After a career of language-related work that included teaching, translating, and magazine-running, Steven opened the first overseas branch of game merchandise company Fangamer in Japan in 2017. Since then, he’s taken over managing the company’s relationships and projects with Japanese creators, studios, and partners, with his main focus being on growing and supporting Japan’s burgeoning indie games industry. Steven does most of this remotely, living with his Kiwi partner and three parrots here in Wellington.

Steven’s Talk:

Good Goods For Your Good Game

If your game gets played by people who end up enjoying it, there’s a high chance someone will make and sell merch of it—ideally, that’s you (and/or someone paying you)! What the ever-growing indie market has shown is that, for even the smallest games, both the demand for physical goods and the potential work and energy that go into them, can indeed be much bigger than we know. In this talk, we’ll briefly go over how and why to make merch that makes people happy while also supporting you instead of a rando with a Redbubble store.