Spider-Man: Miles Morales by Insomniac for Playstation 5
5 For 5: 5 Most Anticipated Playstation 5 Games
THAT THE WHOLE VIDEO GAME COMMUNITY IS HYPED UP FOR!
A new frontier pushing the envelope in the video game industry, the PlayStation 5 next-gen console is coming this holiday season. Gamers all over the world are hyped up! A huge PlayStation live event took place recently, which further intensified this hype. The event showed us the physical hardware of this long-awaited console, and it also revealed some amazing upcoming video games. Video game pricing aside, these are the games that keep hardcore gamers like me lie awake in excitement.
The list of upcoming PlayStation 5 video games is filled to the brim with exciting titles. These games are going to show us what the next-gen console will be truly capable of!
Today, I’ll give you guys a list of the most highly anticipated PlayStation 5 games.
Now, without any further ado, let’s jump right into it!
Far Cry 6: The popular Far Cry series is returning with another major installment in 2021
Far Cry 6 anticipated Playstation 5 first person shooter video game
This game is very highly anticipated as gamers all around the world wait desperately. In true Far Cry style. Far Cry 6 is going to be a first-person shooter with an amazing story.
The game is developed by the purveyors of gaming wizardry at Ubisoft. Fans have very high expectations from this installment of the series as it is going to be dramatically different from all the previous entries. The trailer for this game showcased some brilliant graphics, which looked just as good as real life! In this game, the players will be facing off against president Anton Castillo, who controls the entire island of Yara. This man is extremely violent, and we must fight him for the future of this island.
The players will play as Dani Rojas, who can be played as a male or female character. We don’tknow much regarding the gameplay features of this new title, but it will surely give us a more polished and refined experience as compared to the previous games.
Far Cry 6 is going to get released early next year! The exact release date is February 18th, 2021. I am extremely excited to try this new title out, and I’d give it a 4.5/5.
Project Athia: 3rd Person Adventure Video Game by Square Enix – Playstation Exclusive for Limited Time. Late 2020 or 2021.
Project Athia anticipated Playstation 5 video game 3rd Adventure by Square Enix
The teaser trailer for Project Athia which was revealed at the PlayStation 5 live event was quite short, but it was enough to make an impact. Gamers are hyped up to play this third-person adventure game as it looked extremely interesting. This is going to be the next big title by Square Enix, and it will be a PlayStation exclusive for a limited time.
We don’t know much regarding the story of this title as the trailer was very short. However, we do know that the game is going to be set in a magical world, and the protagonist is going to be a female character. This harsh world is going to test the resolve and courage of our beautiful protagonist as she ventures through it.
The graphics of the game looked absolutely stunning in the trailer! We’ll be fighting against some mysterious creatures using our magical abilities.
We don’t have an exact release date for this game. However, it will be releasing late 2020, or maybe in 2021.
I am personally very excited to play this title and enjoy the amazing story. I’d give it a 5/5.
Resident Evil 8: Village is going to be the next major entry in this horror survival series. Coming in 2021.
This new title is going to be just as horrifying as the previous entry as it is also set in the first- person perspective. The game is being developed by the highly acclaimed CAPCOM studio, and it is going to be an absolute blast.
Resident Evil 8 has immensely realistic graphics which are going to show us the true extent of the next-generation consoles. The game is going to follow the story of our boy Ethan as he is again put in a dreadful situation, thanks to Chris Redfield. His whole life gets disrupted, and we must help him survive once again.
This Resident Evil title is going to get released in 2021; however, we don’t really have an exactrelease date right now. This title is going to be great, but I am personally not very excited to play it because I believe that Resident Evil works better in third-person perspective. I’d give this game a 3/5.
Resident Evil Village for Playstation 5 by Capcom
Spider-man: Miles Morales by Insomniac Studios. Promised to be one of the best video games of 2020.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales by Insomniac for Playstation 5
Spider-man: Miles Morales is going to be the new spider-man game this year, and as the name suggests, this title will be solely focusing on the story of Miles Morales. This game is being developed by Insomniac Studios, and it is going to be one of the best video games of 2020.
Of course a huge rocket boost for discoverability and video game marketing. True to Spiderman fans and Marvel comic book fans the world over, the graphics of this game are going be extremely realistic. Yet still retain a comicbook look which all Marvel games are famous for. The story of this game is going to take place after the events of the previous title in the series. Just like Peter, Miles obtains spider-like abilities and fights criminals to protect innocent people.
