TheAssist
Member
First of: This is not about whether you like the game or not. its especially not about its combat System. It's also not about whether you like or hate Square Enix and what they are doing with the FF franchise, there is plenty of other threads where you can tell people how much you love or hate any of these things. This is about gaming marketing campaigns. Thank you!
So if you havent lived under a rock for the past 3 or so years, you probably know that FF16 is coming out this month.
Like seriously, even if you never played a JRPG or a Final Fantasy for that matter, even if you are completely uninvolved regarding the whole RPG bubble, you probably know this game is coming out and you may even know some things about the game. Like for example what combat system it uses, what the setting is like, you may have seen some of the set piece moments and seeing how you are in this thread, you have probably seen countless FF16 discussion threads on here. Maybe the social media of your choice has given you some FF16 related content simply because they know you are in the general gaming bubble.
The marketing for this game is huuuuge. Starting with a very early work in progress trailer, dozens and dozens of developer updates for the interested, lots of social media buzz, appearing's on almost every major gaming event like the game awards, or Sonys events. A long state of play, several LIVE events with an audience (including the 5(!!!)) hour livestream thats currently on the background while I'm writing this), now even a live action trailer and commercials.
This feels big in a way like I havent experienced in a while and the reason I say this is because not too long ago I read a thread on here about how video game releases have become kinda boring. There is no midnight releases anymore since digital publishing has pretty much overtaken physical. A lot of companies have scaled down their advertisement budgets. It's mostly blog posts and some trailers leading up to the release and a Twitter message here and there.
Not E3, no big booths, no large real live events, hardly any non gaming media coverage. Games just come out without a lot of buzz. I'm not saying that there isnt any marketing, but more that its very evenly spread among most AAA titles. A God of War Ragnarok doesnt generate more media or events that any other AAA game from any other publisher. There isnt anything I remember from its marketing campaign. It dropped a few trailers at some Sony livestreams and it was out. Remember when they had a whole live orchestra and an epic reveal in front of a live audience that went completely nuts over it? Good times. Remember the release of World of Warcraft? Or Halo 3? I never played a Halo game and I knew way too much about this game because it was impossible too escape it at the time.
That's the thing. These big events were a major part of mainstream gaming culture and they've gone away rather quickly.
And now Square of all people comes along, balls out, and tells people, you know what we're doing? We are doing a Final Fantasy and we are going BIG. They exude confidence with this title. Heck, the game has been pretty much finished for a year now and they have been polishing it all the way up to now. This feels like they are damn proud of this game, they want as many people as possible to know about this. It doesnt feel like a cash grab, or a quickly pushed out release to make the fiscal year. Everything they have shown about this just shows that they are super proud of this, that this is a huge deal for them as a company but at the same time it does not feel corporate. Yoshi P and his team have been so honest, so down to earth, so connected to the playerbase, its something I have not seen from a AAA developer in a long time. Its a great marketing mix that speaks to the masses, those who have never played a FF game before, but also to the long time fans who've been with the franchise for decades. They talk about all the concerns and take player feedback seriously and try to make people understand why the made the decisions they made.
I think every publisher should have at least one game that they are proud of and that they treat a little bit more special. That simply feels huge and important to gaming culture as a whole. Whether that is a FF, a Halo (remember that bees ARG?), Pokemon or a GTA. Make gaming marketing campaigns great again. But also, don't be a dick about it. Keep humble and connected to your fans at the same time. Its a very fine line and I think whoever is in charge of FF16's marketing is doing a very fine job atm.
So what the greatest marketing campaigns in the last few decades that you can remember and do you agree that Square is doing a good job right now when it comes to how they handle that aspect of FF16?
EDIT: They just dropped a 2hr+ DEMO that lets you carry over your progress to the main game. In a single player game. Like seriously, a demo to a big AAA game release. Last I remember was FF7R.
So if you havent lived under a rock for the past 3 or so years, you probably know that FF16 is coming out this month.
Like seriously, even if you never played a JRPG or a Final Fantasy for that matter, even if you are completely uninvolved regarding the whole RPG bubble, you probably know this game is coming out and you may even know some things about the game. Like for example what combat system it uses, what the setting is like, you may have seen some of the set piece moments and seeing how you are in this thread, you have probably seen countless FF16 discussion threads on here. Maybe the social media of your choice has given you some FF16 related content simply because they know you are in the general gaming bubble.
The marketing for this game is huuuuge. Starting with a very early work in progress trailer, dozens and dozens of developer updates for the interested, lots of social media buzz, appearing's on almost every major gaming event like the game awards, or Sonys events. A long state of play, several LIVE events with an audience (including the 5(!!!)) hour livestream thats currently on the background while I'm writing this), now even a live action trailer and commercials.
This feels big in a way like I havent experienced in a while and the reason I say this is because not too long ago I read a thread on here about how video game releases have become kinda boring. There is no midnight releases anymore since digital publishing has pretty much overtaken physical. A lot of companies have scaled down their advertisement budgets. It's mostly blog posts and some trailers leading up to the release and a Twitter message here and there.
Not E3, no big booths, no large real live events, hardly any non gaming media coverage. Games just come out without a lot of buzz. I'm not saying that there isnt any marketing, but more that its very evenly spread among most AAA titles. A God of War Ragnarok doesnt generate more media or events that any other AAA game from any other publisher. There isnt anything I remember from its marketing campaign. It dropped a few trailers at some Sony livestreams and it was out. Remember when they had a whole live orchestra and an epic reveal in front of a live audience that went completely nuts over it? Good times. Remember the release of World of Warcraft? Or Halo 3? I never played a Halo game and I knew way too much about this game because it was impossible too escape it at the time.
That's the thing. These big events were a major part of mainstream gaming culture and they've gone away rather quickly.
And now Square of all people comes along, balls out, and tells people, you know what we're doing? We are doing a Final Fantasy and we are going BIG. They exude confidence with this title. Heck, the game has been pretty much finished for a year now and they have been polishing it all the way up to now. This feels like they are damn proud of this game, they want as many people as possible to know about this. It doesnt feel like a cash grab, or a quickly pushed out release to make the fiscal year. Everything they have shown about this just shows that they are super proud of this, that this is a huge deal for them as a company but at the same time it does not feel corporate. Yoshi P and his team have been so honest, so down to earth, so connected to the playerbase, its something I have not seen from a AAA developer in a long time. Its a great marketing mix that speaks to the masses, those who have never played a FF game before, but also to the long time fans who've been with the franchise for decades. They talk about all the concerns and take player feedback seriously and try to make people understand why the made the decisions they made.
I think every publisher should have at least one game that they are proud of and that they treat a little bit more special. That simply feels huge and important to gaming culture as a whole. Whether that is a FF, a Halo (remember that bees ARG?), Pokemon or a GTA. Make gaming marketing campaigns great again. But also, don't be a dick about it. Keep humble and connected to your fans at the same time. Its a very fine line and I think whoever is in charge of FF16's marketing is doing a very fine job atm.
So what the greatest marketing campaigns in the last few decades that you can remember and do you agree that Square is doing a good job right now when it comes to how they handle that aspect of FF16?
EDIT: They just dropped a 2hr+ DEMO that lets you carry over your progress to the main game. In a single player game. Like seriously, a demo to a big AAA game release. Last I remember was FF7R.
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