Game Marketing: 10 Tips for a Successful Game Marketing Strategy
- The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries and already surpasses the music and film industries. It is expected to exceed $150 billion next year.
- Thanks to digital distribution platforms like Steam and crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, it is now possible for those with very limited resources to make their talents known to the masses and rise through the ranks to become a respected indie game developer.
- There are many important variables that must be defined before you begin marketing your game, such as pricing models, target audience, forms of financing, etc. These define your entire marketing approach.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 1 Game Marketing: 10 Tips for a Successful Game Marketing Strategy
Kanal |
Zielgruppe |
Kosten |
|---|---|---|
| Soziale Medien | Alle Spiele | Niedrig |
| Online-Werbung | Spiele mit hohem Marketingbudget | Hoch |
| Gemeinschaftsbildung | Alle Spiele, insbesondere solche Niedrig, aber mit hohem mit einem engen Budget | Kreativitätsanspruch |
| Spielplattformen | Spiele, die nicht über das Budget verfügen | Niedrig, aber die Plattformen um sich selbstständig zu vermarkten. erfordern hohe Provisionen auf die Gewinne |
| Influencer Marketing | Alle Spiele, insbesondere Online-Spiele Variiert: | Kann niedrig bis sehr hoch mit Wettbewerbsvorteil sein |
Video games are big business. In 2012, the hugely popular first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops II generated $1 billion in just 15 days, faster than the Hollywood mega-hit Avatar from 2009. Moreover, companies spend millions of dollars to not only develop games but also to market them. Rockstar Games’ 2013 action title Grand Theft Auto V had total development and game marketing costs of around $290 million, making it the largest gaming title of all time. With stakes so high, the effectiveness of video game marketing can make or break a new release. There are even times when a targeted game marketing campaign can help bring a low-budget hit into the spotlight with great success.
For a small independent developer, standing out against developers like Ubisoft or Valve may seem impossible. However, many indie games have actually sold more than a million copies despite their limited budgets, and in some cases have exceeded a million sales before they are even fully released! Thanks to digital distribution platforms like Steam and crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, a new form of game marketing is now possible, allowing those with very limited resources to make their talents known to the masses and rise through the ranks to become respected indie game developers. You only have to look at the rapidly growing Steam Store to see how popular some indie titles are.
The Steam platform is known to every gamer and hosts thousands of games that can be played online, many of which are free.
Whether you’ve just launched a new game, want to relaunch an existing game, or are simply looking for more players, there are a number of video game marketing initiatives you can start implementing yourself – some are even free or relatively low-cost, avoiding the need to hire celebrities or create TV commercials.
Möglichkeiten des Spiele Marketing |
Gefahren des Spiele marketing |
|---|---|
| Mit dem richtigen Marketing kann selbst ein mittelmäßiges Spiel zum Chartbreaker werden | Schwierig für kleinere Studios, um mit AAA-Studios für Spieleentwicklung zu konkurrieren |
| Guerilla-Marketing kann erstaunliche Ergebnisse erzielen | Kann sehr kostspielig sein. |
| Mit dem Aufkommen von Spielinhaltsplattformen werden neue kosteneffiziente Wege für innovative Spiele eröffnet. | Der Lebenszyklus moderner Spiele ist sehr kurz. |
Preparation
Assuming you are at the beginning of the process, there are two important artifacts you need to create:
- Game Marketing Strategy
- Marketing Plan
We advise you to keep these two things separate at least at the start. We also recommend you, for strategic reasons, think very differently than tactical thinking or focusing on a specific part of a plan. Instead, see the strategy as the overarching guide to what you are trying to do – your goals – and the plan as the more detailed translation of exactly what you will do to implement the strategy and achieve the goals. The plan is something you could give to someone else to execute on your behalf, and therefore the strategy is probably too important to delegate. Once you have gained sufficient confidence to create these two goalposts, the game marketing strategy can be launched in two separate parts. First of all, as we have already said, keep both parts separate, as they require you to think at different levels to create them.
