Profiling and Memory in Unity and Unreal | Start Mentor Workshop
This video provides an in-depth guide to profiling in Unity and Unreal Engine, led by Start Mentor Sidney. The session covers the philosophy of performance, practical tool demonstrations, and strategies for maintaining optimization throughout the development lifecycle. Key Topics Covered Performance as a Feature: Why you should profile early, often, and directly on-device to avoid last-minute optimization hurdles. Unity Profiler Deep Dive: Understanding the Timeline and Hierarchy views to diagnose CPU usage and identify bottlenecks. Memory Management: Using the Unity Memory Profiler to track allocated memory, identify leaks, and manage resource pressures like render textures. Unreal Engine Insights: Navigating the “Epic way” of profiling, including how to handle Unreal's multi-threaded architecture and graphics settings for mobile VR. Automated Testing: An introduction to automated performance testing frameworks to streamline your optimization workflow. This session was recorded in May 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:05 – Introduction and Speaker Background 00:43 – The Importance of Profiling: Performance as a Feature 01:12 – Pro-tip: Profile Early, Often, and on Device 05:09 – Unity Profiler: Timeline and Hierarchy Views 09:01 – Diagnosing CPU Issues and Editor Noise 10:08 – Unity Memory Profiler: Snapshots and Leaks 14:18 – Unreal Engine Optimization Philosophy 17:12 – Unreal Insights: Tracing and Thread Analysis 18:53 – Automated Performance Testing Frameworks 📚 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ➡️ Developers Blog ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon. 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today.
Start App Showcase: First Time User Experience & Onboarding
In this workshop, mentors from the Meta Horizon Start program discuss the critical importance of onboarding in VR games. They showcase four titles from the Start community—Cubism, Laser Dance, Loop One: Done, and RC Pilot Trainer—to illustrate how developers can effectively teach mechanics while keeping players engaged from the very first minute. Key Takeaways The “First Five Minutes” Rule: Most players are lost within the first five to ten minutes; developers must make their games both easily understandable and fun immediately. Time to Interaction & Reward: A successful onboarding experience focuses on minimizing the time it takes for a player to perform their first interaction and receive their first reward. Simplicity and Progression: Starting with trivial, guided tasks reduces cognitive load and builds player confidence before introducing complex mechanics. MR-Specific Challenges: Onboarding in mixed reality must account for the player’s physical environment; successful games integrate room setup directly into the experience rather than relying on system-level menus. Instructional Modality: Providing instructions through multiple channels—such as text, narration, and visual cues—improves accessibility and ensures players with different learning styles can follow along. This session was recorded in April 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:05 - Workshop Introduction and Agenda 01:01 - The Importance of Onboarding in VR/MR 03:01 - Case Study: Cubism & Laser Dance Fastest path to the core game loop Using initial inputs for room centering and setup Level progression: from trivial to guided 15:39 - Case Study: Loop One: Done Native MR room calibration to reduce friction Combining written and narrated instructions Rewarding players with audio and visual feedback 23:27 - Case Study: RC Pilot Trainer Immediate immersion with minimal UI Retention-driving features vs. complex controls 28:08 - Q&A: Skipping Tutorials and Returning Players 32:54 - Closing Remarks 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Cubism ➡️ Laser Dance ➡️ Loop One: Done ➡️ RC Pilot Trainer 📚 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ➡️ Developers Blog ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon. 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today.
