News Used On YOU: The Power of FEAR In AAA Game Marketing | Value Isn't All We Think It Is...
- Thread starter lashman
- Start date
Interesting video. I don't think the industry uses FOMO as a marketing tool that much though, at least not directly. The incentive to buy games early is still extra game content.
IMO, feeling the need to play current games because of FOMO is a side-effect of the Internet. You want to play the same game your friends, your favorite blogs and influencers are playing to understand what they're talking about and join the conversation, you want to get the jokes and memes about the new games on social media.
So, the only way I see the industry using it is by giving early copies to influencers and media outlets and having then talking about it.
IMO, feeling the need to play current games because of FOMO is a side-effect of the Internet. You want to play the same game your friends, your favorite blogs and influencers are playing to understand what they're talking about and join the conversation, you want to get the jokes and memes about the new games on social media.
So, the only way I see the industry using it is by giving early copies to influencers and media outlets and having then talking about it.
OP
OP
that's still FOMO, though .... fear of missing out on that extra content
and of course - some publishers just release that stuff later on for people to buy ... but some don't - ubi are the worst when it comes to that ... pretty much ALL their pre-order bullshit was never released after the fact for people to buy ... so you either HAD to pre-order it ... or you weren't getting any of the extra stuff EVER
Since they mention Crash Team Racing in the video, the game has 2 editions:
Regular is $40, with SE being $60 (in my PS region it is $55). The latter gives you extra skins and early unlocks, but otherwise, the stuff int he $60 can be unlocked by playing through the game.
Personally If I want to get an SE or pricier edition of a game, or even get a game with a pre-order bonus, I'd only do it if I like the publisher or developer. Otherwise, I'd wait for a sale.
Back to watching the video.
Regular is $40, with SE being $60 (in my PS region it is $55). The latter gives you extra skins and early unlocks, but otherwise, the stuff int he $60 can be unlocked by playing through the game.
Personally If I want to get an SE or pricier edition of a game, or even get a game with a pre-order bonus, I'd only do it if I like the publisher or developer. Otherwise, I'd wait for a sale.
Back to watching the video.
OP
OP
You're right, guess I never thought about it that way. Maybe cause I never cared about that extra content much.
Still think that the social pressure is bigger though.
OP
OP
yeah, it definitely is ... but missing out on extras is also "a thing" ... for a lot of people, in fact
Nah, at least with the stuff I've seen behind the curtain with for some MP games they definitely want to push the narrative that you have to hop on things NOW or you're going to be left behind. Note I mostly was on the journo/esports side of shit, so think games like that, so that's my perspective. I might give this a watch in a bit.
I don't even mean things like content either. I mean things like skill progress or gameplay events where lots of people participate. Event passes in games like Fortnite and League put the content and the event gameplay/progression on the same microtransaction.
Honestly, this affect(ed) me too much, and Gaf/Era was a huge reason for it, not marketing.
The hype culture and official threads were just too much to ignore. I felt like if I don't play the game at launch, I'd be missing out on the discussions. That has some truth as you'll probably have less people talking about the game if you play it way later, but now I think about it, it's not really that bad. Not being able to participate in the honeymoon phase of a brand new game experience is not a huge loss for me. I can still enjoy playing games later as long as I'm not spoiled.
The hype culture and official threads were just too much to ignore. I felt like if I don't play the game at launch, I'd be missing out on the discussions. That has some truth as you'll probably have less people talking about the game if you play it way later, but now I think about it, it's not really that bad. Not being able to participate in the honeymoon phase of a brand new game experience is not a huge loss for me. I can still enjoy playing games later as long as I'm not spoiled.
OP
OP
Well, it makes sense for MP games because they need to have people playing them to survive and if they don't get players at launch, they won't have a second chance.
... that's why we have Derrick01 in here - to balance things out ... he hates everything
Ironically I've historically had a hard time passing up on games at launch that I was even remotely interested in because of FOMO.
Like I should probably cancel my rage 2 order based on how mediocre it seems to have turned out and because I already have more than enough to play until it drops below $30, but will I? No lol.
OP
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you should be ashamed of yourself!
bad Derrick, bad!
I'm holding strong. I know how Bethesda launches go now. In a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks, Rage 2 will be half off. Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.”
Plus it doesn't hurt that Iffy has a game coming out on Thursday I'd rather play. Dat weeb life.
Except that would need to be a discount directly on Steam to make a difference. We are gonna see swift discounts on CDKeys and the like but no one wants a Beth launcher key.
I think it will be discounted like that on Steam. Hell, we aren't that far off from the Summer Sale.
Couple of questions in regards to the video:
- What does games immediately dropping in price have to do with FOMO?
- Anthem failed according to EA (Archive); The Division 2 has lost just about ALL of it's playerbase (Archive); and Borderlands 3 is setting itself up to fail for it's September launch with all the juicy details coming out, such as changing half the cast due to internal issues (Archive) and lying about the game's monetization (Archive), and this is also leaving out that millions are still playing Borderlands 2 (Archive).
- Why are the only two examples he brought up are Risk of Rain 2 and RDR2? I think he also brought up Fallout 76 as a "prime example", but he neglected to mention that that failed too, miserably (Archive).
- Much of this already mirrors what people, such as Razorfist, covered four years ago:
Actually, there is two other options to get the content when companies pull that. The first is modding.
Yeah, if a multiplayer game doesn't hit a critical mass of regular players early on, it's a hard road back.
For me at least, that's not really FOMO-inducing though, it actually more often scares me off multiplayer games, because I'd rather someone else take the risk.
I will say that for me, having a community (friends, Discord server, Reddit hub, forum, whatever) to discuss a game with is absolutely FOMO inducing. But, it also tends to make me actually play the game because of the FOMO.
Whereas a game that I get worked into FOMO over, but don't actually have a community to discuss it with, those are typically the ones that get stuck in my backlog.
Hype does nothing for me, especially since the general opinion on most titles sours a few months after release, and games, like most things, become critiqued more fairly in hindsight. This not only saves me loads of cash, but prevents me from having to sort through the garbage also. I'm in no hurry anymore, I'm almost 30.