This sequel is going to get released with the release of the PlayStation 5 console as a launch title. Fans will definitely grab both, the PS5 and this game together. I am personally quite excited to try out this new title, and I’d give it a 4.5/5.
Horizon Forbidden West by Guerrilla Games. Coming in 2021.
Horizon Forbidden West Playstation 5 amazing graphics heart touching story video game
Now, let us talk about the most highly anticipated PlayStation 5 title, Horizon Forbidden West. This game is going to be a sequel for the highly acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn, and it is being developed by Guerrilla Games.
The new game has amazing graphics, and the machine dominated world looks even more stunning. We are going to again play as our girl Aloy, who is going to be as badass as ever thanks to her amazing abilities. The game will feature a beautiful open-world which will be filled to the brim with mysteries. Just like the previous game, we will be enjoying a heart- touching story in third-person perspective. An open-world action RPG like this, certainly play tested and tried via multiple rounds of consumer insights and research, this is one title that you cannot afford to miss.
This game is set to release in 2021, but we don’t really know the exact release date. I am personally extremely hyped to try out this title as the previous game was one of the best titles of 2017. I’d give it a 5/5.
Roblox 3D virtual worlds for kids making video games and video game marketing and making money easy for kids 8 to 13
Platforms for Young People to Start Making Video Games and Monetizing within 30 Days
Traditional video game development and publishing is big business. Expensive big money business.
According to Newzoo, the gaming industry is estimated to be over $152 billion a year, Check out the State of the Video Game Industry and research. Gaming is bigger than music AND movies, combined! And making video games is expensive business. Let us not forget video game marketing and publishing. Especially if you consider the AAA video game development budgets for large game developers like EA Sports, Lucas Arts, and more. Video game development cycles spanning 24 months or more, with 100+ people full-time staff dedicated to a given studio are not unheard of.
Does that mean only the AAA developers and publishers can create fun games that players love? Of course not.
Must you go through years and years of formal game production school and hope for a lucky break? Just to get a chance to create console-quality game content and get PAID? Absolutely not. Not anymore.
Now more than ever before, young game developers and CONTENT creators can make playable games and make money in as little as 30 to 90 days
AND make good money for their creations. As well as make the game discoverability easy and built in!
At the Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2019 Conference, Roblox’s CEO David Baszucki, said it perfectly. Its category summed in 2 words. Human Coexistence.
He seems to be onto something really really big. As of July 2019, Roblox drew over 2 million creators of 3D virtual experiences. And translated into 100 million+ active people – primarily boys and girls aged 8 to 13 – playing Roblox games every single month.
There is currently an Roblox exchange rate of $.0035/R$. You DO have to be a member of Roblox Premium and over 13, as well as have a minimum balance of Robux. But if you ARE, you can cash out your Robux for real money.
Roblox 3D virtual worlds for kids making video games and video game marketing and making money easy for kids 8 to 13
Roblox’s creator community ranged widely. Its 2 million creators spans from young creators getting their start in game design and coding, to teams of ten or twenty people forming studios.
I had the pleasure of meeting Roblox’s CEO David about ten years ago. He is about as smart and genuine as game CEO’s get. Ten years ago, Roblox was the mainstay of boys 7-11. Today it attracts a loyal following over 100 million players – both young boys AND girls. Trust me. If you love having fun, exploring and socializing in Roblox, you MUST check out Roblox Studio.
Manticore Games: Like Youtube did with video creation, Manticore is on a mission. Mission to disrupt creativity and game making. Period.
Manticore Games Core Royale video game making and user generated content engine without coding
Currently in a 100-spots Creator Payouts Pilot Program, Manticore is testing a simple model based on an easy premise. The more people play your game, the more you should get paid.
Yes, but what about the learning curve? Say to create a multiplayer game? 24 months? Nope. 12 months? Nope. 6 months? Not even that. Take a look at the following screenshot. The Core engine lets you create and customize gameplay, social as well as scenery inside of its user interface. You can create multiplayer or single-player games. WITHOUT writing code. Should you like to learn step-by-step game development, check out Manticore’s Core Game Dev Bootcamp.
