Hey all! The Game Developers Conference 2025 has come and gone, and we’re recovered enough to start talking about what Airship Armada is, why we went to GDC, and what our plans going forward are.
We started building Airship Armada in the middle of last year, but its roots go much farther back (more on that in a future update). Alex and Nate began working with Ravegan on a part-time basis to start defining the art style and gameplay. We built things out slowly and steadily around other projects until Rob joined us in February of this year. Now that we had the trifecta of design, art, and development, we kicked things into high gear. We got our pitch materials in order, along with a working digital adaptation of the paper prototype.
Armed with our pitch deck, prototype, and the most stylish outerwear seen at this year’s conference, we set out for San Francisco. We knew that we were a bit early to be looking for partnerships, so this was mainly a scouting mission. We needed to get more intel on the indie tactics market. We talked with publishers about what they were looking for (and whether Airship Armada fit that profile) and with other indies about their recent successes and learnings.
Some things we learned:
- People loved the art and the game concept. Great work to Ravegan and the team!
- People whose business is publishing strategy games saw the potential market fit. This was very welcome concept validation.
- GDC was small this year. Money is tight in the industry right now.
- Recent indie successes are often the result of bootstrapping and crowdfunding.
- No stealth mode! We need to start talking about the game now, find our tribe of fellow airship enthusiasts, and show publishers that people want to see this game become a reality.
While none of these things were big surprises, the pitches and conversations we had clarified our path forward. Our next step is to expand the prototype into a true demo, and to share our progress in the hopes that we will find an interested audience!
We hope you’ll join us in the process. We can't wait to share the awesome gameplay (and world) of Airship Armada with you!
