Step 2 could be: You get a job offer without sending an application. You get a contract offer out of the blue. You hear of some great event, you would have m

Step 2 could be: You get a job offer without sending an application. You get a contract offer out of the blue. You hear of some great event, you would have missed otherwise. You get invited somewhere, you would not have had access to. You have more people to pitch for funding/investment. You have more people to show your side project to. In general, I think it mostly increase the amount of opportunities you receive. Note that most of those opportunities are probably crap/spam. Nevertheless, if you found a profitable game, it helps to play it more often.