Manticore CORE Engine multiplayer game development and user content monetization without coding
Manticore’s Core Game Dev Bootcamp is all of four weeks.
Check out the Core Multiverse trailer. These early games are really solid quality. With the proper consumer insights due diligence, Core is capable of remaking even my personal favorite , Duke Nukem.
Age requirements to join the Creator Payout Program? You DO have to be legally considered an adult in your country. IF you get an invite from Manticore. So in the United States, anyone aged 13 to 17 can participate, with parental permission.
PER month, a creator gets paid $3 for every Averaged Daily User. Fairly simple math. What does it mean, for those of us familiar with free-to-play and subscription models?
Manticore’s creator payout model already accounts for 2 key metrics: Scale and Retention.
If you have 1000 players on the 1st of the month, steadily bleed users through Day 3, but manage to retain only 100 players who stick around until the 30th? Well then, you get paid only for the averaged Daily user player count. In this case, in month 1, getting a total of $1432 for the 477 Daily Averaged Users.
If you have 1000 players on the 1st of the month and retain the same 1000 players on the 30th, you are paid for the 1000 Averaged Daily User. Or in the scenario below, in month 2, getting a total of $4425 for the 1475 Daily Averaged Users.
MONTH 1 – January
MONTH 2 – February
1st
2000
2000
2nd
1000
1800
3rd
500
1500
10th
500
1500
31st
500
1500 (28th)
Month-averaged Daily Users
477
1475
Monthly Payout
$1432.26
$4425
Of course, even breakout hits and the big money-makers on Roblox and Manticore Games are not accidental surprises. Solid consumer research, player testing and fun, engaging gameplay are all expected table stakes. But for young people who are looking to get started making video games, built-in mechanics for video game marketing? Definitely check out Roblox and Manticore Games.
ASO: App Store Optimization – Secret Weapon in Mobile Video Game Marketing
Why care, you may be asking? When influencing and marketing to gamers, App Store Optimization or ASO is a key tenet. ASO is key to organic Discoverability in mobile app marketing, video game marketing . To reign supreme in the fiercely competitive application marketplace, it is crucial you refine your approach. Start diving head-first into the advantages of ASO to maximize your chances of succeeding on the app store.
To do that, you will have to first understand the nitty-gritty of App Store Optimization. And that’s exactly what we are going to do here in this post. Let’s cut to the chase and dive right in!
What is App Store Optimization?
App Store Optimization is also known as mobile app SEO. For a video game marketing professional, the entire goal of App Store Optimization is to improve the ranking of mobile applications within app stores like the App Store, Google Play, Windows store, etc. Mobile apps specifically created for iOS, Android, and Windows phones. Not the only key to Discoverability. But critical to organic discoverability that the mobile marketer doesn’t have to PAY for.
What exactly happens when you rank your applications on top of these Online application stores? There are many goals to ASO. ASO increases your brand exposure. ASO also generates more positive app reviews and ratings. Which boost the audience engagement with the app. This in turn creates MORE organic discovery of the app.
Investing in App Store Optimization is a great decision. Given the incessant growth of mobile and Internet technologies, people are going to need mobile solutions in their daily lives. The number of app downloads has only been increasing if you look at the last 10 years. In the last year itself, a total of 204 billion apps were downloaded across the world which is a 6% increase from 2018.
Thus, it makes complete sense to invest your time and resources into App Store Optimization.
Important Factors For App Store Optimization
There are many factors that you will have to consider if you want to perfect your App Store Optimization. Let’s talk about these factors in detail.
Title
The title is what most people use to identify your application in an App Store. Apart from that, it also helps you to improve your rankings because a relevant title (that includes the target keyword) can help you rank at least 10% higher. Make sure the title is unique, descriptive, and keyword-rich.
Let’s compare two possible titles.
VERSION A: ASO: App Store Optimization – Secret Weapon in Mobile Video Game Marketing
VERSION B: ASO in Video Games
Clearly Version A is targeted at a more granular long tail search for keywords like “App Store Optimization” and “Mobile Video Game Marketing.”
Keywords
SensorTower-ASO Keyword Research Apple Search Ads competitive analysis
Keywords are important to your App Store Optimization quest. Just like in SEO. You will need to put your most important keywords while ensuring that you don’t overdo it. Keyword stuffing can get your app penalised by Google. Make sure you do proper keyword research to ensure your product falls in the right list of applications.
