I found this very interesting. Companies still try to shove games with launch DLC and massive amounts of MTX, while Larian just dropped a bomb at a price point that took GOTY
ChurchillianGrooves
I don’t think it’s dead, it’s just changing. Paying for a high value TV slot doesn’t make sense anymore, at least unless you’re call of duty or something maybe.
However influencer marketing I think can be highly valuable. If you get streamers with a big audience to check something out I think that can move units. Especially for an indie or more unknown franchise. Something like Lethal Company got a lot of momentum because some big streamers played it I think.
muppet0o0theory
BG3 was dope but these guys are just sort of being weird with all their “let me tell you a thing or two about a thing or two!” Speeches.
Marketing is still a thing, he’s still in a capitalist system. It’s funny to watch them try to turn selling games into some sort of social economic virtue quest.
Drowyx
Jesus, these dudes make one highly successful game and start preaching nonstop now.
Cool it with the ego tripping, you guys weren’t the first nor the last, we dont need your “10 steps to riches” from you guys as you pretend to have it all figured out.
Literally hopped onto the DnD brand one of the most popular things out there and most marketed and now believe marketing is dead, what a joke.
Sycherthrou
I can sort of see how interesting ads and fun trailers aren’t enough to sell people on games. So often you see trailers with floods of “where’s the gameplay, this is just a cinematic” comments underneath.
At the same time, you do need people to be aware that your product exists. For Larian, with DOS2 under their belt, all reviewers would check out their next game anyways, so in that sense extra ads probably didn’t accomplish much. But it’s a very comfortable position to start with.
And let’s not forget, the druid bear sex implications were nothing but marketing, they didn’t show that by accident.
xXx_MomSlayer69_xXx
Marketing is barely dead, it’s just that individuals are more effective at doing it than the companies are.
th-vincent
Agreed with them, but the headline they used are pretty weird.
Advertisement on TV or Billboard is dead… OK, It’s make sense, …but I don’t think that isn’t only count as Marketing. Isn’t “Early Access” that Larian used also a way of Marketing?
Kryserion
I personally think how the public sees you / your company plays into a role. Like I wouldnt mind seeing a Nintendo ad. I know they’re going to have a pretty decent / good game considering the games they’ve released on the Switch. Then Ubisoft, I would give 0 crap about their ads because all their games lately were just MTX, Battlepass and buggy games that they released so they can please their shareholders.
flash_delirium
I loved BG3 but am tired of seeing “Larian says…” articles every day in gaming subreddits. We really don’t need to hear what they think about everything.
TheMansAnArse
For a lot of reasons, I don’t think you can extrapolate from BG3 to marketing generally.
Beginning-Pipe9074
When are these fuckers releasing crossplay fgs 😭
steveraptor
Dunno about that, the marketing for cyberpunk 2077 was pretty effective.
tuffymon
Flashy videos look great… but I want at least a few seconds of combat or some sorta running around. As it gets closer to release, seeing a demo drop is always nice to solidify a choice (whether i play it or not). I’ll always watch a gameplay video before a purchase.
TonberryFeye
The simple reality is players are sick of being lied to.
Big companies love to push their games as being these thrilling, enticing spectacles… but in reality they’re procedurally generated cash-grabs where 90% of the interaction happens in the store.
Add to this the absolute fuckery that is Mobile Game advertising, where the “gameplay” they show looks *nothing* like the actual in-game experience, and it’s no wonder that gamers as a whole are rejecting adverts in favour of word-of-mouth, or its social media equivalent.
WhiteJasmineBunny
Marketing definitely isn’t dead. Maybe the type he’s talking about but BG3’s early access, panels from hell, the pre-launch murder mystery game and constant updates on social media are all a form of marketing. I actually remember thinking when they were launching BG3 that whoever was handling the marketing were doing a great job.
Just because you aren’t looking at direct ads does not mean that you aren’t being marketed to.
Silantro-89
The marketing success of the last few years has been shows. Fallout is benefitting from it now with legacy titles after Cyberpunk, The Witcher & Last of Us had as well in recent years.
8hook0ne8
Call of Duty, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk?
torn-ainbow
The only marketing that is dying is the traditional methods he is talking about. All that other stuff outside those, that’s marketing too.
Vulture2k
thats bs.. marketing is very much still a thing and i see many smaller indies fail hard at it and not achieve even 100 reviews on steam with a good game… or even 10 reviews at some points..
marketing just got very different.. approach streamers.. find fans.. spread in communities.. generate goodwill.. network with other games.. its not tv channels and newspapers anymore of course.
larian just might not need marketing anymore because they did so well in the past and bg3 basically marketed itself.
but many still need marketing.
Ghostbuster_119
Because it’s been all lies for years now.
