Despite a disappointing Kickstarter campaign for Dragon Bros back in November 2016, Space Lizard Studios have now achieved success as the run & gun shooter was released on both PC and Xbox One on 31st May 2017. But as with many indie titles the next obstacle to overcome is standing out in a crowded marketplace.
You’d think a game featuring dragons with guns and gameplay reminiscent of Metal Slug wouldn’t struggle for coverage, but from where I’m standing that seems to be the case. There currently only seems to be one review from an established game site online, and hardly any from independent reviewers either. Even the Steam page only has 18 user reviews so far (although the good news is 17 of them are positive).
Here Be Dragon Bros
Unfortunately it was the same situation with the Dragon Bros Kickstarter. Despite a well-designed campaign and a kick-ass demo, only 25% of the £10,000 ($13,000) target was pledged. Developer Space Lizard Studios were partly to blame, with a noticeable lack of self-promotion and only one small update while the campaign was live. And history seems to be repeating itself. Despite being one of those original backers I had no idea Dragon Bros had been released, or that development was even continuing!
Dragon Bros has benefited from being released at a relatively quiet time of the year, with the only ‘big’ titles released recently being Tekken 7 and Friday the 13th. Yet despite this, and some brief coverage from Major Nelson, it mostly seems to be flying under the radar. Which is a shame as the game itself is damn good fun for 1 or 2 players, even if it admittedly a bit short and lacking in features.
Space Lizard Studios may only be a fledgling developer but they’re going to have learn quickly about publicizing their games. As it is, Dragon Bros is unlikely to take off unless it’s heavily discounted in a sale or features as a Games with Gold title in the future. And other developers should take note too – modesty may be a virtue, but not when it comes to video games.