I’ve always had great results benchmarking my top competitors. The above shows a simple keyword profile that shows keyword research, including Apple Search Ads. This informs competitive offensive and defensive strategies. Which in turn helps the video game marketing professional find greenfield and under-addressed keyword opportunities.
Description
The app description is pretty much like the content you put on your site’s landing page. If you are successful in making a user click on your app, that description must be able to close the deal for you. This can be done if the description tells the customer what the app does, the problem it solves, how easier it is to use the app, and why the app is worth the price.
Screenshots
You will never go wrong with high-quality screenshots. It is a crucial factor of your app store page change the screenshot adds to its visual appeal. You should definitely use this part of the page’s real estate to your advantage by taking screenshots of the key benefits and most engaging parts of the app.
Darkness Rises App Store Optimization iPad video game marketing screenshots
App Preview Video
Most app stores will allow you to upload 30 second long videos to showcase your app’s features and benefits. The best way you can use the app review video feature is by uploading recordings of in-app experience and showing what the users can expect from the app’s UX.
App Category
Putting the app in the right category will not only help the app store index your app correctly, it will also help the users understand what your app does. The app category should best describe your mobile application. However, if you want it to rank quickly, you must go for a category that is least competitive and put your highly optimized application in it.
App Icon Design
The app icon is one of the most significant parts of your app. It is how your users will recognise you on their phones. So, you must take your time to come up with a great icon design. Most importantly your Icon should be engaging and eye-catching.
App Reviews
Online users are always looking for what other people have to say about your application. It is therefore important that you collect positive app reviews and encourage your existing customers to leave their feedback for the app.
Take a look at the below. This screenshot from AppAnnie, shows the aggregate ratings and reviews, aka Star Ratings for Minecraft, unified across the App Store, Google Play and Microsoft Store. It becomes abundantly clear where the game is loved and highly rated (5-star reviews) vs poorly received (1-star reviews)
AppAnnie Minecraft star ratings and reviews ASO App Store Optimization
App Store Analytics
There are many powerful App Store analytics tools that you can use to design your mobile marketing strategy to perfection. The tools will help you get actionable insights and allow you to make changes that will eventually Boost Your App Store rankings. Some of these App Store analytics tools are Sensor Tower, Appstatics, Appnique, AppAnnie, Appfigures, Applyzer, and more.
See below for a high-level App Store analytics dashboard for Darkness Rises. In one place you can clearly see the top keywords – which directly impact Discoverability – both at the CATEGORICAL level (RPG, MMO, MMORPG) in addition to the COMPETITION targeted by the game (Assasin, Diablo, Skyrim, etc)
Not but not least, in this same single view, you can also get an estimate of the game’s actual download volume and revenue, in one shot.
Darkness Rises Google Play ASO app analytics video game marketing
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of optimising your online presence to create better user experience and drive more traffic towards your business website.
It can help your website get quality traffic from search engines. Since you want relevant traffic to your website, it is important that you optimise your site with the relevant keywords. Keywords are essentially the terms and phrases your target audience uses when searching for your products online.
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the most important part of any digital marketing strategy because it prepares your site for the incoming traffic. Since all your digital marketing efforts are going to revolve around your business website, it is important that you optimise your site to create a solid foundation for your online marketing campaigns.
Factors Responsible for Search Engine Optimization
Let’s discuss the various factors responsible for search engine optimization.
Page Title + H1 Tags
One of the most crucial On-Page SEO factors is the page title. The page title should be optimized by using your primary keyword in it. Website crawlers are always looking for your title tag to determine the content and intent of your page. Let’s say the page is about hiking. The page title appears on the tab where the website is opened while the heading tag is what appears on the page. Let’s say the blog is on xyz.com’s blog. The page title will read something like ‘10 Best Hikes in Colorado | XYZ Blog’. However, the H1 will just have ‘10 Best Hikes in Colorado’.
Page URL
The page URL can be optimized by including your primary keyword in it. You should make sure that you don’t use any special characters in the URL. It should be kept short so that it is easier for both the users and search engines to read and remember the URL.