Intro to Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer | Horizon Start Mentor Workshop
In this video, Start Mentor Sidney provides a comprehensive introduction to the Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer, a diagnostic tool designed to help developers identify and address performance bottlenecks in VR, AR, and MR applications. The talk covers everything from initial setup and system requirements to advanced analysis modes like “What If” testing, offering practical advice on how to integrate these tools into regular development workflows. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 0:00 - Introduction 1:18 - Installation and System Requirements 2:00 - Core Features: Bottleneck Analysis 2:52 - Advanced Testing: What If Analysis 4:29 - Optimization Principles and Diagnostic Work 5:33 - Workflow Integration: Level Development 6:43 - Workflow Integration: Feature Development 7:49 - Workflow Integration: Main Project Integration 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Design with a Retention-First Mindset | Growth Series, Part 4
In this final session of the growth series, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Tevfik discusses how to transition from simply gaining views and installs to building a lasting player base through a retention-first design mindset. The presentation highlights the unique nature of VR as a social space where players return not just for gameplay, but for belonging and self-expression. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction to growth series part 4: Retention-first design 00:43 - Defining the problem: Why growth without retention is just “churn.” 02:44 - VR as a “place”: Understanding why players return to socialize and show off 03:28 - The Retention Triangle: Direction, Identity, and Return 03:48 - Part 1: Direction—Implementing social daily challenges 04:30 - Part 2: Identity—The power of avatars, cosmetics, and visibility 05:41 - Case study: The success of the indie social VR game Blob Town 06:26 - Part 3: Return—Creating habits through weekly resets and update rewards 07:13 - The importance of “Social Moments” and the 3-second reaction rule 08:36 - Practical systems: Using "Drop Codes" to drive returns and community growth 10:55 - The Full Loop: Social moments as the engine for the player journey 12:34 - Action Items: Homework for implementing retention systems in 7 days 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Turn Social Views Into a Lasting Community | Growth Series, Part 3
Are you struggling to turn viral VR views into an active, lasting community? In this session of the Meta Horizon Start program’s Growth Series, Meta Horizon Start Mentor and experienced VR developer Tevfik dives deep into the shift from simple visibility to true player retention in social VR games. Learn why most VR games fail not because they are bad, but because they disappear after the first impression. Tevfik shares a comprehensive five-step system to build a dedicated player base, covering everything from creating roles and moderator grinding to leveraging live streams, content creator programs, and consistent community events. Discover how to transform your VR game from just an experience into a thriving social system. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction and Background in Social VR 01:02 - The Retention Problem in VR Development 01:44 - Shifting Focus to Human Progression and Community 02:27 - Step 1: Creating Identity and “Original Gangster” (OG) Roles 03:55 - Utilizing Early Access and Founders Bundles 04:32 - Step 2: Progression through Moderator Grinding 06:27 - Step 3: Establishing Presence via Live Streaming 07:36 - Step 4: Implementing a Content Creator Program 09:11 - Step 5: Hosting Consistent Community Events 10:01 - Case Study: Breaking CCU Records with a DJ Event 11:07 - Summary: Building Your VR Game as a Social System 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Overdraw Best Practices
Overdraw is a silent performance killer in VR development. In this workshop, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Sidney breaks down what overdraw is, why it drains GPU resources, and how to fix it in Unity. Learn why relying on Unity’s default settings (like a 1KM draw distance) or the SRP batcher isn’t enough to prevent overdraw. Sidney walks through practical, simple solutions including smart level design, utilizing occlusion culling (especially for indoor scenes), and leveraging the Unity Frame Debugger to catch pixel fill issues early in the greybox phase. The session also covers the specific challenges of overdraw in procedurally generated levels. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome & Introduction to Overdraw 00:15 - Speaker Intro: Sidney (Angelsin) 01:14 - Defining Overdraw and the Rendering Pipeline 02:08 - The Performance Impact of Overdraw 02:50 - Unity's Role and Limitations in Handling Overdraw 03:19 - Risks of Mesh Combining and Dynamic Objects 04:03 - Demonstrating Overdraw with Scene and Debug Tools 06:15 - Reducing Overdraw: Adjusting Draw Distance 07:55 - Reducing Overdraw: Occlusion Culling 08:21 - Overdraw Challenges in Procedural Generation 09:10 - Using the Frame Debugger for Optimization 10:10 - Conclusion and Summary of Best Practices 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Unity Frame Debugger: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/FrameDebugger.html ➡️ Unity Occlusion Culling: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/OcclusionCulling.html 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