You need to think about the game marketing strategy right at the beginning of the game creation process, because certain decisions around things like game design, monetization, languages, and localization will all be influenced by your game marketing strategy. The very first question you should ask yourself is ‘Will I self-publish my game or not?’ If the answer is ‘no’, then many of these strategic decisions will be made by your publisher and the whole process should look very different. After they have seen a vertical slice of your game, the publisher will have an opinion on who you will target and on which platforms, etc. It is really those who self-publish who need a crash course in game marketing. After all, you can rightly expect a publisher to bring a large amount of game marketing expertise and manage the process from start to finish.
If you self-publish, then the most important things to consider in your game marketing strategy are:
1. GaaP vs. GaaS
Will you offer your game as a product, the traditional model, or as a service? If you self-publish, you really need to think of your game as a service. You need to launch the game as early as possible and continuously repeat new releases while building a loyal audience. This is much more like running a subscription business, and developers who self-publish need to think about their game business this way. You will effectively find the most effective marketing channels and use them to acquire new players, then convert them into paying players. The success of your business depends on your ability to generate a higher average revenue per player than it costs you to acquire that player through game marketing.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a good example of a free-to-play game where users must sign up to unlock additional content.
2. Funding Your Game
It would be a mistake to think you need a AAA budget to fund an indie video game, even one that competes with a big blockbuster title in terms of graphics, gameplay, and technology. In fact, it is largely thanks to the rise of crowdfunding platforms and early access that indie games have become as popular as they are. You don’t even necessarily need a lot of money to bring your ideas to life, but what you do need to do, once you have a solid idea in mind, is to start with game marketing.
The amount of funding required naturally depends heavily on the type of game you want to release. Popular indie games like Banished, FTL, Stardew Valley, and Undertale, for example, are technically and graphically very simple and were therefore developed by one- or two-person teams. On the other hand, high-tech games like ARK: Survival Evolved, which feature AAA-quality graphics and gameplay, require a massive budget because a large number of people are needed to work on the project. Hence, it’s best to start small unless you already have an excellent team assembled and a substantial amount of money to start with.
For most solo developers and small indie game studios, especially those developing their very first video game, crowdfunding is the obvious choice. But you need both a great idea to sell and one compelling enough for people to invest in. Unfortunately, crowdfunding has gained some notoriety in certain circles, as some would-be developers fail to fulfill their promises even after securing the necessary funds.
By far the most popular crowdfunding platform is Kickstarter, closely followed by Indiegogo. Many indie developers have seen their concepts become reality thanks to well-executed crowdfunding campaigns. For example, the multi-platform game The Banner Saga raised well over $700,000 from more than 20,000 backers on Kickstarter. Provided you have a good sales idea, combined with beautifully designed concept art, crowdfunding remains a viable option. However, you usually need to be able to present some working screenshots of an early alpha version of the game, so it’s generally necessary to have development underway before you can significantly increase your chances of launching a successful crowdfunded game.
Kickstarter is one of the best marketing options for indie games to secure funding.
Early Access
Also known as alpha funding, early access is a funding model where indie developers with limited budgets offer their games for purchase before they are actually finished. Many developers hesitate to release their projects to the public before completion, and with good reason. But early access still offers many benefits. Most importantly, it allows you to earn money before the game is fully complete, although it must provide enough playable content to be convincing to those who want to try it. You also need to demonstrate that you are actively engaged in developing the game by regularly releasing updates. Another big advantage of the early access model is that your audience has the opportunity to actively participate in the development of the game, increasing the chances of long-term success significantly.
One of the most successful examples of an early access title is the aforementioned ARK: Survival Evolved, which immerses players in a relentless multiplayer environment full of prehistoric predators where they must craft, build, fight, and help each other to survive. Within days of the first public alpha release in June 2015, more than $10 million was generated via Steam’s early access platform. The success of ARK, which was fully released in August 2017, is partly attributed to its complex game marketing strategy with regular content updates, bug fixes, and an active developer community.
One of the most successful examples of an early access title is the aforementioned ARK: Survival Evolved, which immerses players in a relentless multiplayer environment full of prehistoric predators where they must craft, build, fight, and help each other to survive. Within days of the first public alpha release in June 2015, more than $10 million was generated via Steam’s early access platform. The success of ARK, which was scheduled for full release in late 2016, is partly due to its very regular content updates, bug fixes, and the active developer community.