While a keyphrase ‘battle royale’ shows that a user is looking for battle royale games, a keyphrase ‘battle royale monetization’ clearly shows that the intent of the search is to find the monetization opportunities of battle royale games. The page URL for such a query for the former should be ‘www.xyz.com/games/battleroyales’ while for the latter, it should be something like ‘www.xyz.com/games/battleroyales/monetization’. This is perfectly structured and easy to remember.
Header Tags
The use of sub-heading and header tags is important to give your content a definite structure. This will also give you an ample opportunity to place your primary and secondary keywords inside your content.
Keyword Placements
Keyword placement can be perfected by placing your keywords in the first hundred words of the content. Once you do that keep placing your keywords two to three times every hundred words. The keyword placement should be as natural as possible to ensure a seamless reading experience for your users.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are an essential part of the On-Page SEO checklist because it allows your content to stand out in this search engine. It also is a crucial role in boosting your click-through rate.
It gives online users an idea of what they can expect in the content. It is important to have a meta description that is around 50 to 160 characters long. The meta description should have a natural and active voice and should resist being spammy.
Like for a company putting puppies for adoption, they can use a description like ‘Find an Australian Shepherd rescue or search your local shelters and rescues for an Australian Shepherd puppy or dog for adoption’. The keyword here is clearly ‘Australian Shepherd Puppy’.
User Experience
SEO is a process that helps to boost the user experience of your site. You will first have to make your content extremely easy to understand. Make sure there are no broken links in your content. The font type, size, and color should be optimized to boost readability. Not just that, the buttons on your site and the overall site navigation should be optimized to reduce the bounce rate.
LSI Keywords
LSI latent semantic indexing keywords are essentially the keywords that are semantically related to your primary keyword. Optimizing the content using LSI keywords will definitely help your content boost its quality and get higher ranking on search engines.
Keyword Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization should be avoided at all times because you don’t want to confuse search engines. If the crawlers find two or more web pages having the same primary keyword, it will make sure neither of the pages are ranked. Each page of your website should have one primary keyword.
Loading Speed
The attention span of online users is reducing significantly. This is an alarming situation for site owners that don’t optimize it for loading speed. If you want your visitors to stay on your site for a long time, you will have to consider speeding up the user experience.
Mobile-First Indexing
All the above On-Page SEO changes will not work if you don’t optimize your website for mobile. Google has been pushing towards creating a mobile-first ecosystem. Therefore, website owners should make sure their site has a responsive design and can adapt to the screen size of any smart device.
Similarities and Differences Between ASO and SEO
There are many differences and similarities between ASO and SEO. The former is even sometimes called SEO for mobile applications. Let’s go through the similarities and dissimilarities between the two.
Objective
The objective of ASO Is to make the application ranking higher for or a certain keyword. The ultimate goal of App Store Optimisation is to increase the number of downloads. Keywords help the applications gain better discovery, which brings high traffic to the applications’ page.
Search Engine Optimisation on the other hand is done to bring more qualified traffic to a certain website by making it optimized for search engine rankings. The better the Optimisation, the better will be its ranking on search engines. Higher the traffic on the site, higher will be the number of leads you get and higher will be the conversion rate.
Search Intent
Search intent is very important when it comes to optimising an application or a website. When it comes to App Store Optimisation, the search queries associated with any application is mostly shorter than that of any brand or its products and services.
people searching for an application mostly enter qualities that are related to specific features of the app. On a search engine, however, people tend to enter longer and more specific search queries in order to get answers for the specific question or get information about a certain product or service.
Ranking Factors
The ranking factors for ASO and SEO are quite different. For App Store Optimisation, developers have to take ASO ranking factors like app title, subtitle, long description, short description, keyword density, keyword field, in-app purchases, publication name, backlinks, crash rate, reviews and ratings, retention and engagement, conversion rate into consideration.
When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation, factors like keyword placement, content quality and relevancy, content structure and length, meta tags, URL, page speed, backlinks, retention rate, click-through rate, bounce rate, and more are responsible to create a highly optimized website.
KPIs
The KPIs of App Store Optimisation and Search Engine Optimisation are different as well. For ASO, the KPIs can be the number of organic downloads and installs, conversion rate, keyword visibility and rankings, average ratings and reviews score.
For Search Engine Optimisation, the key performance indicators can be organic sessions, conversion rate, bounce rate, pages per session, keyword visibility and rankings, average session duration, page load time, and number of backlinks.
