Randomly Mine: Marketing

I've not been following The Last of Us Part 2. Originally, it stemmed from enjoying the original game but not standing on it's powerful hype-train. Now, it stems from not wanting to have a decent chunk of the game spoiled. Though, when a big publisher does its job, escaping the game's presence completely is almost impossible.

And Sony have most certainly done that. I've seen various tweets posted about the game's release, features, and themes. The problem is that the marketers aren't intriguing people through imagery, dialogue, or exciting gameplay. 

Instead they're listing things such as "a dedicated jump button." 

This has earned Naughty Dog much mockery, and understandably so; the critically acclaimed developer has been critically examined as of late due to information about the company's structure by ex-employees.

Understandable, doesn't make it correct though. I'm not saying Naughty Dog has no part in the game's questionable marketing, we don't know yet. What is likely however are the developer, publisher, and marketers being completely out of sync.

I was once told by a developer his horror upon seeing the very weapon his team cut from the game being shown to millions watching E3 two weeks later; the marketing team had no idea it was removed.

Now, game's success or failure isn't entirely dependent on marketing campaigns. I'm sure we all have memories of games that were plastered on every pixel of the internet that ultimately didn't capture interest regardless. Medal of Honor's collaborations with Linkin Park come to mind. However, what I tend to notice is successful marketing is often, it's own form of storytelling.

Hunt the Truth for Halo is the most overt example. Using a dedicated audio-drama to setup what would ultimately be Halo 5's narrative. So successfully it only made Halo 5's campaign that much more disappointing for people who had listened.

Recently Destiny 2's been capturing hearts and minds with its teasers of various characters all traveling to the same location, released each day until the final trailer's release date, building anticipation.

You don't even need to go that far. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare worked with a long established trailer studio to figure out what the best setup was, resulting in one of the most recognizable premiers in gaming's history, which only improved with Modern Warfare 2.

Yes, marketing is about getting your customers to buy something. But I'm of the belief you can tell a story about anything, and that includes a 30 second advertisement. It's not easy, but then again, few things are in this industry, and that's part of the fun.

What is a shame is how many games regardless of quality, are handed off to marketers who likely don't understand the medium itself.