So to start things off...

I will define how I use the word "gatekeeping" in relation to creating content. I use it to mean "sharing parts of the content while withholding any and all information that the consumer (reader, viewer, player) is supposed to learn on their own through the experience or interacting with the content".

Simply put, the "show, but don't tell" rule.

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The act of gatekeeping in this matter can help you just as much as it can hurt, it's all dependent on how it's used. Some people will say "don't gatekeep anything, show off your absolute best in order to draw people's attention" while others say "don't let your fanbase milk the cow before they buy it".

As a visual novel dev that tends to make games with a divisive art style and very heavy lore and world-building, information is often my content's most valuable asset. Thus, I choose to gatekeep as one of my main methods of building interest towards it. Here's how I would go about that in three stages with a brand new game idea:

• After I've planned the project(drafted the story and characters, finalized the world-building and made my final decision of tools to be used for bringing it to life), I make some "test" content (like drawing finished-level promotional artwork for a character design that has yet to be finalized, draft some music, etc) and post it. The key is to give a general aesthetic of what the audience can expect just to know sure they know SOMETHING is coming.

• Then, maybe when all of my character's designs get finalized, I would then use my marketing to canonically flesh them out - in other words, I would post about aspects of the character that I know will NOT be covered in the actual plot (like perhaps drawings, videos or even memes about how they would handle everyday situations that have NOTHING to do with the lore). You have to work hard and get creative here, but done right, it can kill two birds with one stone (keep your project in the public eye AND slowly make the audience start to care about your characters)!

• Around the time that the game is done being built, I would simply keep doing the second stage's work as a break in between going after the bugs with a fine-wire net. Here's where the gatekeeping is strongest - up to this point, information beyond the first few "scenes" of the game are all too important to share ahead of the release, so I try to capture images from the later parts of the game and crop out as much of their context as I can. It shows off a great visual, but leaves the consumer wondering how it works or why it's important - one more thing to check out when the game releases.

Notice that NOWHERE in those three steps did I mention spoiling anything or giving anyone story lore - it's all about hyping up your game without using too much of its actual material. It can be done out of narrative and/or temporal context (sometimes proven to help in drawing attention from fans of different narrative eras).

I have seen some creators with active projects wondering about the threshold for gatekeeping and promoting when it's really simple from a logic perspective. Only you have to know what happens throughout, but bringing life to individual pieces of your product like places, characters or mechanics never hurts.

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With Return to Eternity, the information that can spoil the "canon" events of the whole game's story have been publicly available for years, but done badly enough that the gatekeeping mostly does itself. That gives you an advantage and me a challenge - make the game more expansive that what was given in the storyboard while gatekeeping enough of whatever I add so people have a reason to play the game.

I have thus mostly shared visuals from the available demo and only information regarding mechanics publicly as I intend for the game to follow the "show, but don't tell rule" to its logical extreme - my aim is to make it feel less like a checklist and more of a treasure hunt for those who like OC lore and world-building. As we near the game's target release range, I may share a teeny bit more, but just little enough to keep you wondering....

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