Differences Between App Store and Google Play
When we talk about the differences between App Store and Google Play especially in the terms of App Store Optimisation, there are 5 key differences we should always consider. We will take the example of Call of Duty: Mobile to help you better understand the differences.
App Name
The app title is important in both App Store and Google Play. However the main differences in the number of characters allowed in both of them. The former allows for 30 characters while the latter gives 50. If we take Call of Duty: Mobile into consideration, its title takes 21 characters on both the stores.
Subtitle Vs. Short Description
Again, there is a difference in the amount of room for the short description. For App Store, you will get 30 characters and 80 characters on Google Play for the short description. Call of Duty: Mobile has mentioned ‘Battle Royale, PvP, Sniper’ as its short description and the same on App Store.
Long Description
If you are optimizing your application for App Store, you should not worry about the long description as it is not a ranking factor. For Google Play, however, you can optimize your long description with relevant keywords. You should maintain a keyword density of 2-3%. When optimizing for the App Store, you will want to focus on creating an actionable long description while on the Play Store, you can optimize the description to make it more searchable. And that’s exactly what Call of Duty: Mobile has done on their respective pages.
Screenshots
You can upload a total of 10 screenshots on App Store while you can only upload 8 on Google Play. The screenshots are very much visible on the App Store but on Google Play, users will have to open the app listing. Call of Duty: Mobile has uploaded 7 screenshots on both the platforms.
App Previews Vs. Promo Videos
You can add up to 3 preview videos on App Store while you can only add one promo video on Google Play. The videos play a crucial role in Conversion Rate Optimization for your application listing. Call of Duty: Mobile has uploaded one video on both its platforms.
Call of Duty Mobile Google Play Promo Video ASO 30 second spot
Wrapping Up
There you have it. We have shared everything you need to know to optimise your mobile application for the app store. We highly recommend seeking help from ASO experts who can guide you through the process and help your application rank higher. Have questions? Feel free to put them down in the comments section. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
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Wondering how to get started with App Store Optimization in 2020? Check out this extensive App Store Optimization guide to take the first step. Read now to know more!
Current Gen Mamba Forever NBA 2K21 video game pricing an d video game marketing concept
NBA 2K21: New Gen Console Video Game Marketing Pricing Justified or Gouging
Pre-orders for Take Two Interactive’s NBA 2K21 is here. Kotaku staff writer Ash Parrish‘s NBA 2K21 Will Cost $70 on PS5 and Xbox Series X has opened up Pandora’s box. An age-old debate, the question basically boils down to this. About something seemingly sacred – about video game marketing and pricing.
Current Gen Mamba Forever NBA 2K21 video game pricing an d video game marketing concept
Is a $10 price premium justified to get the exact SAME game on next-gen consoles? Or is this a reckless assault on the $60 price tag we’ve all come to accept for AAA games?
If the thread of 170 comments posted in the last 48 hours is any indication, there is no easy answer.
One thing I know for sure. No matter what the publisher marketing and PR team says, there can be no pleasing everyone. Without addressing the right from wrong, or getting into the details of making video games and publishing economics. Allow me to distill the factors, and the types of consumer research and insights, that video game marketing and video game publishers, take into consideration.
Video Game Pricing
Video game marketers have multiple tools for consumer insights and market research at their disposal. To answer questions about “willingness to pay” and “ability to pay” marketers can conduct one or more of:
Discoverability is hard and needs to be thought-out and designed-in, from the start.
Consumers have choices. In fact, lots of choices. The world has come a looooooooooooooooooong way since the days of single-player FPS games like Duke Nukem, even if that IS still the Video Game Greatest of All Time. Although my mind is permanently numb from visions of kicking ass and chewing bubble gum.
In his blog, Simon mentioned the 4 keys to “Memetic Shareability.” What are they exactly? These are: Quirky Hook, Stunning Art, Gif/Replay Exports and Genre-Like Signifiers. A few examples quickly come to mind.