How I Turned VR Views Into a Real Community
A lot of VR developers today are getting views. TikTok clips go viral. Funny gameplay spreads. People watch. But then…Nothing happens. No players. No community. No retention. I’ve been there too. So instead of guessing, I started building a system inside my own VR projects to turn views into an actual community. This is what actually worked. I reached ~500 members in the first 3 months as a solo developer—and it’s still growing. And in this blog post, I will show you how! The Hard Truth Most VR games don’t fail because they are bad. They fail because they disappear after the first impression. You might even go viral and still end up with zero players. Because: Views don’t stay. Systems do. The Core Idea Views don’t convert by themselves. You need progression for humans, not just gameplay. Think of your community like a game: Players should join → progress → earn → belong Step 1 — The OG Hook (Early Identity) When I started: I posted short clips (simple, raw, not perfect) I pushed one message: “Join now and become an OG.” And early joiners got: OG Discord role Early identity Insider feeling 👉 Why this worked: People don’t join communities. They join identity. Step 2 — Moderator Grind Next, I introduced something very important: 👉 A Mod Role to grind for Players could earn it through activity Contribution = status Now, Discord wasn’t just a chat. It became a place where you can level up socially. Step 3 — Exploit Platform Behavior (Live Streams) This was one of the biggest breakthroughs. Instead of only posting videos, I created a constant presence. Long YouTube live streams Even automated replays Always something “happening” Why this works: Platforms reward presence, not perfection. 👉 YouTube pushes live content heavily 👉 VR gameplay is perfect for passive watching Your game becomes something people run into, not search for. That changes everything. Step 4 — Content Creator Program Then I built this system: Content Creator → Post a video Elite Creator → 1,000 views Gold Creator → 5,000 views Rewards: Roles Cosmetics Recognition Players stopped being just players. They became: Creators, marketers, and community leaders Step 5 — Live Events = Real Conversion Finally, I focused on something most devs ignore: 👉 Live moments I ran: Playtests DJ events Movie nights Discord hangouts At one point, I noticed something interesting: When nothing was happening, nobody joined. The moment something live started, people showed up instantly. Because VR is not content. VR is presence. People don’t join because your game looks cool. They join because: Something is happening right now, and they don’t want to miss it. The Real System (Simplified) What I ended up building was this: Content → Identity → Progression → Creation → Events → Community Each step feeds the next. The Mistake Most VR Developers Make Most developers do this: Post update Share feature Drop the Discord link But players don’t care. Because: There is no identity No progression No reason to stay What Actually Works If you want to turn views into a real VR community: Give early identity (OG roles) Add community progression (mod/status grind) Use platform advantages (live streams) Turn players into creators via Content Creation Programs Create live moments both in Discord & Game (events) Final Thought Your VR game is not just a game. It’s a social system. And if you design it right, you don’t need to chase players anymore. Your community brings them to you.Crafting Social Content Players Want to Watch (Growth Series Part 2)
Hosted by Tevfik • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview As developers, we often assume that posting game updates or announcing new features will naturally excite our community and attract new players. The reality is that standard development content rarely travels far online. To achieve true organic growth, your game needs to be more than just fun to play—it needs to be fun to watch. In this session, VR developer Tevfik explains the core principles of “watchability” and how to design mechanics that naturally encourage players to create and share clips of your game. Watch this part: 00:00 The Problem with Traditional Updates When you push an update, the real question isn’t “What feature did we add?” but rather, “Would someone send a clip of this update to a friend?” If the answer is no, your game will struggle to spread on social media. Successful social VR games recognize that their community is their most powerful marketing engine, and they design their gameplay to fuel that engine. Watch this part: 01:00 What is Watchability? Watchability is the secret sauce that turns gameplay into shareable content. Watchable gameplay consistently creates moments that are: Surprising Emotional Funny Chaotic When these four elements combine, players naturally want to hit record. Watch this part: 01:45 Designing for Clips: Three Key Elements 1. Social Chaos Unpredictable player interactions create the best content. Mechanics that lead to physics accidents, unexpected teamwork, hilarious betrayals, or genuine panic (like monsters that kill you instantly) result in players screaming and laughing. These moments are incredibly entertaining for viewers, not just the players experiencing them. 2. Emotional Reactions VR is a uniquely powerful medium for content creation because player reactions are highly visible through avatar body language. When a player experiences panic, laughter, or surprise, viewers instantly understand the emotion of the moment. Strong avatar expressiveness amplifies this effect. 