Effectively promoting a video game means using digital platforms, telling engaging stories, forming smart partnerships, and building a strong community. Video game marketing is a mix of creativity and data-driven strategies. By understanding player demographics and preferences, marketers adjust their campaigns to resonate with diverse audiences, resulting in a deeper connection between the gaming community and game providers.
This guide explores all the necessary details of promoting video games, giving helpful tips for developers and marketers aiming to grab customers’ attention and make their games successful.
What is Video Game Marketing?
Video game marketing is a distinct direction within the immense marketing arena. Unlike conventional marketing, this specific niche requires a deep understanding of the gaming community’s complex needs, preferences, and behaviors. Game marketing entirely revolves around the interactive and immersive nature of the gaming experience. That is why traditional marketing approaches often fall short of capturing the idea behind interactive storytelling.
The gaming market has grown from 76.15 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 to 85.86 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. This rapid increase suggests the growing popularity of the video game industry has attracted numerous businesses. However, it also is one of the fastest evolving markets with quickly shifting trends.
The uniqueness of video game marketing becomes obvious when we examine the typical consumer-brand relationship: active engagement is the only driver of successful game marketing. Impressions do not mean anything here as gamers are not passive spectators, they are active participants. Successful campaigns manage to initiate emotional investment in gamers that creates a sense of community and belonging.
Video Game Marketing Strategy
Many different stakeholders participate in creating a video game marketing strategy. Those who work on strategy development include game developers, publishers, marketers, and even external agencies. The process begins with market research to understand the audience and their needs, as well as the competition. Gaming market research focuses on collecting data regarding players’ gaming habits and industry trends from platforms such as gaming forums and gamers’ social networks.
There are four main types of marketing strategies in the gaming industry:
- Streaming platforms
- Game sponsorship
- Product placement
- Game advertising
Streaming Platforms
Streaming platforms play a decisive role in video game marketing. They offer a dynamic space to engage with audiences in real time. Marketers have embraced platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Kick to present gameplay, establish connection with influencers, and build a dedicated community around a game.
The nature of these websites/apps focuses on live streaming sessions where game developers or influencers demonstrate gameplay, answer questions, and create excitement before or after a game’s release.
Twitch
Twitch is a live-streaming giant that attracts millions of viewers daily, especially the gaming community. Marketers often partner with popular Twitch streamers for game promotions and use their influence to reach a broad but highly relevant audience.
The platform also enables marketers to create exclusive in-game items or events for Twitch users which drives engagement and motivates viewers to join the live streams. A clear example of how Twitch can contribute to video game marketing strategy is the game “Valorant”. Riot Games worked on exclusive Twitch drops and collaborative streaming events with popular influencers before the launch and gained immense popularity.
YouTube Gaming
YouTube Gaming allows for diverse content types – from live streams to edited videos, providing marketers with a range of promotional opportunities. The video-sharing platform is also famous for its advanced algorithm giving marketers a chance to optimize the content for long-term visibility.
Furthermore, YouTube Analytics provides detailed insight into audience demographics, watch time, and engagement on its platform for marketers and data analysts.
Game Sponsorship
Game sponsorship is a two-way marketing strategy that can be beneficial for both gaming and non-gaming brands. The key element in game sponsorship is to correctly choose the sponsorship receiver based on the audience. In this strategy, marketers align their brands with popular gaming titles. It is a collaborative partnership between the game developers and the sponsoring brand. This is how marketers utilize game sponsorships:
- Branded in-game elements – marketers integrate their brand into the game environment, featuring logos, products, or even custom in-game events that resonate with the game’s theme
- Exclusive content – sponsors often provide exclusive in-game events or levels, creating a sense of exclusivity for players associated with the sponsored brand
- Collaborative events – marketers organize and sponsor in-game events or tournaments, boosting engagement and improving a connection between the gaming community and the brand
- Cross-promotion – sponsoring brands use their existing marketing channels to promote the game and reach a broader audience beyond the gaming community
Product Placement
Product placement is a common video game marketing strategy. It is a strategic step for marketers to integrate their brands into the gaming experience. A significant part of in-game product placement is authenticity – marketers must ensure a natural fit that improves the overall gaming experience without feeling forced or intrusive.
