Video Game Marketing: How To and Where To Do It

According to the 2017 census, there are at least 2.2 billion gamers in the world. And these aren’t just those that have downloaded one or two games at some point during the year but the ones that game regularly. Around 1 billion of these gamers are actively spending money as they play.

The need for professionals

So, suffice it to say that the gaming market is not a small one. The best or possibly the worst part (depending on how you look at it) for developers and marketers is the fact that gamers and their “tastes” aren’t really that easy to classify, therefore, making it competitive for game studios within the gaming industry. Since these days gaming is mostly done online where a person doesn't ever have to leave their home to get all the latest games and gaming news, it's harder for companies to get real data about gamers' likes and dislikes. And that is where a good gaming marketing agency can come in.

There are at least 2.2 billion gamers in the world.

Competition

As I am sure you are aware, gamers are not an easy bunch to please. They have their own gamer communities and factions, one platform against the other, one genre against another, the little arguments and disputes are almost endless. This competitiveness gives companies a golden opportunity to weigh in and be either neutral or take one platform and defend it.  If you go through Reddit, different forums and groups, you will see the plethora of communities that are thriving these days. There are some that prefer to play with people of similar age or gender, those that only play one specific genre, ones that stick to one platform specifically, like the PC gaming community or the PlayStation community or the rare all rounders that are into a bit of everything.

This is a great way to gain some publicity. All it requires is for developers to actively support one single platform. For example, Rockstar recently was in the news for announcing the release of their much-awaited title Red Dead Redemption 2 on consoles only for the time being, with a release on PC later next year. It got a lot of free exposure on top of being a timed exclusive for consoles. 

Trendsetters

Like all other modes of entertainment, the preferences of gamers also vary depending on a number of things, ranging from the latest trends to even the sale seasons.

The prime example of this is the boom in the open world survival games that came due to the release of Ark: Survival Evolved. Because of that one game, in 2016-17 alone, there have been more than 20 different titles announced or already released on early access with similar tags.

We saw the same thing in late 2017 for Battle Royale games. And this craze is still going strong. PlayerUnknown’s Battleground or PUBG for short broke all records with more than three million concurrent players on any platform. It already has several clones available on almost every platform. An extremely simple game, but because they had the base formula right and a with a little help from the streaming community, it’s popularity skyrocketed. Two other similar games got where they are today because of PUBG, with a player base of thousands.

Streaming services

Streaming, as previously mentioned, is a big part of today’s gaming community. Let’s take Twitch for example. It still is and has been the biggest live streaming video service in the world since 2014. In Feb 2018, it had more than 2 million active broadcasters and 15 million daily users.

In Feb 2018, a Twitch streamer by the name of Ninja did a stream with musician Drake and had over 635,000 concurrent viewers. The current record stands at 1.1 million viewers so it's quite obvious to see how big of an impact any one of these game influencers could have on a game, especially a new title. 

YouTube

YouTube is also a major platform to showcase games on. These days gamers spend as much time watching other people play as they do actually playing themselves. There are millions of different YouTubers that upload daily with different videos of full-on play-throughs to tutorials and other informative and funny videos.

That’s why almost all of the major gaming platforms have implemented features to either record and share gameplay or directly stream it live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch etc. Be it PlayStation, Xbox, mobile gaming or PC, there are enough connectivity options for gamers to stay connected and keep their friends updated with their progress as they play 24/7.

Word of mouth

Why has become quite common for people to have friends they have never actually met in real life? Because of so many options that keep you connected to the internet, you can easily find people to play with or just talk to. Quite often you can see groups of friends getting together during a big gaming event and watching the whole broadcast with one another, even though they might be on entirely different continents in reality.  

They talk to each other about gaming events such as new unveils, releases or purchases and it’s a great way to learn about new things in general. Platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, Origin and U-play, all have their own versions of newsfeeds which show you what your friends are playing, what they are interested in or have purchased.

Gaming events

Gaming related news is mostly unveiled at one of the major events held throughout the year. There are approximately 19 major events that take place every year. From E3 to Twitch-Con, almost all of them are places for gamers to meet and catch up and an even better place for game developers to showcase their new games or just update the community on the progress of an old one.

Behind the scenes

There are dozens of big YouTube channels, websites and pages whose sole job is to provide a behind the scenes look into the best gaming studios, and show the gamers how a game, its idea and then implementation came into being. Most recent example of this is the Santa Monica Studio who are behind the acclaimed God of War series, and specifically God of War 4. Their game designer has become an internet sensation overnight, with interviews and behind the scenes footage being showed off everywhere.

Like with any other sport, and yes, gaming is considered a sport now, its target audience wants to know more about the people who make the game, including the voice actors.

Gamers spend as much time watching other people play as they do actually playing.

Media personalities

There are a lot of sponsored eSports teams, and some of their players have become icons of the industry. One word from them could make or break the game. Professional video gamer Shroud is a great example of that.

He started out as a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player but later quit and started streaming. Now, he has a fan base consisting of hundreds of thousands of players. If he plays a single game even once, its player base explodes from a few hundred to several thousand in just a few hours.

Another great example is PewDiePie, a Swedish YouTuber who has over 63 million subscribers, and so far is the biggest YouTube personality. With such a massive fanbase, all they have to do is play a game once and it will be better than any marketing tactic.

Developers also use streaming services such as Twitch to show live demos and answer any questions their audience might have.

All of these are great ways to get some exposure for your games. So when it comes to marketing to gamers, there is no right or wrong way.

"The front page of the Internet"

Finally, the easiest way to advertise your games are through "the front page of the internet": Reddit. This is where most of the gamers, or the ones that matter at least, are. If you need feedback on your game, some extra help, or just some pointers from “experts”, look no further.

There are thousands of subreddits for basically every category, and this is just for gaming. You can even meet some like-minded individuals here that share the same passion for developing new and exciting games as you probably do.

I cannot stress this enough, Reddit is your cheapest, easiest and safest bet for gathering data and meeting other developers and gamers. Sometimes simplicity is the key. You might even be able to find some investors from there if that’s what you’re looking for.

There are literally hundreds of ways to get your game out to the public. But what you need, is to target the appropriate audience and in turn, they will help you market your game without even realizing it. Making a good product is just as important as much as advertising it. So choose one of the above-mentioned options and get started.

The best game marketing strategies

Hope you enjoyed this article! For more insider game marketing information, check out The Ultimate Guide to Game Marketing: Everything You Need to Know.

Crossroads?

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