Any itchio guru's here?

[togFox]

I'd like to start a blog or journal on itchio so my latest project can slowly build an audience, get tips on play balance, informal alpha testing and just generally get ppl excited.

I'd also like to make the binaries available to select people (not source code). This rules out github and github is not consumer friendly anyway.

Is there a way to start a blog on itchy and make binaries available to a limited audience without 'publishing' my game?

Itchio gives you just one shot at the 'new releases' and my project is months away from maximising that one shot but I do want to start building a small audience in the interim.

Any suggestions?

[Gunroar:Cannon()]

I'm not an expert or anything but I read a bit about itch.io a while ago...
It said you can only make a development blog when you post a game, but if you haven't posted a game they say it's advised to make a thread in the forums as your development blog(though I'm not sure which category). I don't know about the binaries though, but making a blog /development log is a good idea!

[idbrii]

I don't think itch supports Steam's page-focused community/wishlist building marketing. Instead, it's more about following creators.

From what I see on itch:

When you post a devlog, you have this option at the bottom:

> Visibility
> [x] Published — Everyone who can see your project page can see this post

When you edit a game, you have some options for "Visibility & access":

> Restricted — Only owners & authorized people can view the page
> Public — Anyone can view the page

Additionally:

> Restricted access settings
> Only people who own the project can view the page. You can give access by generating a download key. The page will be unlisted in browse and search.
> [x] Also allow a password to view page

So you can create a game, make a password and share it with people, and create a devlog only for those people with the password/keys. But only the people who can see the project can see the devlogs.

To do what you want, I think you'd have to create two projects:

* public one for devlogs
* private one with builds

Not sure how itch.io's algorithm works and whether there's anything you can do to make the public one get promoted again. You could make the public one a general studio "game" and the private one your real game. Use the public one to encourage people to follow you for updates, and when you release a new game they should get an email.