State of the Industry: Marketing 101

1st quarter financials have been burning up the net and the big three are feeling the squeeze of the economy. This post is less concerned with the financial facts of the first quarter numbers, you can find all those at http://www.kotaku.com/, instead lets look at ways developers & publishers can curb the economic lows and deliver quality content.

The Game/Film Vehicle

Most consumers are interested in getting the most for their money. Whether it’s waiting to purchase a game until it is on sale or trading in your old games to buy that new one. With the recession taking grip across the United States, companies are starting to recognize this and they are reacting by trying to offer more than just a game. One strategy is to take advantage of the potential for more content on the disc besides the game, an added bonus for your purchase. The concept of integrating movies with video games is being driven by Sony Playstation 3 for the most part, due to the increased size on Blu-ray discs. Some examples of this include Midways Hard Boiled or the new Watchmen: The End is Nigh Complete Experience. With as many video games being built around movie licenses and Sony possessing its own film studio, there would seem to be a lot of potential for this to exist in future launch titles.

Fan Service

Why stop at movies though? As sequels continue to come after each successful installment of an IP, some games have crossed multiple generations of consoles. One such example is the God of War franchise. With the 3rd iteration debuting on PS3 in the fourth quarter of 2009, Sony has been conducting surveys to see what type of extra content consumers would want with the special edition of GOW 3 to contain. The most interesting of options was the idea that they could include the two previous installments from the Playstation 2. And lets not forget the recent release of Starbreeze studios Chronicles of Riddick sequel, Assault on Dark Athena, where Starbreeze included a full high definition remake of the original The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

Episodic Content

One way to eliminate risk in a risky IP is to release it in portions, otherwise known as episodic content. It gives the developers flexibility to make the games they want to make and encourage more innovation. Valve software was one of the pioneers in this field with Half Life 2. Instead of making a direct sequel, they chose to release more content as chapters. So, once the original game of Half Life 2 is complete, you could then download episodes 1 & 2 and continue enjoying the same great game with an extended story arc and new game play functions. Episode 3 though has taken quite some time to complete and brings us to a downside of episodic content. Telltale games have really been the leading example when it comes to releasing games episodically and consistently.With such releases as Sam & Max, Strong Bad and many others, expect more great Telltale games in the future.

Additional Downloadable Content

To further explore the concept of downloading games; let’s look at how some developers hope to release new content for already existing titles via downloadable content. By taking existing games and expanding upon the content, we can invest in the success of a brand, without having to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a sequel. Instead, a developer can improve upon a specific aspect, such as the story or multiplayer experience and for a low price to the consumer; they offer the opportunity to continue enjoying the experience. Recently, Rockstar games released an expansion for the immensely popular Grand Theft Auto 4. It seemed almost unnecessary that a game of this scale would require much more, but Rockstar may have recognized this as well, by designing a completely new story arc, with different characters, missions, and in game items, while still retaining the feel. Rockstar is not the only company to find fruition through DLC, as the long time digital distribution advocates at Valve have now upgraded their PC browser Steam, so that developers can add downloadable content to any game on Steam--regardless of where the gamer purchased the game from, as long as they have the game they can download the extra content from Steam and it'll work.