作者：Jay Holden

我在之前的文章中提到了越来越多AAA电子游戏推出预告片的趋势。在此我将从运营角度更详细地分析这个问题，并为无预告片的游戏提供一些替代解决方案。

让我们先多简要的市场分析入手。

人们为何决定购买你的游戏？

作为营销人员，你拥有铁杆粉丝——即那些一听到自己最拥护的开发者推出了新游戏，就会马上预订游戏的群体。你还拥有一些非购买用户，即那些不玩电子游戏或者因为经济或意识形态问题不愿意购买游戏的群体。

还有一些是处于中间状态的群体。你的收益就掌握在许许多多这样的人手中。他们是需要游说的用户。

电子游戏营销人员面临的一个主要问题就是曝光度，其次就是推销技巧。这两者的顺序不可颠倒。你总得先让人知道你的游戏存在，才能说他们肯定会喜欢上你的游戏。

这一点为什么这么重要呢？除了欺骗（无论是故意还是无意），你都不可能游说他人喜欢上你的游戏。作为一家公司，游说他人并非你们最擅长做的事情。电子游戏行业的营销作用就是通知消息。

如何通知 & 应该呈现哪些信息？

游戏行业元老Marc LeBlac曾提出游戏有8种类型的乐趣。有些人不认同这个观点，但无论如何，我们都知道不同人玩游戏的原因也不尽相同。你的游戏无法迎合所有的需求类型。它具有“趣味足迹”——即它主要传达的趣味类型。一个地下城中的两个谜题并不能算是一种趣味类型，在这种足迹中，较少的东西才是游戏的趣味所在。塑造一个品牌的最强大好处之一就是能够迅速表达你的游戏所传递的趣味类型。这也正是《暗黑之魂II》或《最终幻想14》等游戏没有传达趣味时，其开发商就招致铁杆粉丝群抱怨的原因。

要理解的一点就是，不同人会在玩同一款游戏时追求不同的趣味类型。我有可能会因为想体验故事情节而启动一款游戏，而你也可能是因为喜欢其中美妙的场景或音乐而玩该游戏。我们对同一款游戏会有不同的期待。不仅如此，我还有可能是出于其他原因（并非开发者所预设的趣味）而玩游戏。有时候我启动《最终幻想9》就是为了修炼较低的等级，有时候只是为了放松，无意识地攻打一些怪物，或者欣赏其中的场景。所以即使你的游戏属于某一特定的题材——例如第一人称射击，你仍然需要传递游戏所呈现的趣味类型。《生化奇兵》、《光晕》和《Painkiller》属于截然不同的游戏，拥有不同体验需求的不同用户群体。

你的营销着力点就在于传达游戏所表现的趣味类型，以及游戏如何传递这种体验。预告片的本质就在于能够呈现特定的趣味类型。传递美术和视觉风格是预告片所擅长的领域。如果执行得当，视频还可以传达游戏的社交和表达元素（如《EVE Online》预告片）。但如果我只是想缓和情绪，射杀一些外星人呢？即使有一款游戏极符合这种情况，例如《光晕2》，它还是无法以一种极具诱惑性的方式呈现玩家头晕脑胀的情况。因为这样太无趣了。并且它也无法传达探索发现的趣味。电子游戏会以一种有别于其他媒介的独特方式传递探索发现。“哦，这条捷径会通向这座桥？”玩家可能会在玩《暗黑之魂》半小时后得出这一结论。在《Bloodborne》中获得新发现时，我们可能会惊呼“原来它们说的‘Paleblood Sky!’是这个意思啊！”探索发现在本质上属于非常个性化的东西。

作为游戏营销人员，我们只能通过预告片向潜在消费者传达一小部分的游戏元素。那么问题来了：我们该如何在没有预告片的情况下传达趣味元素？

如果在无预告片的情况下传达趣味？

出色的营销人员都清楚名称和logo的价值。Claude Hopkins（备受赞誉的文案，《科学广告》作者）写过的出色现代营销广告之一就是Schlitz啤酒。在Schlitz的酿酒厂里，Hopkins对确保酒水纯度所需投入的精力而叹为观止。尽管每位主流竞争对手都采用了相同的流程，但没有一者能够展示酿酒厂是从300英尺深的水井取出天然纯水，或者酒水是采用每天净化两次的昂贵空气净化器所酿制的情况。当Hopkins写下这则广告并讲述这个故事时，Schlitz啤酒的销量一时间飙升。

