YouTuber videogamedunkey, Jason Yevgeniy Gastrow, known simply as Dunkey, has announced he and his wife, fellow YouTuber Leah 'Leahbee' Gastrow, have set up an indie video game publisher, Bigmode. He wants "all the real deal gamers out there" to rest assured because he would never "risk my legitimacy by trying to push some junk ass video games I don't believe in."
As reported by Gamesindustry.biz, Dunkey announced this news via a video shared to his Youtube channel where he has a following of over seven million. He definitely knows how to market himself, and seems sure that his experience of video games as a player will help him as a publisher.
He says, "I understand what kind of ideas always work, what kind of ideas never work. What kind of ideas are fresh or need to come back and what is extremely played out." He seems to be opting for a player-centric brand, as though existing publishers aren't also made up of people who enjoy playing video games
In his video, he says that over his 11 years on YouTube he has worked to "slamdunk soulless cash grabs into the garbage can and lift up and praise the truly inspired works of art in this medium."
He says he has always sought out the very best indie games out there and then proceeds to show clips of the most popular indie titles of the last decade. "My channel is where [people] come to find out what's actually worth playing," he boasts.
Dunkey compares buying an indie game today to getting a loot crate in Counter-Strike, "you don't know what you're going to get but you're probably going to be sad." No publisher intentionally markets bad games, but Dunkey seems certain Bigmode will only publish hits.
He reiterates that while he doesn't want creative control over developer's games, "I do want to be involved." He also promises developer-friendly contracts, and the Bigmode website clarifies the company will help with funding, development support, PR & community management, QA, porting & localisation, and merchandising.