3. The Stage Effect Great social VR environments function like performance stages. By providing the right tools and spaces, players will naturally perform stunts, tell jokes, complete challenges, and create memorable social moments. They transition from simply being players to becoming content creators inside your game. Watch this part: 04:00 Building the Viral Loop and The Watchability Test When you successfully implement watchable mechanics, you create a powerful viral loop: A unique gameplay moment occurs -> A player records a clip -> The clip spreads online -> New players discover the game -> The community becomes your marketing engine. Before you spend time developing and shipping a new mechanic, run it through the Watchability Test: “Would someone clip this? Or would someone send this moment to a friend?” If the answer is yes, that mechanic has strong viral potential and is worth your time. Remember, your game isn’t just competing with other VR titles—it’s competing with everything else on the internet for a viewer’s attention. Watch this part: 06:15
Practical Hand Tracking in Unity | Start Mentor Workshop
In this Meta Horizon Start workshop, Start Mentor Valem (Quentin) walks through practical hand tracking in Unity by building and comparing three core interaction models side-by-side: Finger Pinch (including pinch strength values and thresholds) Microgestures (tap + swipes, like an “invisible joystick”) Hand Pose Detection (custom shapes + hand orientation to avoid false matches) You’ll see how to set up a hand-tracking-ready Unity scene quickly using Building Blocks, then implement each input style with simple script patterns and live examples—so you can choose the best interaction method for your own XR app on Meta Horizon OS. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 👋 INTRODUCTION 🕒 00:00 - Welcome & workshop goals (comparing 3 hand tracking input models) 📋 PINCH (FINGER PINCH STRENGTH) 🕒 01:10 - What finger pinch is (and why index pinch is most reliable) 🕒 03:05 - Reading pinch strength (0–1) + using thresholds 🕒 05:10 - Interaction SDK examples (grab + ray select) 🕒 07:15 - Build demo: scene setup with Building Blocks + pinch-to-change-color spheres 🕒 10:50 - Smooth vs threshold pinch comparison + reliability notes (index vs other fingers) 📋 MICROGESTURES (INVISIBLE JOYSTICK) 🕒 14:10 - What microgestures are (tap + swipe directions) + use cases 🕒 16:00 - Reading microgesture type in code (switch/cases) 🕒 18:10 - Demo: show detected gesture in TextMeshPro 🕒 20:10 - Note: Interaction SDK locomotion uses microgestures (turn/teleport) 🕒 22:20 - Examples: character movement + UI navigation (and fixing missing EventSystem) 📋 HAND POSE DETECTION (SHAPE + ORIENTATION) 🕒 27:10 - Hand pose detection concepts: shape + orientation 🕒 28:40 - Create a custom Shape (thumbs up) using curl settings 🕒 31:10 - Trigger events when pose is recognized (active state → Unity events) 🕒 33:10 - Fixing thumbs up vs thumbs down: add wrist orientation (Transform Recognizer) 🕒 36:00 - Build thumbs down variant + wrap-up (choosing the right input model) 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
🛠️Build Your Social Media Foundation | Growth Series, Part 1
Hosted by Start Mentor Tevfik • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview Many developers “build silently,” then launch with no audience. Just like an app, social media is something you can plan, build, and keep refining. This workshop is about building a repeatable social media foundation for VR games—starting early, posting consistently, and turning attention into a community (especially via Discord). Timestamp: 0:00 The 5 Key Mistakes (and what to do instead) Mistake #1: Starting social media too late What it looks like: You see your social media and promotion as a final step of development rather than a separate project you're developing. Many developers follow the classic flow of build → launch → promote. Why it's a problem: Your development phase is already full of moments people want to follow—progress, surprises, failures, “first time it works.” What to do instead: Create accounts at Day 0 and start sharing your development progress immediately, even if it's rough. This helps community members feel like they're a part of your development process. Mistake #2: Only posting “big updates” What it looks like: You focus entirely on development, waiting until major milestones or entire portions of your game are complete to post. Why it's a problem: Most social media algorithms reward consistency over occasional posts and engagement spikes. Long gaps hurt your momentum and discoverability on most platforms. If you wait too long between posts getting your game just right, you may sacrifice your ability to organically reach new potential players. What to do instead: Post small updates frequently and consistently. Establish a sustainable schedule for yourself and add posts in between if you have more to share. Mistake #3: Trying to be everywhere What it looks like: You create accounts across as many social media platforms as you can, either reusing content or trying to generate new content for each platform. Why it's a problem: Each platform behaves differently and appeals to a slightly different community, and maintaining consistency on too many different surfaces often leads people to spread their resources