苹果等现代公司知道如何驾驭这些细节，并以一种引人入胜的方式呈现细节，这样消费者就能了解设计苹果产品所需要的艰辛过程。这正是游戏行业所缺乏的精神——即用开发电子游戏背后的故事来吸引玩家。今天的游戏营销领域充斥着用色相作卖点的广告。

6种创造新闻热点的方法：

1.采访

让我们先看看Youtube的一些数据。Hideo Kojima（代表作：《合金装备》系列）的采访视频大约有30万浏览量。Peter Molyneux则是50万左右。《马里奥》开发者宫本茂约为二三十万。Markus Persson最近的采访视频则是120万。含有John Carmack演讲内容的视频浏览量也仍然超过了10万。你是否认为只有知名度高的开发商才能吸引用户的兴趣？《Titan Souls》团队的一个采访视频收获了2万浏览量。要知道这款游戏还仅仅是该工作室第一款产品而已，所以2万浏览量算是个相当可观的成绩。

制作人或主设计师的采访视频是开发者接近用户并讲述游戏无法在视频中呈现的内容的绝佳方式。设计师可以由此说明自己的灵感来源，并与其他游戏或媒介进行对比，以便玩家更好地了解自己将购买的游戏。

2.利用遗产和工作室标识

大品牌、续作以及游戏行业中的名人都可以从铁杆粉丝圈中收获信任及尊重。推广一款游戏时，可以利用开发者的品牌和信誉。在游戏网站上要添加一个与开发者过去作品相关的页面。这样论坛用户或在公司档案记录中检索游戏的人都可以看到即将发布新作的广告。有不少游戏就是通过这种借位方法获得了成功。

3.幕后花絮

对电子游戏的激情一直是玩家共有的特点。有相当数量的玩家已经是这一行的从业者，还有许多则有意进入这一行。幕后花絮及“游戏制作”视频不但有助于你的核心用户理解开发者的工作，还可以让你获得想提升自身技能的用户。独立开发商Ska Studios就因为其《Salt and Sanctuary》的开发流程而获得了超过1000的粉丝。

4.概念艺术/插图

我们都知道图片的重要性，所以可以让概念艺术来说话。可以发布一些美术插图，无论是否经过润色优化，它们都可以让人们获得关于你游戏的一点认知和了解。玩家可以通过草图想象自己与怪兽战斗以及同NPC互动的场景。

5.音乐

音乐总是居于游戏玩法和故事之后，音乐的重要性总是被人所忽略。硬核玩家无论何时听到《最终幻想》主题曲时总会自然而然地想起这款游戏。尽管最近的游戏作品也都不乏自身特色，但甚少游戏开发者会如此重视游戏中的音乐。《Bloodborne》极具标志性的音乐所收获的流量就足以说明问题了。

Bloodborne　trailer(from duotegame)

6.迷你游戏或“找碴”活动

你的游戏是否含有迷你游戏？例如《最终幻想》系列中的Triple Triad、Tetra Master或Blitzball？这里有个建议：将这些迷你游戏植入你的网站。如果它们很有趣，人们就会试玩。如果它没有意思，你就可以免费收到人们的反馈，这样在游戏正式发布前，你就有时间重新考虑究竟要不要将其植入游戏中。你甚至可以让玩家连接到自己的Gamertag或Steam/PSN帐号中，所以当你游戏上线时，玩家就可以因提前试玩迷你游戏而获得相关奖励。

如果你的游戏不含迷你游戏，也可以推出寻找秘密的活动，让玩家去寻找限量的隐藏内容及游戏内置奖励。可以在你的网站上编入一条信息，让他们在视频或采访内容中寻找提示。这种感觉类似于《Bloodborne》，其故事情节就隐藏在精心布置于游戏中悲惨世界的各个角落。这种奖励核心粉丝，强化休闲粉丝感激之情的举措，可以让开发者实现巨大收获，并吸引大量媒体关注。

总结

出色的营销活动离不开讲故事。与最杰出的游戏一样，卓越的游戏营销活动也会不遗余力地用上所有方法。采用上述6种方法加上一些很棒的预告片，就可以让你的用户清楚了解自己将购买的游戏内容及其亮点所在。这样做你的营销活动就可以在保持游戏神秘性的同时创造信心和销量。（本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao）

6 Ways to Market Your Video Game without Trailers

by Jay Holden (@_jayholden)

In my previous article Overhype, I tackled the disturbing trend of the increasing number of video game trailers for AA and AAA releases. Here I examine the problem in more detail from a business perspective and present alternatives to revealing a dearth of content for your game via trailers.

