Show, and Tell
Successful marketing takes much more than entertaining viewers with a trailer or building excitement around IP. The most important factor in every campaign is finding and knowing your audience. Unfortunately, having the best product in any specific category doesn’t always translate directly into customers or more favorable public perception. In the video game industry specifically, I often feel there’s a disconnect between what the advertisers feel the need to convey and what their audience wants to see.
For a simple example of a team knowing their audience, you need look no further than mobile game ads. These often deceitful advertisements are incredible at evoking feelings of superiority and frustration by showing the game being poorly played intentionally; motivating the player to download the game to play it better. I do not always condone the tactics used in these types of advertisements, but regardless the teams behind them certainly know their audience.
I’ll do it myself
More interestingly, it’s sad to see good games falter due to a mismatch in messaging and audience expectations. Marvel’s Midnight Suns developed by Firaxis (creators of the XCOM series) comes to mind. Aside from using Metallica’s most popular songs for all... three… trailers… They used these trailers to focus solely on the story aspect of the game and the generic “Hero” protagonist; both based on a beloved but little-known comic run of the same name. Not only did their official gameplay reveal neglect to convey what gameplay would wholly look like, but it introduced and didn’t explain a mechanic completely foreign to the Firaxis audience: cards. These factors combined had the effect of alienating Firaxis’ existing XCOM audience while failing to leverage the Marvel IP to capture a more casual Marvel fan.
When it comes to marketing, specifically video games, I often wonder: What’s wrong with just telling us about the game? What does a prestigious CGI trailer with copyrighted music actually convey about how the game plays? Do you know your audience? Hindsight is of course 20/20, but if Firaxis were to have asked for my opinion, I would have focused on a few talking points:
This is from the creators of XCOM and is still a tactics game, but it is not a reskin of XCOM.
Explain the new card system and action economy, particularly when cards in video games usually imply deckbuilding a la Slay the Spire.
Clarify that “Super Heroes don’t miss.” The head developer, Jake Solomon, said this during an interview with MinnMax. If you’ve played XCOM, you know missing 85% chance shots is both a running joke and a pain point.
You live with Marvel superheroes. Interacting with them and building relationships will make you both stronger, unlock new outfits, and enrich the story overall. Highlight these smaller-scale RPG elements.
Tactics and strategy games aren’t as in-vogue as an FPS or RPG. Instead of watering down the mechanics for the masses, distill them for your audience.
I’d reiterate now that Midnight Suns is a good game with bad marketing. I love the gameplay, and I sucked at wasn’t even a part of the preexisting XCOM fan base! Midnight Suns highlighted one of marketing's greatest pitfalls: flash over function. Those CGI trailers are more expensive to produce than ones capturing gameplay while offering nothing for potential buyers to latch onto. It would be much more effective to communicate what the intended overall experience is supposed to be like.
I was decidedly uninterested in the game until I watched the MinnMax interview mentioned above, where Jake Solomon simply explained what he felt was great about the game. He clarified how cards were used in the game, why he chose to go that route (and the coinciding struggles), but most importantly he was enthusiastic about the game and confident in the end result. It reaffirmed in me how impactful candidness and passion are, and how contagious that attitude can be to the given audience.
To juxtapose with an example of a game in a similar niche genre that did it right, I’d recommend watching the Ara: History Untold section from the Xbox Developer Direct 2024. Ara: History Untold is an upcoming 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) game that was given 12-13 minutes of breathing room in the showcase. Not only are the gameplay, UI, systems, and experience prominent talking points, but the most convincing elements of their presentation are the developer’s personal in-game experiences and their enthusiasm for the project.
Cinematic-based trailers certainly have their place, and I don’t mean to imply I’m immune to the hype surrounding some of them, but these are at their best when used by a series with long-standing audience trust; such as the Monster Hunter series and their latest trailer for Wilds. By and large, though, well-developed video games would benefit from a presentation showcasing the gameplay, the intended experience, and the enthusiasm the creators have for the game.
