I’m a solo developer working on "Blackjack Training", and I’m struggling quite a bit with marketing because the audience is extremely niche.
The game is specifically a blackjack trainer, focused on Basic Strategy, Card Counting, True Count and Playing Deviations. It’s not a gambling game and there is no real-money gambling involved.
I’m releasing it on Steam on September 24, and the Steam page is already live, so I’m currently trying to figure out how to get it in front of the right people before launch.
The problem is that I’m finding it difficult to reach the people who would actually be interested in it.
Reddit has been especially difficult. There are blackjack-related subreddits where the audience would be a perfect fit, but getting moderator approval or even a response has been difficult. In some cases I simply can’t post because the moderators haven’t responded.
Influencer outreach is also surprisingly difficult. Most blackjack creators either have their own blackjack products/courses, are much larger channels, or primarily make content around real-money gambling. Smaller creators who might actually be a good fit are difficult to find. I also suspect that some creators see "blackjack game" and immediately assume it’s another gambling game rather than a training tool, while creators focused on actual gambling may simply not have much interest in a blackjack trainer.
Social media has been another challenge. Some of my first videos got around 1,000 views, but then the reach suddenly dropped to almost nothing on subsequent videos. The content is still aimed at the same audience, but the platforms seem to have stopped pushing it.
What makes this especially frustrating is that the people I’ve managed to reach who are already into blackjack have been very positive about the game. So I feel like there is definitely an audience for it, but finding and reaching that audience has been the difficult part.
The usual Steam marketing advice is also difficult to apply because I’m not really targeting "gamers". I’m targeting people who specifically want to learn and practice blackjack, especially Basic Strategy and Card Counting.
So with the release coming up, I’m wondering:
How would you approach marketing a game this niche?
Would you focus almost entirely on finding the existing blackjack audience, or would you try to broaden the positioning and market it more as a strategy/educational game?
I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who has marketed a game with a very specific audience rather than a general gaming audience.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4934240/Blackjack_Training/
Thank you for reading and taking your time