You can’t constantly advertise garbage as gold and expect people to just take your word for it.
fernofry
Breaking: Man thinks marketing means only advertising when its not.
Jarroisthebestrobin
This studio has some weird takes. Marketing is still important to selling a game. It’s just different now. Unfortunately a lot of people follow the mindset of a streamer. So winning streamers over is more important than a making a ad for TV. If they like the game they tell there fans it good and to buy. Most of them do. Youtube trailers are also a big part in this as this is likely where most people will get exposed to a trailer for your game.
aretasdamon
Marketing as they know it might be dead, but thinking marketing is dead is just a sensational headline obviously. So annoying
DQ11
Marketing BS is done….marketing the truth still has value
Dinsh_2024
Marketing is obviously not “dead”; he just sees it as a dirty word to not associate himself with.
When they’re releasing their “road maps”, tweeting out things, posts on their Steam page, or whatever…..they’re Marketing. Just because it’s taken a different form now doesn’t mean that it still isn’t Marketing.
catwiesel
its not that marketing is broken, its that traditional marketing does not work anymore, and in parts, new marketing does not work either, unless you throw a shitload of money at it
and expectations are also a problem…
you cant make shit, throw a boatload of marketing budget at it, and then expect the game to do numbers like a game of the decade did, especially “because of marketing”
nikolapc
It’s not dead it’s changing. Probably means classic marketing with ads etc. Yeah that’s dead unless you want everyone to be exposed like for FIFA, or other big games.
You get marketed via YouTubers, influencers, on the platforms themselves, now it’s them charging for product placement,.visibility, blog posts etc. I have AdBlock on everything, ads still come through.
saintvicent
Publicity and promotion =/= Marketing. At least not entirely.
Marketing encompasses way more like consumer behavior, packaging, pricing, etc (a lot other “p” s).
NotSureWhyAngry
Marketing has changed but if he thinks it’s actually dead he has no idea what he is talking about
SgtBadAsh
Game marketing as a whole is probably one of the most dishonest campaigns to exist in modern times. The only thing that comes close is fast food adverts.
definitelynotmeQQ
Marketing still works for certain easy cases like Brown Dust 2 horny animation previews or Nikke anime trailers. Or Stellar Blade bobs and vagene in skin suit.
But I guess for actual gameplay trailers or whatnot it’s hard to effectively get interest from viewers.
Im_No_Hero
It’s not dead, it’s just that most gaming ads these days are aimed at 5 year olds. Most of them have a narrator saying something like “ join the new exciting action adventure game where you play as Joe an ex assassin went rogue “ like man don’t describe the game to me that doesn’t make it any cooler, let the trailer speak for itself
nightwood
This is like succesful people saying “just follow your dreams”.
34 Comments
I found this very interesting. Companies still try to shove games with launch DLC and massive amounts of MTX, while Larian just dropped a bomb at a price point that took GOTY
I don’t think it’s dead, it’s just changing. Paying for a high value TV slot doesn’t make sense anymore, at least unless you’re call of duty or something maybe.
However influencer marketing I think can be highly valuable. If you get streamers with a big audience to check something out I think that can move units. Especially for an indie or more unknown franchise. Something like Lethal Company got a lot of momentum because some big streamers played it I think.
BG3 was dope but these guys are just sort of being weird with all their “let me tell you a thing or two about a thing or two!” Speeches.
Marketing is still a thing, he’s still in a capitalist system. It’s funny to watch them try to turn selling games into some sort of social economic virtue quest.
Jesus, these dudes make one highly successful game and start preaching nonstop now.
Cool it with the ego tripping, you guys weren’t the first nor the last, we dont need your “10 steps to riches” from you guys as you pretend to have it all figured out.
Literally hopped onto the DnD brand one of the most popular things out there and most marketed and now believe marketing is dead, what a joke.
I can sort of see how interesting ads and fun trailers aren’t enough to sell people on games. So often you see trailers with floods of “where’s the gameplay, this is just a cinematic” comments underneath.
At the same time, you do need people to be aware that your product exists. For Larian, with DOS2 under their belt, all reviewers would check out their next game anyways, so in that sense extra ads probably didn’t accomplish much. But it’s a very comfortable position to start with.
And let’s not forget, the druid bear sex implications were nothing but marketing, they didn’t show that by accident.
Marketing is barely dead, it’s just that individuals are more effective at doing it than the companies are.
Agreed with them, but the headline they used are pretty weird.
Advertisement on TV or Billboard is dead… OK, It’s make sense, …but I don’t think that isn’t only count as Marketing. Isn’t “Early Access” that Larian used also a way of Marketing?
