PC Gamer featured his game - wishlists increased by 350 percent

Christoffer Bodegård was born and raised in Motala, with the dream of becoming a writer and making games. That dream took him to Skövde through the University of Skövde, where he studied Game Writing at the undergraduate level and later also a master's in Digital Storytelling.

In the summer of 2017, Christoffer graduated with the goal of starting his own game company focusing on mobile games and applied to the startup program Sweden Game Startup. When the game didn't meet his expectations, Christoffer began freelancing for the next four years.

In early 2022, Christoffer began showcasing a new project with a different style and niche genre, which received positive feedback online. Therefore, at the end of the same year, it was time again to take the step of starting his own game company – this time with the political role-playing adventure ESOTERIC EBB. There was no doubt that Sweden Game Startup was the right choice.

"I have a positive experience of the program, and I can see how much has improved in recent years. It's a supportive and inclusive community that has been built up here in Skövde through Sweden Game Arena," says Christoffer.

Christoffer received early advice from his coach in the startup program, Per Holmén, to reach out to game journalists in hopes of creating visibility for the game. The contact led to an article in the British PC Gamer about ESOTERIC EBB, which contributed to a significant increase in the number of wishlists on the distribution platform Steam.

In a month and a half, the game went from having 8,000 to 37,000 players who had added the game to their wishlist and will receive a notification when the game becomes available.

"It was a total shock, I expected a tenth as much," says Christoffer.

Per Holmén is Christoffer's coach in the startup program and sees great potential in both Christoffer and the game.

"That Christoffer has been noticed by PC Gamer and that he has managed to get so many wishlists is evidence that he is really on a great path. Such a quantity of wishlists can almost be translated into dollars since the conversion rate of wishlists is quite similar between different games, and then we can conclude that it is of substantial value," he says.

The article not only attracted future players to Christoffer's project but also investors and publishers began to reach out, and several offers are now on the table.

"I am in contact with a dozen publishers, which is not very common, so hopefully something will happen in the near future."