Pricing Models
If you choose the early access funding model – which is highly recommended – you need to price your game accordingly, usually no more than half the expected final sale price. After all, consumers generally won’t be interested in paying full price for an incomplete game still in early development. Another caveat of the early access model is that you won’t be able to charge alpha buyers again for the full version of the game once it’s released. In other words, your alpha purchases should also include the final game when they pay for the early access version.
Prices for indie video games (final releases) vary greatly, but there are some general rules and guidelines:
- Small, casual games developed by one- or two-person teams typically sell for $5 to $15.
- Larger games released by teams of up to half a dozen people generally cost around $30.
- AAA titles and big-budget indie games with AAA-quality graphics and technology are usually priced around $60.
The payment model you choose is also important. On PC or console, almost all indie titles use the straightforward premium model, with games costing a one-time fee. Offering additional paid content like full expansion packs is also an option, although it’s advisable to avoid charging for small DLCs. In the mobile gaming world, microtransactions and free-to-play are popular payment models, but indie studios tend to steer clear of them.
3. Define Your Target Audience:
Every indie game development process starts with a great idea, which later serves as the basis for creating your title and the audience you will build around it. Most importantly, the key to a successful launch strategy is to start with game marketing months or even years before the game’s release, but we will delve deeper into pre-launch options and funding in the next chapter. Before you can begin turning your idea into a tangible reality, you must first define your product and its target audience. Think of this step as creating an initial blueprint that takes into account essential features such as the core quality of the game, its differentiating factors, its genre, and the platforms it will run on.
Core Quality
Defining the core quality of your proposed game is what will determine its target audience and place in the market. Equally important, it determines the scope of financial and development resources required to bring it to life. The most successful titles are typically those that check one or more of the following points:
- It represents a revival of a once-popular genre neglected by major developers. Popular examples include real-time strategy (Grey Goo), pixel-based graphics like Undertale, FTL, Stardew Valley; survival and crafting like in Ark or H1Z1; platformers like Ori and the Blind Forest; and the title This War of Mine.
- It introduces a completely new concept by combining two or more genres that have never been merged before, like survival, crafting, and dinosaurs in the case of Ark or prison and simulation, like Prison Architect.
- The possibilities are virtually limitless. It offers something truly revolutionary by leveraging the latest trends and technologies. These projects are among the most ambitious, so they are not for the faint-hearted. A good example of excellent game marketing is the procedurally generated space adventure No Man’s Sky with its 18 trillion possible planets.
- It is a remake or revival of a specific franchise of a once-popular video game, although copyright restrictions typically limit the possibilities. Some of the most popular among these titles began as mods, like Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Black Mesa, and Garry’s Mod.
Popular franchises like Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Warcraft, Dota, Doom, and others have established themselves as classics in the gaming industry.
Popular franchises like Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Warcraft, Dota, Doom, and others have established themselves as classics in the gaming industry.
No matter what type of game you are developing and marketing through game marketing, you must ensure it meets the expectations of a modern audience. In other words, it must offer a cohesive visual style, user-friendly controls, balanced difficulty, and some features that truly differentiate it from the competition. As you further narrow your specific target audience, you need to learn how to appeal to their personal preferences and past gaming experiences.
4. Define the Platforms & Stores:
The platform you choose is one of the most critical steps before development and pre-marketing, as it largely defines the type of your target audience. For example, PlayStation players rarely mix with PC players and vice versa. Generally, consoles are popular among casual and younger players, while the PC remains the favorite in the so-called hardcore gaming community. Mobile gaming also offers a variety of opportunities, although the platform is hampered by a massive inventory of pay-to-win junk. Below are the largest and most important platforms and how they affect the indie game development industry:
- Digital distribution platforms for PC are where almost all indie games debut. Steam is by far the most popular for indie titles, with GOG Games in second place. And the best part is that Steam also offers a range of funding and development opportunities, as discussed later.
- Steam is also available for Apple Macintosh, although very few developers release games exclusively for Macintosh since the user base is relatively small. Developing for the Apple iPhone Store, however, is an entirely different matter.
