ongoing engagement 20:50 Leveraging short-form videos and social media 24:03 Viral content and audience engagement 30:02 Platform feature opportunities and challenges 33:02 Lessons learned and final advice for indie devs 41:44 Initial challenges with verification and wishlists 45:27 Audience demographics and regional differences 48:18 Comparing launch metrics: Crashlands 2 vs. How Many Dudes? 51:52 Managing launch day activities and team coordination 55:14 Handling community feedback and negative comments 01:00:17 Setting expectations and scenario planning for launch 01:07:09 Post-launch analysis and adjusting expectations Subscribe on YouTube:    / @coffeewithbutterscotch   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/1LxNEnk Chat with us on Discord:   / discord   Support the podcast: https://moneygrab.bscotch.net Looking for help making and publishing your own games? Check out LudoKit, the web service we're building to help us with our own games: https://ludokit.com #indiedev #gamedev #gamedevblog #gamedevelopment #steam #vedinad