We’ve seen massive growth and fundamental changes transform the games industry over the past decade or so. The mobile platform has gone from nowhere to the largest single segment of the games industry, and new business models for games appear, thrive, and dominate. China has become the leading games market on the planet, and Chinese company Tencent is now the largest games company in the world by far. So it should be no surprise that the media is also in the process of fundamentally changing, and so is the nature of games marketing.
Changes have gradually snuck up on games media, but we’re now in the acceleration phase of the curve. Once, games media meant a handful of monthly games magazines, which were the major source of information for games fans. They were also the most important places for game marketing and PR to focus on. As magazines and newspapers have faded in significance, the growth of websites and blogs as the primary purveyors of game news became critically important. Marketing followed, and the most important websites and blogs were places to advertise and support.
Now, as YouTubers and streamers are becoming the place where hundreds of millions of gamers are absorbing the latest info about games, the websites and blogs about games have declined in importance. We’re seeing the effects now in layoffs, restructurings, and shutdowns. Long-time games journalist Dean Takahashi outlined this on GamesBeat: “Layoffs recently hit the Durham, N.C. office of The Escapist, and the 11-year-old Game Politics web site is shutting down on April 18. Others that have or are shuttering include CVG, GameTrailers, Official Nintendo Magazine, Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Edge Online, Xbox World, and PSM3. I would list more, but it’s starting to get a little depressing. I wouldn’t exaggerate the situation. This year isn’t necessarily worse than previous years, but it’s not a good trend.”
Adding to that list is the shutdown of Yahoo Games on May 13 (along with closing other verticals) and sites like Mashable moving more to TV and video. We’re seeing a sea change here, and it has people like Takahashi wondering where the future lies for games journalism.
Certainly, video is becoming far more important as a medium for people to get the latest news about games, but it’s more than news. It’s being able to see the games, watch people play them proficiently, and listen to people talking about them in an entertaining way. That’s a skill set many game journalists just don’t have, so transitioning to video is difficult. Which is why we’re seeing a whole new generation arising of people who are comfortable sharing their thoughts on games via social media and video.
See The Message
There are some important takeaways for marketers in this evolution of game media. First, is the move towards video. It’s imperative that games marketers have a video strategy that is comprehensive and long-term. It’s about much more than doing a killer trailer for a game. Although that is more important than ever, your video strategy either starts there or uses trailers as part of a bigger strategy.
Video has many important differences from text for marketers. Yes, it’s images, and action, but it’s also highly effective at transmitting tone, style, emotion, and personality. Marketers need to consider all of these facets in video creation, and employ talent capable of striking the right notes.
Video is a tool with utility for many aspects of marketing. Yes, snippets of gameplay can be shown, or backstory. But there’s also behind-the-scenes looks at the process of game development, or messages from various parts of the development team, conversations with developers and fans… the list is endless. True fans of a game want to engage deeply with all aspects of the game, its past, present and future, and video is a great way to accomplish that.
That’s not at all to say that video should be used to the exclusion of other tools, of course. Many times ideas are best conveyed by text, or still images. Discussions and conversations on forums or on social media can be terrific at communicating, though you must be ever-vigilant for trolls. While game media sites may be changing, they are still a very important way for millions of gamers to find out about games, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
User-Generated Marketing
The second key part of this media revolution for marketers to comprehend and embrace is the shift of marketing control. Marketers and companies once had absolute control over marketing message. Every part of the message that anyone ever saw was designed, executed, and overseen by the brand’s guardians.
Now, the control of your product’s message is largely in the hands the audience itself. This is the era of user-generated marketing. The audience is making videos, describing things in their own terms, praising or mocking it, and concentrating on whatever part of your game they deem important. Attempts to control the message can easily result in a backlash, or even the audience turning away to go engage with some other game that wants their input.
Marketers still have the ability to influence the conversation, and to highlight parts of the message of frame them in a desired way. If you do this well enough, the audience will pick up on that in their own communications. Fundamentally, the game you’re marketing has to live up to what you’re saying about it, because the fan base will quickly tear down any hyperbole. Worse, if you exaggerate some aspect of the game, that can result in a greater level of criticism than the game may warrant. It’s best to under-promise and over-deliver in the era of user-generated marketing.
Games journalism, is shifting from the purview of a small number of journalists to a media of expression for the audience. Your marketing efforts become the starting points for the efforts of the audience. You are providing seeds rather than complete gardens. Yes, you may help nurture and tend this garden of messages, but do it carefully, so as not to damage the plants or the harvest. The growth of the marketing is beyond your direct control in this day and age, but that also means that the possible scope can be much larger than you dreamed of in times past. Would Minecraft have ever had millions of videos created by a publisher if the game had appeared a decade ago? Of course not, nor would it have become the monster hit it is now without the efforts of thousands or perhaps millions of dedicated fans doing a lot of marketing for the game without even understanding that they’re doing it.