GAME-CHARACTER COLORATION: In Heroes of Dragon Age, the Twitter-featured character tier progression for Saboteur Hawke
Visually contrasting and storytelling. The clear Character Tier Progression (headware from None to stylized Hood; Armor from leather to iron to steel to gold-trimmed steel; matching weapon evolution) were classic RPG attributes, where color and fabric connotes Rank, Defense, Damage and more, not to mention visual appeal. What does this mean? Simply encouraging player “Peacocking” and sharing on Twitter, Pinterest, and more.
eSports is a male-dominated sport. An estimated 90% of Major eSports professionals are men. Despite huge strides in the last decade, male gamers still far outnumber girl gamers. But the large video game publishers and brands are taking notice. The video game industry is growing more quickly than ever, with an estimated 2.5 billion players worldwide. Who better to grow popularity and discoverability among girl gamers than, well, girl gamers?
In the last decade, the somewhat inclusive E-gaming Arenas have become more welcoming to girl gamers. With major brands sponsoring All Female gamer girl groups and recently, Female eSports league has started to gain traction globally. Change is afoot. And we may see more girl gamers competing and winning yet.
The move to diversify eSports and include more girl gamers is growing by the day.
From major brands to NBA teams are on a quest. There is a vibrant NBA 2K League. In 2019 for the first time, WNBA players are making their debut in NBA 2K. A quest to grow the number of Female professional player in eSports and level the playing field. Hopefully in the near future, re-balance the 9-to-1 Male to Female player ratio, still prevalent in the current E-gaming community.
It’s hard to deny the prejudice Females have faced in the professional gaming community. Now more than ever, the community is more welcoming to Gamer Girls. Many more skilled Female Gamers are winning major game tournaments. The male-centric gaming community must accept, some more slowly than others, the idea of professional female eSport players. And respect them as winners and champions.
VKLiooon winning the Hearthstone tournament at Blizzcon
Take for example in the Global HearthStone Tournament, VKLiooon defeated the previous world champion in a clean sweep, winning the Tournament by a huge margin.
She became the first-ever female HearthStone Champion at Blizzcon in 2019. Punctuating her history-making victory, she said:
“I want to say to all the girls out there that have a dream for eSports, for competition, for glory. If you want to do it and you believe in yourself, you should just forget your gender and go for it”.
This was a historic moment in the gaming community. One that shattered the old prejudice – that “Girls can’t play games.” A wakeup call for the old-guard, heard far and wide by women and men around the world. And arguably more importantly, by boys and girls across the land.
The Female Gaming community has made huge progress in the last decade. Let us take a look at some of the most prominent professional eSports All-Girl groups from all around the world.
Soldier special forces with weapons in their hands on a futuristic background. Military concept of the future. Consumer insights for video game market research.
CONSUMER INSIGHTS VIDEO GAME GREATEST OF ALL TIME: DUKE NUKEM
Duke Nukem was and arguably always will be my favorite video game of all time. Does it have a market among battle royale fans of Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile?
The first PC game that I paid for. With a HUGE $40 of my own money at the age of 20, I chose Duke over a pub crawl or infrequent meal of tacos in college. Will brand equity aid discoverability? Consumer Insights hold the key.
Menacing flying aliens wielding rocket-propelled grenades. Shade-bespectacled foes with tusks the size of Siberian boars. Gratuitous scantily-clad young ladies dancing on stages, hips gyrating rhythmically to the electric pop background music.
The frequent drops of weapons – from rocket-propelled grenades, to shotguns, to pistols, and ammo – stimulate the mind. In pure single-player mode, it’s easy to pick up, put down, save progress. While heart-pounding exciting and exhilarating as ever, the ability to save and reattempt levels makes it forgiving.
Playing the 2011 reboot Duke Nukem Forever on my Mac this week during the coronavirus shelter-at-home, I got to relive some of my early college years. The nuclear waste and dancers still grab the eyeballs, even as I have laddered up in age.
This begs the question though. I paid an entire $40 for the full game in 1996. And again in 2020, I paid $40 for the game + downloadable content on Steam. HOW can this game be reimagined for a different revenue model – say, monthly subscription or free-to-play in-app purchases.
As a video game marketing consultant, I wondered. If I were marketing this game as a Premium-Priced 1-time Download on Steam:
What are my best options for maximizing branding (reactivating awareness) amongst existing fans of the Duke Nukem franchise?
How do I best build excitement among brand-new first-person shooter fans?
How can the game acquire and convert multiplayer battle royale games like Fortnite or PUBG?
Which messages would resonate best with each of these audiences?
Which promotional tactics do I have to maximize downloadable sales?
