Sidekick Publishing launches with a creator-first pitch — can it actually help indies?

A creator-led publisher enters the ring – and that’s worth paying attention to

Sidekick Publishing is launching out of Berlin’s INSTINCT3 with a big promise: put creators and communities at the center of indie publishing. That caught my attention because discoverability is the indie boss fight right now, and few agencies understand creator culture like INSTINCT3 – the folks behind HandOfBlood, Eintracht Spandau’s esports push, and the I3 Indie Expo. The label’s first game, Deadly Days: Roadtrip, will show up at gamescom, but the more interesting story is whether a creator-first playbook can actually move the needle for players and devs.

Key Takeaways

• Sidekick is a new indie/AA publisher spun out of INSTINCT3, leaning hard on influencer marketing and community-building.
• Debut title Deadly Days: Roadtrip will be hands-on at gamescom; details on platforms and release timing are still under wraps.
• The team points to prior wins like 9 Kings (500k in six weeks of Early Access), Asgard’s Fall – Viking Survivors, and TerraScape as proof they can ship.
• Big question marks remain: funding/recoup terms, QA/porting capacity, and whether creator hype translates into long-term player engagement.

Breaking down the announcement

Sidekick sits within INSTINCT3’s holding group (Gute Gesellschaft) and is led by industry vets Jasmin Oestreicher and Melvin Frank. The pitch is refreshingly simple: “the developer is the hero” and the publisher plays the support role. Oestreicher puts it bluntly: players sniff out inauthentic, overly commercial content instantly. Frank frames Sidekick as the culmination of a year of shipping and learning, with each launch meant to outdo the last.

On paper, the ingredients are strong. INSTINCT3 isn’t just an agency that books ad reads; it’s embedded in German gaming culture. If you’ve seen HandOfBlood spin a niche PC game into a viral moment, you know they understand how creators actually move communities. Sidekick’s promise is to fuse that with the unsexy but essential pieces of publishing: positioning, marketing plans, and day-one community infrastructure.

The proof points aren’t nothing, either. 9 Kings selling 500,000 copies in six weeks of Early Access is the kind of stat any indie would kill for, and TerraScape carved out a respectable place in the cozy-builder space. Even their own I3 Indie Expo shows an appetite for connecting devs and audiences beyond a one-off trailer drop.

Creator-first publishing isn’t new – but the timing matters

We’ve seen creator-savvy labels before: Yogscast Games in the UK built a stable around streamer appeal, and Devolver’s marketing wizardry has long turned oddballs into must-plays. The difference in 2025 is the battlefield. Steam’s front page is a fire hose, TikTok trends can make or break a week-one chart, and wishlists are a currency.

There’s a reason games like Among Us exploded years after launch and why Vampire Survivors snowballed from a quirky prototype: creator energy unlocked the right kind of discovery loop. But here’s the rub — viewership isn’t conversion by default. A meme-able moment can spike CCU for a weekend and still leave the game short on long-tail retention. If Sidekick is serious about “lasting impact,” it needs to think beyond launch day: steady updates, mod support where it fits, community events, and creators who come back because the game evolves, not because a contract says so.

Deadly Days: Roadtrip at gamescom — what to look for

We’re short on specifics, so the hands-on at gamescom becomes the first real test. If Roadtrip is tied to the cult zombie-roguelite Deadly Days many of us remember, the tone will matter: goofy-chaotic strategy with quick runs plays great for streamers, but it still needs mechanical depth to keep players hooked. What I’ll be watching for:

• Platforms and release window: is this PC-first with console ports promised, or simultaneous?
• Demo availability: a Steam demo timed with gamescom is the best wishlist engine an indie can have.
• Progression and replayability: roguelite loops live or die on meaningful meta-progression and varied run-affecting events.
• Post-launch plan: roadmap transparency earns trust — dates, features, and what’s free vs. paid.

Questions Sidekick still needs to answer

Marketing muscles are great, but publishing is a full stack. Indies care about minimum guarantees, recoup rates, and who actually foots the bill for QA, localization, certification, and console porting. Players feel those choices too — a shaky Switch port or late localization can sink momentum fast. Clear answers on:

• Funding terms and recoup: are devs actually the “hero” on revenue share?
• Technical support: in-house QA/porting partners and timelines, not just promises.
• Ethics with creators: transparent disclosures and avoiding pay-to-shill vibes that can backfire with core audiences.
• Long-tail support: will Sidekick stick around after the launch trailer cooldown, or hop to the next shiny project?

The gamer’s perspective

I’m cautiously optimistic. A publisher that actually understands creator culture — not just buys ad slots — can help unique games find the players who’ll love them. If Sidekick’s team applies that INSTINCT3 know-how to real community-building and backs it with solid production support, we could see some left-field gems get the spotlight they deserve. But if it’s all sizzle and no long-term steak, players will move on after the first stream highlight reel.

TL;DR

Sidekick Publishing launches with a creator-first strategy and its debut game, Deadly Days: Roadtrip, playable at gamescom. The approach makes sense in today’s discoverability mess — now they need to show strong dev terms, technical chops, and post-launch commitment to turn creator hype into games we’ll keep playing months later.