Who Is Your Game For? (And Why It Matters)

About this episode

Most games don’t fail because they’re bad. They fail because no one knows who they’re for. In this episode of Gaming Decoded, Andrea Rene sits down with Tracey McGarrigan, founder and CEO of Ansible Comms and Tech Advisors, a strategic marketing and communications consultancy working with games studios and executives around the world. They break down what actually drives success in game launches, and why so many studios get it wrong. She also shares the real story of a game that went to the community and said: get us 100,000 Steam wishlists or we cancel this project, and what happened next. They unpack: -What a real go-to-market (GTM) strategy looks like -Why defining your audience early is non-negotiable -The biggest communication breakdowns inside studios -How indie teams can do effective marketing without big budgets -Why “launch day” matters less than ever Glossary Decoded: Go-to-Market Strategy Chapters: 00:00 What Is a Go-To-Market Strategy? 00:50 Why Game Marketing Feels Like “Dark Arts” 02:15 The Biggest Communication Mistakes in Studios 05:15 Why Teams Ignore Marketing Until It’s Too Late 06:50 Start Here: Defining Success 08:00 The Real Meaning o