- Android powers most of the world’s smartphones, so it’s no surprise it has the largest app and game store in the world. Nevertheless, it remains dominated by the highly customized free-to-pay pricing model, with premium options heavily underrepresented on the platform.
- Game consoles generally remain the realm of AAA developers, primarily due to their limited development capabilities and the fact that they reach the end of their life cycles every few years. That said, Xbox and, to a lesser extent, PlayStation 4 have seen an increase in the availability of indie titles in recent times.
Cross-platform compatibility has become a standard for online multiplayer games.
Ultimately, the platform you choose for game marketing depends on the type of game itself and its target audience. For example, a real-time strategy game that relies heavily on mouse control will hardly perform well on a console. The same is true for games that need to be highly customizable through mods and frequent updates.
5. Geography:
Where will you launch your game? Will you test it first in a test market and then expand to others? Which countries will be targeted? These are all important game marketing questions you need to consider. Many developers launch their game as a game marketing strategy initially in a test market where they gain valuable insights into gameplay, allowing them to make initial changes before introducing the game in other, perhaps less forgiving, markets. The choice of test and launch markets depends heavily on your game, the audience you are targeting, and many other game marketing factors that, in our view, must be considered in your game marketing strategy.
6. Define Your Budget:
Every game marketing strategy should carefully consider the available budget. For most games, especially those run as services, the budget will vary over time as the game generates revenue. However, this is to be expected. If you still need to plan a budget, first determine how much you can spend before the game starts earning money. Then you must decide how much you are willing to continue spending at various income levels. You should know when you are ready to spend earned money for the future as well. It is possible to continue spending on a project that is very personal to you. It is also helpful to plan in advance what the limits for your expenditures are. Every project should have kill criteria, and you should definitely integrate these into your game marketing strategy.
7. Choose Your Game Marketing Channels:
There is a wide selection of channels you can use for game marketing. Big console games still heavily rely on events, news reviews, and other PR, high advertising spends on television, radio, and the internet, launch parties, and a host of other channels. Of course, most developers do not have these budgets, so you are unlikely to consider even a TV commercial in the early phases of your game marketing plan. If your game becomes the next Clash of Clans, then you could well use TV commercials. This blog series is much more aimed at self-publishing indies, so we will make certain assumptions about budgets that will, in turn, focus our efforts on certain channels. With budgets tightening, web and social channels alongside ad networks take priority. The best channel a game developer has is their existing customer base from other games they have released. Start somewhere and build on that across a series of titles to continuously grow a loyal audience.
While your main website, development blog, and distribution channel listings will form the center of your digital game marketing strategy, social media is probably where you will spend most of your marketing and audience-building time. For indie video games, social media and community promotion occur not only on major social networks like Facebook and Twitter but also on industry-specific networks such as large gaming communities and the distribution platform communities themselves. Steam, for example, has become a heavily community-driven platform with all the elements of a social network, from discussion forums to online chat.
By virtue of its enormous following alone, every indie game developer should have a presence on Facebook. Many developers have multiple Facebook pages, including one for the brand itself and one for each game they have released or plan to release. In the case of indie video games, the brand page is unlikely to build a large following beyond your most engaged fans seeking a more professional connection to your company and its projects. The most important page you will ever have on Facebook is the community page for your game, especially during the development phase. Ultimately, the Facebook community page serves as a hub for regular news updates, promoting new content on your developer blog, and most importantly, engaging your community.
Game marketing on Twitter is a bit more complicated, partly due to its technical limitations but also because of what people expect from it. Like Facebook, you want an official community page for your game with the same banners and profile pictures to ensure consistent branding across the board. Again, you use your Twitter account to share industry-relevant news, development updates, post-release updates, and all other content that your community should be interested in. As a microblogging platform, Twitter is not as dialogue-oriented as Facebook, so it is better suited for short but regular updates. As such, you will find that many developers maintain individual Twitter accounts for various lead team members. For example, the lead game developer and the lead artist might have separate Twitter pages to regularly post updates about their specific roles in the project.
