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Old 19-09-19, 18:54   #5801
MissJodieG
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Am I the only person happy with the marketing approche they chose for Shadow? I mean those closed door events where rather ineffective and the first Gameplay trailer was terrible graphically wise but besides that, I loved the short wait between reveal and release. Personally, I‘m not too fond of the regular strategy they went with in the past. Having to wait for over a year to finally get to play the game is frustrating to me. All those long phases between events with radio silence and stuff just aren‘t for me.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:01   #5802
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Originally Posted by MissJodieG View Post
Am I the only person happy with the marketing approche they chose for Shadow? I mean those closed door events where rather ineffective and the first Gameplay trailer was terrible graphically wise but besides that, I loved the short wait between reveal and release. Personally, I‘m not too fond of the regular strategy they went with in the past. Having to wait for over a year to finally get to play the game is frustrating to me. All those long phases between events with radio silence and stuff just aren‘t for me.
The short time between reveal and release wasn't the problem, other companies do it from time to time. The thing about it though is the fact that those other companies always keep the marketing top notch. They usually push their game into many ads and always are showing off more and more about their games till release. They usually flood the market with information and keep the wave of advertising strong even past release day.

They didn't take this approach at all, they instead decided to drip information, sprinkling little water droplets here and there until release. Even at E3 they only showed 8min of gameplay for such a short release window.

If they want to take the short term release again then they need to flood the market with information right after the reveal, constantly tweeting and pushing information out, aggressively pursuing the target audience even shortly after release.

But it seems they still ain't learn a lesson as this time with the DLC they've decided to turn the entire faucet off and just turn it on when they release it. Bad idea, won't push sales like they think it will.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:19   #5803
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I think SoTR's marketing is a special case.

It had a few closed door events, and the demo was under embargo.
It had the lucozade ad for a limited time. (UK only, if I remember right...correct me pls, if not)
it had the coca cola glasses for a limited time.
Finally, it had the dev diary. (which didn't made it to many people)
Also it had a CGI trailer, and a musical teaser.
Edit: the path of the stars game.
Edit 2: It had a Tv spot; teaser with different music

-
RoTR

It had three (or more, can't remember) trailer with Lara's monolgue.
It had three CGI trailer (two practically the same)
It had an official music video (I shall rise)
It had TV spot.
It had the Survival Billboard event.
It had the Escape from Siberia event. (advertising 4g action camera)
It had that instagram thing called 'tomb raider research'.
There was a parody on Comedy central, called 'the climb'. (It ended with the game's ad)
Finally the women vs wild series.
Edit 3: gameplay reveal at E3
Edit 4: 20th anniversary ad
-
TR2013 it was advertised at every corner, since it is a milestone in the history of TR, so I won't go into details.


Long story short, the first two game received more care, than the third.

Last edited by Zsott; 19-09-19 at 19:44.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:27   #5804
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Originally Posted by Zsott View Post
I think SoTR's marketing is a special case.

It had a few closed door events, and the demo was under embargo.
It had the lucozade ad for a limited time. (UK only, if I remember right...correct me pls, if not)
it had the coca cola glasses for a limited time.
Finally, it had the dev diary. (which didn't made it to many people)
Also it had a CGI trailer, and a musical teaser.
Edit: the path of the stars game.
-
RoTR

It had three (or more, can't remember) trailer with Lara's monolgue.
It had three CGI trailer (two practically the same)
It had an official music video (I shall rise)
It had TV spot.
It had the Survival Billboard event.
It had the Escape from Siberia event. (advertising 4g action camera)
It had that instagram thing called 'tomb raider research'.
There was a parody on Comedy central, called 'the climb'. (It ended with the game's ad)
Finally the women vs wild series.

-
TR2013 it was advertised at every corner, since it is a milestone in the history of TR, so I won't go into details.


Long story short, the first two game received more care, than the third.
Good recap, 2013 and Rise had a ton of marketing behind it. Everyone and their momma was talking about it because it was heavy in the press. They were constantly showcasing the game, giving people plenty of exposure and reminding them that the game was a thing. Plus what they showed really wowed and interested people. I specifically remember the scene of the parachute just wowing people in 2013 and the graphics from Syria and sybira with the tension from the bear really wowed people too.

Shadow had none of that, the one scene that would have put people on edge was hidden behind closed doors. Why did they keep the tsunami a secret? That would have really wowed the audience. Shadows marketing was just abysmal. Not to mention all the drama they created from constantly slipping up with the shade towards the old Lara pissing off even some of their own fanbase.

The whole thing was just a mess.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:32   #5805
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Like I said, TR2013 can't be argued, since it was the first in a long time. Also a reboot, so it comes natural to push it.

RoTR had Microsoft to push it a little more (one year exclusivity) also the 20th anniversy of the franchise in 2016.

Then SoTR... I guess SE was on a thight bugdet, since they were already focused on Avengers. (which needed more resources, than TR)
So in the end, they've cut corners. (I wonder what was the case with Just Cause 4)

Edit:
Just thinking about it... there's something I don't get about Crystal D and SE.

In 2007/8 when TRU was still in development and was released, TR'13 was already in preproduction. We've seen the results.
Now, they've done the same, but they just gave a half baked project to EM to finish (in a very limited time) while CD was putting everything on the Avengers game. We've seen the results.

Why not focusing on one thing at the time? Or why not give the whole project to EM from the start, so they can fully develop the game...instead of rushing it out, because deadline.

Last edited by Zsott; 19-09-19 at 19:46.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:35   #5806
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To be honest I didn't even know about JC4. I can only wonder if it had the same marketing blunder.
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Old 19-09-19, 19:42   #5807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charmedangelin View Post
To be honest I didn't even know about JC4. I can only wonder if it had the same marketing blunder.
A little but:
Square Enix also wanted Shadow’s success to cover the development budget of Just Cause 4. They anticipated too much with that marketing imo...
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Old 19-09-19, 19:45   #5808
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering View Post
A little but:
Square Enix also wanted Shadow’s success to cover the development budget of Just Cause 4. They anticipated too much with that marketing imo...
source?
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Old 19-09-19, 19:54   #5809
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Emix View Post
Emix’s long post. Key paragraph: Additional sales of “SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER”
during the holiday season and the launch of “DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS 2” were also not enough to compensate for the
shortfall of “JUST CAUSE 4.”
http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ne...9q3Outline.pdf
The source. From SE’s CEO itself...
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Old 19-09-19, 20:06   #5810
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering View Post
The source. From SE’s CEO itself...


Edit: found it, just my browser didn't load it in correctly.

Interesting thing ( but not a new thing)

Quote:
Q: Why did “SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER” and “JUST CAUSE 4” get off to a weak start? If initial sales volumes are
lower than they traditionally have been but digital sales are extending the lifetimes of games, don’t you need to change
the timing of your advertising efforts?
A: We think the main reason is that we were unable to provide an experience that was novel enough that players would
choose to buy them before any of the other numerous major titles on the competitive landscape. Also, while it is true
that we are seeing a shift away from sales of boxes to digital downloads, with this many titles competing with one another,
initial sales are definitely an important element in increasing user awareness. For that reason, we do need to engage in a
certain amount of advertising just ahead of a new title’s launch.
Weren't novel enough my ass.
It was a RoTR 2.0 They've said as much, when they said: if you played the previous two games, then you know what to expect. In other words: formula starting to get stale.

Quote:
... we do need to engage in a
certain amount of advertising just ahead of a new title’s launch.
They didn't tought that they should push the final title of a trilogy? Come on now... that is very weak of an excuse.

Last edited by Zsott; 19-09-19 at 20:14.
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