I personally think how the public sees you / your company plays into a role. Like I wouldnt mind seeing a Nintendo ad. I know they’re going to have a pretty decent / good game considering the games they’ve released on the Switch. Then Ubisoft, I would give 0 crap about their ads because all their games lately were just MTX, Battlepass and buggy games that they released so they can please their shareholders.
I loved BG3 but am tired of seeing “Larian says…” articles every day in gaming subreddits. We really don’t need to hear what they think about everything.
For a lot of reasons, I don’t think you can extrapolate from BG3 to marketing generally.
When are these fuckers releasing crossplay fgs 😭
Dunno about that, the marketing for cyberpunk 2077 was pretty effective.
Flashy videos look great… but I want at least a few seconds of combat or some sorta running around. As it gets closer to release, seeing a demo drop is always nice to solidify a choice (whether i play it or not). I’ll always watch a gameplay video before a purchase.
The simple reality is players are sick of being lied to.
Big companies love to push their games as being these thrilling, enticing spectacles… but in reality they’re procedurally generated cash-grabs where 90% of the interaction happens in the store.
Add to this the absolute fuckery that is Mobile Game advertising, where the “gameplay” they show looks *nothing* like the actual in-game experience, and it’s no wonder that gamers as a whole are rejecting adverts in favour of word-of-mouth, or its social media equivalent.
Marketing definitely isn’t dead. Maybe the type he’s talking about but BG3’s early access, panels from hell, the pre-launch murder mystery game and constant updates on social media are all a form of marketing. I actually remember thinking when they were launching BG3 that whoever was handling the marketing were doing a great job.
Just because you aren’t looking at direct ads does not mean that you aren’t being marketed to.
The marketing success of the last few years has been shows. Fallout is benefitting from it now with legacy titles after Cyberpunk, The Witcher & Last of Us had as well in recent years.
Call of Duty, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk?
The only marketing that is dying is the traditional methods he is talking about. All that other stuff outside those, that’s marketing too.
thats bs.. marketing is very much still a thing and i see many smaller indies fail hard at it and not achieve even 100 reviews on steam with a good game… or even 10 reviews at some points..
marketing just got very different.. approach streamers.. find fans.. spread in communities.. generate goodwill.. network with other games.. its not tv channels and newspapers anymore of course.
larian just might not need marketing anymore because they did so well in the past and bg3 basically marketed itself.
but many still need marketing.
Because it’s been all lies for years now.
You can’t constantly advertise garbage as gold and expect people to just take your word for it.
Breaking: Man thinks marketing means only advertising when its not.
This studio has some weird takes. Marketing is still important to selling a game. It’s just different now. Unfortunately a lot of people follow the mindset of a streamer. So winning streamers over is more important than a making a ad for TV. If they like the game they tell there fans it good and to buy. Most of them do. Youtube trailers are also a big part in this as this is likely where most people will get exposed to a trailer for your game.
Marketing as they know it might be dead, but thinking marketing is dead is just a sensational headline obviously. So annoying
Marketing BS is done….marketing the truth still has value
Marketing is obviously not “dead”; he just sees it as a dirty word to not associate himself with.
When they’re releasing their “road maps”, tweeting out things, posts on their Steam page, or whatever…..they’re Marketing. Just because it’s taken a different form now doesn’t mean that it still isn’t Marketing.
its not that marketing is broken, its that traditional marketing does not work anymore, and in parts, new marketing does not work either, unless you throw a shitload of money at it
and expectations are also a problem…
you cant make shit, throw a boatload of marketing budget at it, and then expect the game to do numbers like a game of the decade did, especially “because of marketing”
It’s not dead it’s changing. Probably means classic marketing with ads etc. Yeah that’s dead unless you want everyone to be exposed like for FIFA, or other big games.
You get marketed via YouTubers, influencers, on the platforms themselves, now it’s them charging for product placement,.visibility, blog posts etc. I have AdBlock on everything, ads still come through.
Publicity and promotion =/= Marketing. At least not entirely.
Marketing encompasses way more like consumer behavior, packaging, pricing, etc (a lot other “p” s).
Marketing has changed but if he thinks it’s actually dead he has no idea what he is talking about
Game marketing as a whole is probably one of the most dishonest campaigns to exist in modern times. The only thing that comes close is fast food adverts.
Marketing still works for certain easy cases like Brown Dust 2 horny animation previews or Nikke anime trailers. Or Stellar Blade bobs and vagene in skin suit.
But I guess for actual gameplay trailers or whatnot it’s hard to effectively get interest from viewers.
It’s not dead, it’s just that most gaming ads these days are aimed at 5 year olds. Most of them have a narrator saying something like “ join the new exciting action adventure game where you play as Joe an ex assassin went rogue “ like man don’t describe the game to me that doesn’t make it any cooler, let the trailer speak for itself
This is like succesful people saying “just follow your dreams”.
ArenaNet: What is marketing?