Let’s start by performing a short market analysis.

What makes someone decide to buy your game?

As a marketer, you have hardcore fans – the folks who will pre-order the game as soon as they hear it’s by their favorite developer or director. You also have non-buyers; people who don’t play video games or who won’t buy your game for financial or ideological reasons.

Then there’s the big middle. Your cash is in the hands of many of these people. They are the ones who need to hear about your game.

Here’s something few in the industry seem to understand. The problem presented to video game marketers is primarily a problem of discovery, followed by a problem of salesmanship. It is not the other way around. You don’t need to tell people they’re going to enjoy your game so much as you need to tell people that your game exists.

Why does that matter? Except in cases of deception (intentional or otherwise), you will never convince anyone to enjoy your game. You are a company. Convincing anyone of anything isn’t what you do best. The function of marketing in the video game industry is to inform.

How to inform, and what information to present

Game industry veteran Marc LeBlac argues there are 8 kinds of fun. Some disagree, but regardless: we know that different people play games for different reasons. Your game does not deliver all of them. It has a “fun footprint” – the sorts of fun it delivers to a significant extent. The two puzzles in that one dungeon don’t count. In that footprint, half or fewer are where the fun – the game –lives. One of the strongest benefits to establishing a franchise is the ability to immediately communicate what type(s) of fun your game delivers. It’s also why, when games like Dark Souls II or Final Fantasy XIV don’t deliver, developers endure blowback from their core fan base.

It’s important to understand different people can play the same game looking for wildly different kinds of fun. I may boot up a game because I want to experience the narrative, while you want to take in the beautiful environments or music. We want and expect different things from the game. Not only that, but I may want to play a game for different reasons dependent on things beyond the developers’ control. Sometimes I boot up Final Fantasy IX hoping to eek in some more time on my challenging low-level run; other times I just want to relax and mindlessly beat up some monsters, or take in the scenery. So even if your game is in a certain genre – first-person shooter, for example – it’s still vitally important to communicate what sort of fun footprint you present. Bioshock, Halo and Painkiller are all radically different games with different audiences who seek different things in their experience.

Your marketing efforts should communicate the sorts of fun your game delivers, in what quantities, and how well it delivers that experience. The nature of trailers makes them good at presenting certain types of fun. Communicating aesthetics and visual style is something a trailer can excel at. Done well, like this spectacular EVE Online example, a video can communicate its social and expressive aspects too. But what if I just want to chill out and shoot some aliens? Even a game that’s phenomenal for that purpose, like Halo 2 was for me, can’t show a player zoning out in an enticing way. That would be boring. And it can’t do Discovery, either. Video games deliver discovery in a unique, arguably superior, way compared to other forms of media. Oh, that shortcut leads to this bridge? players might conclude after a half hour of Dark Souls. So that’s what they mean by ‘Paleblood Sky!’ we exclaim, upon stumbling on a new revelation in Bloodborne. Discoveries are inherently personal in nature.

As games marketers, we’re left with only a few game elements we can and should communicate to our potential buyers using trailers. This begs the question: How do we communicate fun without trailers?

How to communicate fun without trailers

Ever since Rockefeller named his company Standard Oil – back before quality of oil was anything but and brands as we know them now even existed – the best marketers have understood the value of names and logos. One of the first great modern marketing campaigns written by Claude Hopkins, lauded copyrighter and author of Scientific Advertising, was the tale of Schlitz Beer. After a tour of Schlitz’s distillery, Hopkins marveled at the pains taken to ensure the beverage was pure. Even though every major competitor went through the same process, none had expounded on the effort it took to obtain clean water from 300-feet-deep wells or the expensive air purifiers cleaned twice a day. When Hopkins wrote the ad and told this story, sales of Schlitz Beer went through the roof.