Steam
For every Steam game, there is a community hub where people can participate in discussions, post screenshots, artwork, videos, guides, and, if available, mods via the workshop. Visitors will also have the chance to see news and reviews. Although the community hub is, by definition, a community-driven social platform within Steam—either through the Steam website or the client—maintaining a presence here is crucial for every indie developer. In fact, provided you use Steam to sell your game, which you should, the community hub may be more important than mainstream social networks or even your own website. To present yourself as an engaged developer genuinely involved in the community, you should regularly participate in forum discussions, stick to key developer threads such as patch notes and FAQs, and use the news page to keep people informed about updates.
TwitchTV
Not to forget the streaming platform TwitchTV, which boasts over 800 million unique monthly visitors. We will discuss this further later in the chapter on influencers.
News Submission Networks
As any developer knows, there is no shortage of news submission networks and review websites on the internet, especially when it comes to industries like gaming. However, it makes no sense to spend your time thinking about every single possible resource. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile to get noticed by some of the larger networks by submitting press releases and giving them the opportunity to review your game. Some of the major networks include the following, each with more than 10 million monthly visitors:
- GamePress
- GameFAQs
- GameSpot
- Kotaku
- IGN
- PC Gamer
Game Marketing on YouTube
If you don’t already have a YouTube channel, now is the time to set one up. Since YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google, you have an open playing field for your game marketing with opportunities to promote your game and connect with potential players and gaming reviewers.
Creating a promotional video that you can use as a teaser, showcasing the most exciting or thrilling parts of your game, is an excellent way to kick off game marketing. Include great graphics and soundtracks, as well as any other key information that would appeal to a potential player. Once you upload your video as part of your game marketing campaign, you can add the link to your description in app stores and other social media channels. You can then start creating tips and tricks videos or tutorials to help and engage with other gaming channels to spread your name.
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 teaser video was 1 minute long and generated over 13 million views before the game’s launch:
You can also use one of YouTube’s advertising services for game marketing, where your teaser appears as a video ad before a requested video plays. Users have the option to skip the ad or watch it through, and you only pay for this service if the teaser is watched to the end.
Another way to leverage YouTube is to approach popular channels that publish gaming content and negotiate a video placement on their channel. Ideally, you should showcase some gameplay footage to engage potential players.
Apex Legends Using YouTube as Game Influencer Marketing
Influencers as a Game Marketing Strategy
Influencers are king when it comes to game marketing for a large audience. Introducing your game to the right person can lead to exposure to thousands or even millions of potential customers. Most influencers operate on a “promotion for cash” basis, so this may cost a bit depending on the size of their audience. If you’re fortunate enough to know an influencer you may have already worked with or an old friend, reach out to see if they’d be interested in collaborating with you.
If not, you can find tons of streamers on Twitch and YouTube who may be willing to play your game in front of thousands of viewers. Keep in mind, however, that big streamers will likely charge a significant fee, which could be even higher if your game doesn’t meet their standards and what their follower base wants to see. No streamer will sacrifice their own reputation to play a subpar or boring game, as it will harm their long-term image and career.
A good example of a game that became very popular this way is Apex Legends, a new battle royale game developed by EA Studios. Unfortunately, since EA is a giant in the gaming industry, we can only guess how much they paid streamers to bring their game to the top on TwitchTV.
Popular streamers like Ninja and Shroud were among the first to play Apex, leading to millions of people trying the game and migrating from other battle royale games like Fortnite to Apex. They are very effective tools: they post updates and achievements including gameplay.
8. Measurement:
One of the most important things you must do before spending large sums on marketing is set up measurement and reporting so you can precisely state the return you’re getting from various channels. Unfortunately, given the multitude of channels you can use, it’s unlikely there is a single reporting solution capable of tracking everything across all channels. Most platforms can tell you where the referral came from, but these are not 100% conclusive across all channels. A bit of trial and error is necessary, unfortunately, and the effectiveness of certain tools over others depends heavily on the game marketing channels you’re using. Understanding which channels are most effective for you is a critical part of your ongoing game marketing, so many considerations must be made, and we will publish a blog later on some recommended reporting methods.
Conclusion
