
How to Make Your Game Blow Up Years After Launch | Jo, Owner, JoGameDev
From IndieGameBusiness® by Jay Powell
March 13, 2026 · 1h 6m
About this episode
Jo from JoGameDev discusses the marketing strategies that revived the success of his game Spellmasons years after its initial launch.
In this episode of IndieGameBusiness, we’re joined by Jo from JoGameDev, the developer behind the tactical spell crafting roguelike Spellmasons. The game has sold over 60,000 copies on Steam and recently crossed 1,000 reviews. Jo shares the honest story behind the game’s journey. After early sales stagnated during the first two years, Jo reignited interest through focused marketing efforts that drove over 8 million views in the last six months. The result was the game’s third year becoming its most profitable period yet. We’ll talk about what worked, what didn’t, and how solo developers can take control of their own marketing. Jo also shares the long term goal of building a lean, bootstrapped indie studio focused on multiplayer games and discusses the next project, an overpowered hero autobattler titled Some of You May Die. The game recently gained attention after being featured on Splattercatgaming’s YouTube channel and became one of the top performing videos compared to his recent uploads. If you want to learn how persistence, smart marketing, and long term thinking can revive a game’s success, this episode is packed with practical insights. Follow JoGameDev: X…
People in this episode
Host: Jay Powell
Guest: Jo
Topics covered
- game marketing
- indie game development
- persistence in gaming
- success after launch
- solo developer strategies
Keywords
- Spellmasons
- JoGameDev
- game marketing
- indie games
- Steam
- roguelike
- persistence
- solo developers
- autobattler
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: JoGameDev, Splattercatgaming
Products: Spellmasons, Some of You May Die
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