Modern companies like Apple know how to harness the power of these details and present them in a compelling way so consumers know the laborious process that goes into designing its products. It’s this spirit the games industry is missing – a way to entice players with the story behind a video game’s creation. Sex sells, but lust pre-sells. In today’s video game marketing landscape, it’s all sex.

Six ways to create buzz that aren’t trailers

1. Interviews

Let’s run through some numbers from Youtube. Video interviews with Hideo Kojima, most famous for the Metal Gear series, pull in about 300,000 views. Fabled Peter Molyneux? Half a million. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto – two to three hundred thousand. A recent interview with Markus “Notch” Persson generated 1.2 million views. Videos featuring talks with John Carmack, lead programmer for Doom, Quake and others whose contributions to games has waned recently, still get well over 100k. Think only the big players generate interest? An interview with the Titan Souls team Acid Nerve pulled in 20,000 views. Twenty thousand views is nothing to sneeze at considering the title was the studio’s first ever release.

Interviews with producers or lead designers are excellent ways for a developer to get in front of their audience and talk about the portions of the game they can’t show in a video. Designers can pinpoint how they get inspired and draw comparisons to other games or media so players better know what to expect from the game they’ll be buying.

2. Leverage legacy and studio identity

Big-name brands, franchises and individuals in the games industry can breed trust and respect from a dedicated circle of fans. When advertising a game, leverage the brand and pedigree of the developer. Always have a page dedicated to the developer’s previous works on the game’s website. Anyone who’s on a forum or searching for a game in the company’s library should see an advertisement for the upcoming game. Games that never would have succeeded by any other name did so because of the franchise behind them.

3. Behind the scenes

A passion for video games is common among gamers. Plenty already have jobs in the industry, and many more want to get in. Behind-the-scenes and “making of” videos not only help your core audience understand more about the way the developers work, they help you reach an audience that’s searching for ways to improve their skills. Indie developer Ska Studios has gathered over 1,000 followers owing mostly to its Salt and Sanctuary development stream.

4. Concept art/illustrations

We all know how much a picture is worth, so let your concept art speak for itself. Releasing art, polished or not, grants a small window into the look and feel of your game without revealing as much as a trailer. The opportunity for players to imagine how they’ll fight this monster they see sketched out or how they’ll interact with that bejeweled NPC shouldn’t be underestimated; just watch this video with 200,000 views to see how much concept art can have an effect on your game’s exposure.

5. Music recordings

Music has historically taken a back seat to gameplay and story reveals, which – though those are vital in moderation – is a shame. Core gamers everywhere can remember a time when symphonies by the likes of Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda and Martin O’Donnell graced their ears. While recent works have been great in their own right, the level of exposure to and reverence for video game music from developers feels like it has waned. The nearly 200,000 views on Sony’s soundtrack recording session of Bloodborne’s phenomenal score speaks volumes (and the fact it drew more views than one of the game’s trailers is even more telling – but that’s another story).

6. Mini-game or Easter Egg hunt

Does your game have a mini game? Something like Triple Triad, Tetra Master or Blitzball from past Final Fantasies? Here’s an idea: put it on your website. If it’s fun, people will play it. If it’s not, you get free feedback so you can re-think it before the game’s launch. You could even allow players to connect their Gamertag or Steam/PSN ID so when your game goes live, players receive little in-game rewards for having played your minigame before release.

Or, if your game doesn’t have a mini-game, an easter egg hunt could lead players on a search for a secret message, hidden content or in-game rewards that aren’t available to everyone. A coded message on your website, clues scattered throughout your videos or interviews, etc will work. This feels especially relevant to games like Bloodborne, whose narrative is discovered in hidden bits and pieces arranged carefully in its harrowing world. Rewarding hardcore fans and deepening casual fans’ appreciation can benefit developers tremendously and attract a lot of press attention.

Wrapping up

Great marketing campaigns tell a story. And like the best games, outstanding game marketing campaigns use all the tools at their disposal. Using each of the 6 methods above plus a couple of great trailers can show your audience exactly what to expect from their purchase and why they should get hyped. Do this and your campaign will keep the game’s mystique while building confidence and sales.（source：gamasutra）