Behind the scenes of IndieLand: Insights on running a successful indie game showcase with practical event management tips
The IndieLand Journey: From Inception to Annual Tradition
Organizing a major indie gaming event annually presents unique opportunities and obstacles. We explored both aspects with the TOVG production team to understand their accumulated wisdom from managing IndieLand’s growth.
Since its establishment in 2018, That One Video Game’s IndieLand showcase has undergone substantial transformation. The production team gained extensive knowledge about the event’s core mission, operational logistics, and annual refinement strategies through hands-on experience.
While the journey included numerous obstacles, the ultimate value proposition consistently justified the effort for the organizers. Our conversations with Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil and creative director Michael Barryte revealed their navigation strategies for IndieLand’s fluctuating fortunes across multiple seasons.
From its 2018 debut, IndieLand implemented both subtle adjustments and major strategic shifts, with the team continuously refining approaches based on performance data and audience feedback.
“Our most significant structural change occurred in 2020 when we instituted a policy ensuring every highlighted game included developer participation, either through virtual appearances or physical presence,” Michael detailed. “We now exclusively feature titles when we can directly engage with creators about their development journey, substantially enriching the viewer experience.”
Another crucial development identified by the TOVG team involved the expanding community ecosystem surrounding the event. When IndieLand 2022 introduced ticketed access, this community manifested through physical gatherings and networking opportunities.
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“Developers consistently networked and supported each other throughout the event, both during scheduled segments and during informal interactions,” Michael observed.
This collaborative dynamic intensified when relationships initiated at the event extended beyond the showcase timeframe, establishing what Michael described as an “expanding support network.”
“When Jirard and I attended GDC and PAX East this year, developers who originally connected at IndieLand reported maintaining their relationships and collaborating on various projects,” Michael shared enthusiastically.
From a production standpoint, Jirard noted the increasing ease of securing talent and special guests as the event matured. Audience metrics demonstrated steady improvement while the team developed clearer understanding of IndieLand’s community positioning.
“We’ve been fortunate to attract remarkable celebrity participants across various show segments. Our guest roster includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Sisqó, multiple hosting personalities, and AEW wrestling star Adam Cole among our presenter lineup.”
Despite measurable growth, Jirard maintained focus beyond fundraising totals. His success metrics emphasize diverse communities uniting around shared purposes and creative celebration.
“Financial totals don’t define our achievement—we’d celebrate raising just ten dollars. The core mission involves spotlighting developers facing publishing funding challenges while advancing our charitable causes.”
Overcoming Production Challenges: The Reality of Event Management
IndieLand’s production journey contained significant obstacles, with the TOVG team investing substantial effort simply to launch the showcase annually. Creative director Michael described the emotional difficulty of rejecting passionate developers with promising projects.
“Each season follows a predictable pattern: I declare the schedule finalized, then Jirard or team members discover exceptional games requiring inclusion,” Michael explained. “We frequently restructure segments to accommodate these discoveries, though sometimes timing constraints prevent additions despite project quality.”
“Reconfiguring under time pressure creates difficult conversations where I must acknowledge game excellence while explaining our current capacity limitations,” he added.
Securing sponsorships and partnership agreements for charity programming presented persistent challenges across multiple seasons. This frustration amplified when the team repeatedly explained their mission to potential collaborators annually.
“Building our sponsorship network remains consistently difficult despite demonstrated success. Even with developers and publishers we actively pursue for participation, we annually present our statistics, operational approach, and objectives—essentially reintroducing ourselves each cycle,” Michael noted.
Jirard characterized this repetitive process as “constant re-education,” describing their ongoing need to remind sponsors about their identity, event purpose, and charitable mission alignment.
Without consistent sponsorship support, IndieLand expenses significantly impact Jirard’s personal finances, creating budget dependency on The Completionist channel’s annual performance metrics.
“This represents a genuine passion project funded through personal resources. Numerous companies express confusion about our model while simultaneously sponsoring comparable events, creating frustration when we simply request basic consideration and engagement time,” Jirard expressed.
Event Management Pro Tip: When planning indie showcases, establish a flexible scheduling buffer (15-20% of total runtime) for last-minute exceptional discoveries. This preserves programming quality while maintaining production sanity.
Common Mistake to Avoid: Don’t assume sponsors remember your event from previous years. Create evergreen sponsorship packages with clear ROI metrics that can be easily referenced annually without complete re-education.
The Rewards: Why It’s All Worth It
Despite organizational complexities, both Michael and Jirard derive substantial satisfaction from their IndieLand experiences, creating value that justifies the extensive effort involved.
For Michael, key enjoyment comes from orchestrating surprise moments for Jirard and viewers during live broadcasts.
As creative director, Michael evaluates games to identify titles requiring Jirard’s familiarity, though he strategically withholds certain experiences to preserve their impact for both host and audience.
“Certain games receive specific instructions: ‘Jirard, you cannot play these beforehand’ when they contain pivotal moments that shouldn’t be diluted through preview exposure. Protecting these discoveries ensures authentic reactions for both audience and talent,” Michael explained.
“These orchestrated moments generate tremendous satisfaction—not through artificial creation but through strategic preservation. Knowing audiences and participants will share genuine experiences together energizes developers who witness real-time reactions to their creative investments.”
For Jirard, primary fulfillment stems from observing tangible benefits for participating developers, whether through social media engagement or Steam wishlist conversions.
“The most rewarding aspect involves developer feedback comparing our event to paid promotional opportunities. Multiple creators reported spending $10,000 on PR-managed digital events yielding two wishlists, while IndieLand consistently generates 500-2,000 wishlists per featured title,” Jirard shared.
Substantial pride emerges when Jirard observes originally featured indie games achieving significant success and recognition in the broader gaming landscape.
“Watching this impact compound annually while seeing past featured titles earn Game of the Year honors creates profound satisfaction. Building relationships with developers and witnessing their creative journeys evokes similar pride to watching children mature through educational milestones.”
The team’s ability to provide developers with confidence and support structures represents Jirard’s fundamental pleasure in producing IndieLand each cycle.
“Established relationships and provided support gave developers essential confidence reinforcement. This non-transactional aspect remains most meaningful—their achievements stem from dedicated work, not merely our platform provision.”
We conducted our TOVG team interviews through a three-part series. Access additional segments through Part 1 and Part 3 available on our platform.
IndieLand returns October 20-22, 2023 streaming exclusively on The Completionist’s Twitch channel.
Advanced Optimization: Track wishlist conversion rates 30-60 days post-event to demonstrate concrete ROI to future sponsors. Games generating 500+ wishlists typically convert to 8-12% actual sales.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Interview: TOVG details the highs and lows of beloved IndieLand event Behind the scenes of IndieLand: Insights on running a successful indie game showcase with practical event management tips