Is a time-limited MASSIVE discount promotion (say 50%, 60%, even 70%) the only way to crack the STEAM Store charts?
Are there media channels (whether IGN, PCGamer, or EuroGamer) that can drive measurable sales?
Should the developer choose to turn this game into a Free 2 Play, mobile games, what are some of the best content and monetization strategies?
How much time and resources should they devote to strictly Organic Discovery, like Apple or Google App Store Optimization?
Is it more advantageous to launch during the Shelter in Place campaign (i.e. in the next 4-8 weeks)?
Or does it make more sense to create “evergreen” paid media advertising campaigns, that run throughout the year?
What types of analytics and attribution are required? And can these be put in place on startup budgets, without breaking the bank?
From experience I know this much.
Consumer Insights and good old-fashioned market research are key to rock-solid brand positioning and laser-focused activation.
A combination of qualitative consumer research – targeted at the target consumer persona can answer these questions about how (1) Brand Loyalists like me and (2) fans of battle royale FPS and 3PS titles like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, and Call of Duty can best be activated.
That and how and where the video game marketing budgets are best spent. Is it more advantageous spent on paid media on Facebook, Google UAC and the likes? Or strictly through trusted influencers through the likes of Youtube, Twitch Prime and reviewers?
These are precisely the types of questions that I help my clients (video game developers and publishers) solve, in order to maximize media coverage and measurable revenue and profits. And in a strange, inexplicable way, I relish the challenge of helping a game developer shop on startup, even shoestring budgets.
If you have a promising game project that you like to promote and burst up the STEAM Store, Apple App Store, or Google Play Store – and like to tap into the marketing expertise of someone who’s worked on both branded and original-IP games on Facebook, PC, Apple, and Android, reach out to me.
In the meantime, make sure to stay safe, play apart, but always, always “kick ass and chew bubble gum.”
Sheffield, United Kingdom - June 11, 2016: Cosplayers dressed as characters from the video game series 'Halo' at the Yorkshire Cosplay Convention at Sheffield Arena
Team of Professional eSport Gamers Playing in Competitive Video Games on a Cyber Games Tournament. They using Microphones.
“All men dream – but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity… But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.” From T. E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom – Uncharted 3
Video games have found their entrée into just about every household today. Close to65% of American adults play video games, whether through their phones, laptops, or gaming systems. When broken down, 60% of people are playing games on their smartphones, 52% at their personal computer, and 49% with a gaming household. Even more, about 75% of Americans have at least one gamer in their household.
To put the $152 billion a year market in context, that is larger than the annual revenue from movie box office and music, combined (Kevin Chou, Forte, 2020) Furthermore, 2.5 billion gamers across the world, means 1 in 3 people across the world, games.
Video games are no longer the exclusive strongholds of teenaged fanboys.
Rather, with the advent of smartphones and tablets and the “anywhere, anytime” accessibility they provide, gamers span generations – millennials and boomers alike take part in this digital interaction. And yes, boys, girls, men, women, alternative lifestyle, and more, play games on their smartphones, tablets. Not to mention contributing user-generated content or UGC.: videos, reviews and more.
HERE’S a TRIVIA QUESTION. What do Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Milla Jovovich to Rami Malek, Sarah Silverman, John C. Riley, Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Rodriguez have in common?
The obvious answer is that they are all current and former Hollywood A-Listers past and present. The LESS OBVIOUS answer is that they have all starred in movies which had started out as video game franchises, loved and played by millions of gamers on a range of gaming devices.
And more amazingly, video games are as part of pop culture as music, sports, and movies. If you need any more convincing, just look at the following list of popular movies about video games:
Tomb Raider (2018)
Pokemon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Warcraft (2016)
Assassins Creed (2016)
Angry Birds the Movie (2016)
Rampage (2018)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
Hitman Agent 47 (2015)
Need for Speed (2014)
Prince of Persia (2010)
Ready Player One (2018)
Resident Evil Retribution (2012)
Wreck It Ralph (2012)
Doom (2005)
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Tomb Raider (2001)
Street Fighter (1994)
As gamers, we are part of a large, thriving and rapidly growing community. Of fangirls, fanboys, athletes, streamers, developers, artists, and as many of us have already known for many many years, celebrities, actors, actresses, and musicians among us. Game On, Game Proud.
