4 ms·

I wonder if it is physically possible, nowadays, to just quietly launch a game without building up the necessary hype beforehand. In Hello Game's case, the comm

I wonder if it is physically possible, nowadays, to just quietly launch a game without building up the necessary hype beforehand. In Hello Game's case, the community is so burned by the company that they are immediately distrustful when they announce something new (see the other comments, for example). What would have happened if they had just put it on the steam store? "Here's what we made, see for yourself if it's good". Use the money saved from minimal marketing to build a better game. Heck, they'd get a lot of viral marketing for free anyway from the media companies falling over themselves to cover the surprising game release.

thih9 3y ago
> Use the money saved from minimal marketing I think that’s the problem - marketing a game is relatively cheap.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
> What would have happened if they had just put it on the steam store? "Here's what we made, see for yourself if it's good". That's easy: it would sell less. > Heck, they'd get a lot of viral marketing for free anyway from the media companies falling over themselves to cover the surprising game release. This went famously well for the Saturn.
badpun 3y ago
> What would have happened if they had just put it on the steam store? It was once tried out by Edmund McMillen (of Supermeat boy and Binding of Isaac fame), who have basically dumped "The End is Nigh" on Steam with little to no promotion. From what he said later, it was a mistake, and the sales numbers were basically disappointing.
- beAbU 3y ago
  But is that not then just a true reflection of the games popularity? By removing excessive marketing you filter out the people that only bought the game because of FOMO? Give the game chance to breathe, spread by word or mouth, and maybe after relase have targeted marketing campaigns. This way you avoid self-sustaining hype growth, and your consumers are less disappointed. I know nothing of marketing and/or buyer preference/behaviour.
zerreh50 3y ago
Apex Legends from Respawn/EA was basically launched like that. It had a reveal stream, where they announced the game going live, and released it immediately, along with all the promotional material and content creator collabs. It's massively successful so it worked out.
developerDan 3y ago
I will forever remember Fallout 4 and the ludicrous amount of hype around that game because it was announced at E3 in June and released in September. These 3 year hype cycles are just plain silly (and expensive). But stealth launch with no marketing whatsoever very rarely pans out.

thih9 3y ago

> Use the money saved from minimal marketing I think that’s the problem - marketing a game is relatively cheap.

TulliusCicero 3y ago

> What would have happened if they had just put it on the steam store? "Here's what we made, see for yourself if it's good". That's easy: it would sell less. > Heck, they'd get a lot of viral marketing for free anyway from the media companies falling over themselves to cover the surprising game release. This went famously well for the Saturn.

badpun 3y ago

> What would have happened if they had just put it on the steam store? It was once tried out by Edmund McMillen (of Supermeat boy and Binding of Isaac fame), who have basically dumped "The End is Nigh" on Steam with little to no promotion. From what he said later, it was a mistake, and the sales numbers were basically disappointing.

beAbU 3y ago
But is that not then just a true reflection of the games popularity? By removing excessive marketing you filter out the people that only bought the game because of FOMO? Give the game chance to breathe, spread by word or mouth, and maybe after relase have targeted marketing campaigns. This way you avoid self-sustaining hype growth, and your consumers are less disappointed. I know nothing of marketing and/or buyer preference/behaviour.

zerreh50 3y ago

Apex Legends from Respawn/EA was basically launched like that. It had a reveal stream, where they announced the game going live, and released it immediately, along with all the promotional material and content creator collabs. It's massively successful so it worked out.

developerDan 3y ago

I will forever remember Fallout 4 and the ludicrous amount of hype around that game because it was announced at E3 in June and released in September. These 3 year hype cycles are just plain silly (and expensive). But stealth launch with no marketing whatsoever very rarely pans out.