Brands can feature their products on billboards, posters, or even in-game storefronts – mirroring real-world advertising scenarios. Depending on the game, marketers have the right to customize characters through branded clothing, accessories, or virtual items.
Game Advertising
Game advertising is a rapidly expanding field of marketing and emphasizes various strategies targeting user engagement. There are four main types of game advertising:
- In-game ads – when advertisements are directly placed within the game environment (billboards, branded objects)
- In-App ads – when ads appear in mobile gaming in the form of banner ads, ads between game levels, or rewarded video ads
- Advergames – when marketers create custom games with a brand-focused narrative
- Sponsorships – when a brand sponsors a specific gaming event, tournament, or even an entire gaming league
Best Video Game Marketing Campaigns
The 21st century has seen numerous incredible video game marketing campaigns. They range from immersive TV ads to controversial and guerilla marketing efforts. Some of these campaigns earned a place in marketing history books and inspire marketers even today. Here are the three most effective video game marketing campaigns in the history of digital marketing.
The Sims 2
In 2004, Electronic Arts launched The Sims 2, a popular life-simulation game. They targeted a new group of players: women aged 13 to 34. The digital marketing agency, Freestyle Interactive, reached out to these potential games online, gathering 1.5 million users on Yahoo! Messenger only. The campaign also invited real stores to feature their products in the game’s virtual market.
This collaboration led to expansions like IKEA Home Stuff and H&M Fashion Stuff. The Sims 2 has sold 20 million copies, proving the success of their marketing campaign.
Angry Birds
In 2009, a Finnish company named Rovio released Angry Birds on the iOS App Store. By 2012, the game reached one billion downloads. Rovio’s founders, Niklas and Mikael Hed, aimed for something simple and universally appealing. After the successful launch of the game in Finland and Greece, Rovio partnered with publishing company Chillingo. This partnership got Apple’s attention. Apple decided to feature Angry Birds as the “game of the week” in its U.K. App Store.
Another clever step from Rovio was to launch a YouTube trailer – one of the first for a mobile game, getting over 100 million views. Today, Angry Birds has expanded into board games, toys, spin-offs, theme park attractions, and more.
Grand Theft Auto V
Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V in 2013. The GTA series, known for its intense action, has entertained gamers and sparked debates since 1997. Rockstar casually shared a link to the official GTA V website on October 11 to create a buzz. Trailers, a Game Informer cover story, and murals in Manhattan followed, building anticipation and amplifying buzz marketing efforts.
The marketing also involved viral campaigns, exclusive pre-order deals, and strategic billboards. With an investment of $265 million, the game earned $800 million in just 24 hours after its release on September 17, 2013. GTA V set 7 Guinness World Records, including the fastest entertainment property to reach $1 billion in revenue.
What is the future of video game marketing?
The future of marketing in the video gaming industry is strongly intervened with technological advancements, shifting gamer behaviors, and growing competition. It is not easy to picture the future generation of gamers. The reason is that it is one of the most dynamic markets at the moment. However, some trends may help us predict how the gaming industry may change shortly.
- Immersive technologies – as virtual and augmented reality technologies continue to grow, marketers should expect new opportunities to integrate their brands directly into immersive gaming experiences. It could extend beyond the traditional in-game ads and allow consumers to interact with the products virtually.
- Personalized gaming experiences – experts believe that a new era of personalization is inevitable. Marketers will need to up their data analytics efforts and AI usage to tailor gaming content and ads to individual gamer preferences.
- Metaverse integration – a shared virtual space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users is gaining momentum. Metaverse will resemble the real-life world even in terms of marketing and advertising.
- Blockchain and NFTs – the introduction of blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) promises new possibilities for ownership and trade within the gaming environment. Marketers must start exploring partnership opportunities and create campaigns that suit the nature of blockchain and digital assets.