The question every studio asks and almost nobody answers honestly: how much does it actually cost to market a game?
You’ll find plenty of articles saying “spend 20–30% of your dev budget on marketing.” That’s technically fine as a starting point, but it tells you nothing about where the money should actually go, what you can skip when funds are tight, or how a $5K budget should be allocated differently from a $500K one.
At GAMES.GG, we work with studios at every budget level, from solo devs spending under $1,000 to publishers running six-figure campaigns. This guide shares what we’ve seen work across different tiers, with actual numbers and real allocation breakdowns.
The Real Benchmarks
For AAA titles, marketing budgets typically equal 75–100% of the development cost. A game that cost $200M to develop will often spend another $150–200M on marketing. These numbers are irrelevant for most people reading this, but they set context for how seriously the industry takes marketing investment.
- For mid-tier and AA studios working with $1M–$20M dev budgets, marketing spend typically sits at 25–50% of development cost.
- For indie studios with dev budgets of $50K–$500K, marketing spending generally ranges from 15–30% of dev cost.
- For solo devs and micro-teams under $50K in dev costs, marketing budgets are often $1K–$10K, and a significant portion of the “spend” is actually your time rather than cash.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: these are minimums. Studios that under-invest in marketing frequently cite “the game should speak for itself” as their reasoning. It almost never does. The market is too crowded for organic discovery alone.
Budget Allocation by Tier
Tier 1: The Micro Budget ($1K–$5K)
This is where most solo devs and first-time studios operate. Every dollar counts.
Allocate roughly: 40% to paid social ads concentrated around launch ($400–$2,000), 25% to key creation and distribution for influencers ($250–$1,250), 20% to visual assets like a professional capsule image and trailer editing ($200–$1,000), and 15% to tools and subscriptions ($150–$750).
At this level, your time is your biggest asset. Spend it on organic community building, Reddit engagement, devlog creation, and direct outreach to small and mid-tier creators.- Tier 2: The Working Budget ($10K–$50K)
This is where marketing starts becoming a real force multiplier. You’ve got enough to run targeted campaigns, work with influencers, and attend an event or two.
Allocate roughly: 35% to influencer marketing combining organic outreach with 2–5 paid sponsorships timed to launch, 25% to paid advertising on Meta / TikTok / Reddit, 20% to professional assets, 10% to PR and press outreach, and 10% to community tools and events. - Tier 3: The Professional Budget ($50K–$250K)
At this level you can run a complete marketing campaign with dedicated channel strategies, multiple influencer tiers, professional PR, and meaningful paid acquisition. Allocate roughly: 30% to influencer and creator marketing across YouTube/Twitch/TikTok, 25% to paid media and UA campaigns, 15% to PR agency or dedicated specialist, 15% to events and showcases, and 15% to creative production. - Tier 4: The Publisher Budget ($250K+)
At this scale, you’re working with agencies, dedicated marketing teams, and multi-channel campaigns. General split: 30–35% paid media and UA, 25–30% influencer and creator programs, 15–20% PR and events, 15–20% creative and production.
Where Studios Waste Money
After working with hundreds of studios, these are the most common budget mistakes we see:
- Spending on broad paid ads too early. Running Facebook or Google Display ads before you’ve got a proven Steam page conversion rate is like pouring water into a leaky bucket. Fix your page first, then drive traffic to it.
- Overpaying for large influencers with poor genre fit. A $10K sponsorship with a variety streamer who plays your game once and moves on will almost always underperform compared to spending that same $10K across 20 smaller creators who genuinely love your genre.
- Attending expensive events without a clear ROI plan. A booth at a major convention can cost $5K–$20K+ when you factor in travel, materials, and opportunity cost.
- Neglecting localization. Simplified Chinese users are now the largest language group on Steam. If your game has any appeal to Asian markets, not investing in at least store page localization is leaving significant money on the table.
- Spending nothing on visuals. Even at a micro budget, hiring a freelance designer for your capsule ($200–$500) and a video editor for your trailer ($500–$1,500) is among the highest-ROI spending you can do.
Before spending a single dollar, exhaust these zero-cost opportunities; Steam News Posts and Community Hub updates, listing on discovery platforms like GAMES.GG, Reddit communities, developer cross-promotion, and press kit availability.
How to Calculate Your Specific Budget
Start with your break-even target. How many copies do you need to sell at your planned price point to recoup dev costs? Factor in Steam’s 30% cut.
Work backward from a conservative wishlist-to-sale conversion rate. Industry data suggests roughly 10–20% of wishlists convert to first-year sales. Calculate your wishlist target and estimate the cost per wishlist for each channel. Organic wishlists from Steam discovery are free. Wishlists from influencer campaigns typically cost $0.50–$3.00 each. Wishlists from paid social ads run $1.00–$5.00 each.
This framework makes your marketing budget a function of your commercial targets rather than an arbitrary percentage.
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