Gaming industry news & laughs from two millennial childhood friends

Myself (Nick) and Bruno are lifelong friends who are passionate about video games - and that's what our show is all about! We break down the latest gaming industry news across all platforms in a way that is easy to follow for both casual gamers and hardcore players alike. The name "Quit The Build" comes from a developer term - basically, when the code for a game isn't working properly, you "quit the build" and try again, perhaps with some changes. For us, this takes on a bigger meaning of mental health, and making sure we keep a positive attitude when gaming.

Our listeners are people who want to keep up with the latest gaming news in a fun and upbeat way, with plenty of nostalgia and laughs in-between!
 

We decided to start podcasting in late 2020, pretty much on a whim - I had mentioned to Bruno about the idea of starting a podcast, and he was instantly on board. Both of us have dabbled in content creation, such as Twitch & YouTube, so the idea of a podcast made perfect sense.

Our goal was, and continues to be, creating professional quality content that we can be proud of, and building a community around Quit The Build's mindset of positivity in gaming. While we didn't have any specific numbers or goals in mind, the idea was always to shoot for the stars and see where we land.

We started in January of this year, and have seen an incredible amount of growth in just six months - as of writing this, we're already in the top 2.5% of all podcasts according to the Listen Notes Listener Score!
 

We release episodes twice a week. Episode production is very streamlined from start to finish, with us typically recording an episode and having it published within the span of 3 hours.

We both have full time day jobs, so for us it was just a matter of finding the right time to record - and since we're having so much fun, this doesn't feel like a second job - it is really a social hobby for us! We're fortunate that we have our incredible sponsor Pierce Unlimited who specializes in marketing media, because we don't have to worry about the costs of professional photo/video creation that others would have to seek out.
 

We are always looking at ways to find sponsors and brands that align with our goals to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome - and of course, our amazing Patreon supporters help support and grow the show!

When securing sponsorships, we make sure to take the time to understand and communicate the metrics of our show, and build business relationships with companies before sponsorships ever are considered - this makes the process so much more natural!
 

Obviously as a news podcast, it is important that we talk about the latest news - this is probably the easiest part of the show prep. We do frequently feature guests from all throughout the gaming industry, and that is probably where the majority of the backend work happens. Aside from that, our editing process is very streamlined and we're really happy with the audio quality we're able to achieve while recording remotely.
 

A majority of our listeners come not from the major podcasting platforms, but from our website (https://www.quitthebuild.com) - we take a lot of pride in utilizing our collective marketing and communication skills to create a website that maximizes our SEO and creates a perfect landing page for our social media outreach.

We find that our gaming blog is a huge driver of listenership, as it helps people interested in specific topics that we discuss find us through search engines. We have had articles on the site go viral, and they have been incredible drivers of growth for us within only a few months of launching the website!
 

Above all, make sure you know what your goals are. Many new podcasts think that they will be able to just create a show with a bare minimum social media presence and find growth - which is why so many podcasts go dark. Podcasts have exploded in popularity for both listenership and the number of available podcasts, and to be successful you have to find a way to cut through the noise and stand out. There's never going to be an easy way to do this - it takes a lot of hard work (and time) than you are likely expecting.

If you just want to make a show for the fun of it, then I think that takes a lot of the pressure off, but if you truly wish to grow into something bigger, you have to have a sound strategy - and that includes a robust social media presence with dynamic and eye-catching photo/video content. Since podcasts are all about audio, this means a lot of research (and probably budget) is going to go into converting the show into something that can be seen and not just heard.

Remember - the majority of smartphone users have their phones on silent. Ask yourself, how are you going to get around that and capture that type of person's attention with media?

As far as resources, there's just too many to list - however, Listen Notes has been a massive help for us in their Listener Score metric - it is important to realize that podcasting is longform content in an increasingly "short form" world. Your download count is a very small part of the bigger picture of your podcast's success, and the Listener Score does a great job of seeing that bigger picture and giving you perspective.
 

Website: https://www.quitthebuild.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/quitthebuild
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quitthebuildpodcast
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quitthebuild
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quitthebuild
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/quitthebuild
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quitthebuild