too thin. What to do instead: Start focused. Think about where your ideal community would spend most of their time online and what types of content tend to do well in those spaces, then tailor your content to those platforms. For example, you might use platforms like Youtube and Tiktok to promote short-form content and Discord for a community home. Once you've developed a rhythm on these platforms, consider branching out to include 1 or 2 others, but don't try to win every platform at once. Mistake #4: Posting like a company What it looks like: You tend to use more formal or corporate language in your social media or dev blog posts. For example, when you post an update, you may use "we" when referring to yourself or your development team. Why it's a problem: Posting like a company, especially when you're a solo developer, creates distance between you and your community. Using more personal language allows your community to feel they're a part of your development journey and gives them incentive to follow along for the ride. What to do instead: Use "I" to talk about your progress and achievements, be transparent about your team size, and talk directly to your players. Mistake #5: Waiting for perfection What it looks like: You tend to over-edit videos or wait for "polished" content or development milestones in order to post, and as a result, you post less often. Why it's a problem: As we covered in Mistake #2, delaying posts can hurt your discoverability on many platforms, but this goes deeper than just your discoverability. Most people drawn to short-form content are more interested in a few compelling seconds over a more in-depth and polished milestone video. Authentic, fast clips often outperform overly produced content, especially when you’re still early in development–bugs, prototypes, and experiments are compelling. What to do instead: Post more frequently and lower the bar for your production. Timestamp: 0:45 What Do I Post? If you’re stuck on ideas, the answer is simple: your dev work is the content. Examples Gameplay clips (even early) Bugs/funny moments Prototypes and tests Concept art drops Screenshots of new scenes/features “Then vs now” progress comparisons Workflow tip: even a few images (e.g., a new monster or asset) can become a short video using simple templates. Timestamp: 4:38 Platform and Format Advice Frequency (especially when starting from zero) Posting once a day is a strong baseline early on, because attention compounds—and it’s harder to get discovered when your account is empty. Format Choices On-screen text, voice, face-cam, avatars are all great ways to capture attention. What matters most is establishing clarity fast. A strong video often communicates its main idea within the first 10 seconds. Personal vs “Official” Accounts Generally, it’s good practice to have a dedicated, game-focused account that clearly communicates to the audience that you are speaking as the official voice of your project (e.g., GameNameOfficial). You can also choose to run a second “personality” or “experiment” account for looser, more creative posts. While operating both accounts does mean more work, operating both types of account allows you to lean into the type of content we discussed in Mistake #5, which can increase your reach. Discord: Convert Attention into Community Views and followers are not the same thing as a community. The goal of your social media presence should be to land people somewhere more persistent. A community Discord is an excellent place to establish a “home base” where players can stick around, talk to each other, and build momentum with you. Workflow tip: Converting social media followers into Discord members is especially powerful–community members can help the server feel alive and even share the operational load. For more information on building a strong foundation on Discord, see Tevfik’s previous session here. Time Management and Getting Help Moderation: Recruit player-moderators, trusted community members can take on moderation responsibilities. Editing support: If you’re finding that video editing is increasing your workload, consider finding a helper like a friend or family member, or adding a video editor to your team. Having someone to manage your social media for you can reduce the amount of time you spend task switching and can free up a considerable amount of your time, letting you focus on the parts of game development that you enjoy. Tooling: If you’re struggling to edit down longer footage into clips or decide which clips would be interesting, consider using AI clipping tools like OpusClip which can generate shorts from raw footage with minimal video editing lift. Practical Outreach on TikTok Spend time in your niche: Start real conversations with other developers in your space by commenting on their posts and videos. TikTok enables more direct early interaction through comments and DMs, especially before your account is large enough to enable direct links in your posts. Recap Don’t build silently–share your process to build your audience while you build your game Start social early Post small updates consistently (not just big milestones) Don’t try to be everywhere—start with TikTok + YouTube Post like a human (use “I” rather than “we”) Don’t wait for perfection—bugs/prototypes are good content Focus on converting followers into Discord members Homework: post something today (or create the account today and begin training the algorithm by watching and engaging with your niche)
