We love success stories. These tales about amazing games getting the praise they deserve and breaking sales records in no time. Honestly though, how many can we actually name, from the top of our heads? A bunch, at most.
At the same time, according to Steam Spy, there were 7672 games released in 2017 on Steam only. That is more than 20 games a day & it means one thing and one thing only — that for every success story we got hyped by, there is a long line of titles that either failed or barely made it.
Considering that ratio, there is a high chance that the projects that we are working on right now, will end up somewhere in this long line. It might be frightening, but should not be ignored. What it should be, is analyzed and discussed so we could plan ahead and be better prepared to survive on this exciting yet highly competitive market of ours.
THE FOUNDATION.
Gaming market, just as every other market out there is not binary and there is a wide spectrum to land on, between the total success and total failure. As much as the launch day success is important, there is a bunch of things one can actually do, to support ones product marketing and business wise long term. With well laid out marketing plan, we can not only significantly decrease the risk of failure, but also work out the recipe for the safest landing possible.
So, let’s touch few things that heavily influence the performance of a game as a product. Aside from its core quality. Because having good game is a must.PERIOD. Marketing starts with the game. In our field of work, everything basically does. So, you can try your hardest and initially you can have some results even, but if your game does not deliver, you’re doomed to fail in a long run.
EMBRACE THE DATA.
Assuming quality-wise you are covered, we may safely proceed to data & its value. There is no way to overestimate the importance of data. To say it is important, is to say nothing at all. Data is crucial. It allows to measure your performance and, what is even more important, to replicate the process that led to the initial success, or to avoid mistakes once made. After all, the more you know, the better you can prepare. The better prepared you are, the lesser the risk of failure. Obviously.
As digital as we are, we should have much more quantified information at hand. Starting with market trends, through marketing KPIs, sales analysis, to community management and customer service. It may sound boring and uptight, but it is necessary. There is so much we can learn from other categories, to leverage our business performance. And we should, as…
…gaming IS business after all. A great one and a fun one, but still a full fledged business. So, we should treat it as one. We are here to make amazing things, but also to make money out of them. Money that will allow us to make even better & bigger things.
PEOPLE, PRICES, PLACES.
At the same time, common mistake to make is to project your perception, your needs and wants, on the market as a whole. Developers like to say that they make games they would like to play. Design-wise it can be an understandable approach. Business-wise it is not.
How strong is the category/genre/type your game belongs to?
How big is your potential audience?
How strong and active are your competitors and what is your condition in direct comparison?
These are totally valid questions to ask and there is a bunch of tools you can and should use to find proper answer to most of them.
Starting with Steam Spy obviously. Even though right now (as of May, 2018) it is not as accurate as it used to be, it can still provide you with a lot of valuable information.
Then you’ve got review aggregators (i.e. Metacritic), media portals and such. If you want to take your analysis a level higher, consider adding social media monitoring and campaign tracking tools on top of what I have already mentioned. They will allow you to understand the scale, condition as well as activity of your widely-understood community and build the foundation for your future communication planning.
Last but not least, there are campaign-specific databases (WARC, Adsoftheworld, to name just two) and browsing through them should give you at least few valuable cases to get inspiration from. Just keep in mind that gaming as category is usually not heavily represented on most of these platforms. All you are going to find will probably come from the AAA field. It can still be highly informative. Just not everything may be applicable to indie-marketing approach.
Your audience is a particularly interesting and worth exploring subject. Design-wise but especially business-wise.
Does your category or genre have strong following?
How many people can actually be interested in your game?
Then comes the matter of your pricing and the way it influences your potential sales. Obviously the lower the price the more attractive the offer, but that is not always the case. Sometimes the price that is too low can decrease the appeal of your game, affecting its image in a negative way. Also, tight pricing minimizes your flexibility regarding potential discounts & ‘promo’ activities.
Proper definition of pricing, audience profile and careful production cost management can allow you to estimate the overall profitability of your project.
BASIC SEGMENTATION.
That said, here appears another pitfall you can easily fall into regarding the segmentation of your audience. There is a thin line separating your advocates(vocal group creating the discourse around your game) and real spenders(generating your revenue). Both groups are valuable, but it is important not to confuse them with each other. Some genres have quite big following and active communities, but at the same time prove to be weak regarding their profitability. If I had to name an example, I would say that ‘point & click adventure games’ are ‘tricky to market’, to put it mildly. Apparently, as a community, we like to talk about ‘good old times’, watch a video compilation of some beloved titles from the 16-bit era, but then, we spend our money on more modern experiences.
And it makes sense, do not get me wrong. What I am trying to say is, while analyzing your consumer base, try to pinpoint your advocates as well as your potential spenders. Then use the first group accordingly in your communication planning, but regarding your sales predictions focus solely on the second group. That way you’ll avoid unnecessary disappointments and you’ll be better prepared when it comes to your marketing and publishing strategy.
PRODUCT & ITS BRANDING.
Having that part briefly covered let’s get to the trickier one. Working on games right now, from a business perspective you have to be a bit schizophrenic.
