Hello everyone!
I'm Dodick Zulaimi Sudirman, COO of GameChanger Studio. In 1998: The Toll Keeper Story, I mainly supported Riris on marketing the game.
This time, I want to share the story behind how we approached the marketing for a game as sensitive and personal as 1998: The Toll Keeper Story. Marketing this game wasn't just about showing off features. It was about building a community and carefully communicating a difficult theme.
The Initial Reveal (April - May 2025)
Long before our main launch push, we had to find the right voice for the game. Our social media plan for April and May was built on a two-pronged strategy. First, we focused on community engagement, asking our followers direct questions like, "What's the scariest moment you've faced during a crisis?". Second, we started building the world of Janapa, piece by piece.
On April 30th, I sent out the first press release to our media list. The response was immediate and overwhelming. By May 2nd, the posts were live, and coverage began to flood in from local media like The Lazy Media, GGWP.ID, Diorama.id, KotakGame, and Duniaku. Soon after, Tempo (local and English), Detik, and even international outlets from China, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil picked up the story.
The results were explosive.
One of our Instagram reels hit 1.3 million views.
Our Instagram followers shot past 5,000.
Most importantly, our Steam Wishlists skyrocketed. Riris had set a target for the end of May, and we hit 3,832 wishlists by May 19th—almost double our goal.
This initial data was crucial. We saw that our posts performed best on weekends, so I immediately adjusted our social media schedule to post three times a week: Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Our Second Push on our 12th Anniversary (June 2025)
After that initial boom, we knew we had to scale up. In early June, Kamila joined to focus on marketing. Our first major beat together was our studio's 12th anniversary later that month. We knew we had to make it special.
Riris along with the team, decided to structure the announcement around two key pillars which are a major collaboration reveal where Si Juki would be a recurring cameo driver in the game and fans appreciation by hosting a giveaway with Steam Keys to thank our "Changer Fans" for their long-time support.
Building the Community (July - Sept 2025)
We needed a central hub for our players. Our goal, as Riris set it, was to grow our new public GameChanger Studio Discord server to 300 members before the Steam Next Fest demo in October.
To do this, we started planning weekly events and digital activities. We decided to stream our games on the Discord server, including the latest 1998 demo. We also launched competitions, such as a propaganda flyer design contest and a "Letters for Dewi" event.
Beyond digital events, we also planned in-person activities. Yosi, our UI artist, came up with a great idea for our booth at Indonesia Game Week (IGW): a "Lomba Dekorasi Diary Dewi" (Dewi's Diary Decoration Contest), where visitors could design a diary page and win prizes.
More Social Media Push (Sept 2025)
Riris planned our posts in weekly themes, focusing on the why behind the game. We didn't just want to show gameplay; we wanted to build the world of Janapa. For example:
We posted the in-game headlines to explain why the students were protesting.
We shared assets of in-game propaganda flyers, explaining that in 1998, these were the "social media" for both sides.
We posted the "Demokrasi Mati" (Democracy is Dead) graffiti, showing how the city itself was reacting to the crisis.
The Final Push (Oct 2025)
As we got closer to our October 28th launch, our strategy shifted to press outreach and final preparations.
Press Keys: We decided to send the full-game Steam Keys to local and SEA media around October 10th-13th. This was before the public demo, giving them plenty of time to play and write their reviews under embargo.
International Outreach: We got support reaching audiences outside of Indonesia and Southeast Asia from our PR partner. We also had a regional publishing collaboration with CC Games for China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao.
Launch & The Reviewer/YouTuber Wave (Oct 28 - Nov 4)
Launch day, October 28th, arrived. The first reviews hit, like Screen Hype and Kakuchopurei. Both reviews became a huge morale boost. One by one, more reviewers posted their reviews on their sites.
During the week of the game's launch, we were glued to our screens watching YouTubers and VTubers pick up the game. It began with channels like Wendika and Christopher Devin. Then Droomp posted his video, getting frustrated trying to find all the endings.
Then, the big one came, Windah Basudara. The whole team was watching. This was followed by Eno Bening and PokoPow. The community engagement was massive, with players like Snake9 and Christopher Devin actively hunting for the "Best Ending."
The results on Steam were immediate. We hit 50 reviews and a "Very Positive" rating by October 30th, and just two days later, we passed 100 reviews. Our mobile launch was also a huge success, hitting the Top 5 in the "Top Paid (New)" chart.
Closing Thoughts
Marketing 1998 has been a journey of its own. It was a massive team effort, from Riris's high-level strategy to the entire team's active participation.
This devlog series itself is part of that effort. As we were navigating the launch, the rest of the team was already busy writing the devlogs on different aspects of the development. Thank you for reading and for following our journey.