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[Shits_McGiggles]

Marketing is such a fickle thing. What could captivate the audience and ensure a complete sales success could just as easily lead to a product being mocked and derided by the internet and a poor sales outlook as a result. Lack of Marketing tends to be the most common explanation for the failure of a game, but perhaps there are cases where the marketing itself ruined any chances of the game being a success. It's difficult to determine exactly what causes a game to be a flop, but we can at least theorize. Perhaps one such example is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
When the first trailer came out, it instantly became a meme (which in this case, was a bad thing). The internet mocked the "edgy" attitude of the main character, and that is how the game will forever be remembered. Some found the stupidity endearing, while the overwhelming majority decided to disregard the game before it even got a chance to show the fun combat system it had.


Don't get me wrong, I don't think the game would have been a guaranteed smashing success, but I think it would have gotten a better reception via word of mouth if it was just shadow dropped like Hi-Fi Rush (and maybe had a trailer that just focused more on gameplay). Had Hi-Fi Rush been shown multiple trailers with months to a year of build-up, the internet would have picked apart the camp (especially the quips) and the game would have been seen as lame and something to avoid. Instead, the internet didn't have time to form an opinion on the game beforehand and the gameplay was able to shine.
Shadow Drops aren't a viable strategy for every game, but there are certainly games like the ones mentioned above where getting it in player's hands is much better than letting the internet over-analyze a few trailers.

 

[jigglet]

games that have to be played to be appreciated. Hard to hype up, no big set pieces or brand names to lean on.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Okami 2

C'mon Capcom, I know you guys have a sequel in development.

 

[Jonnie_Darko]

Most of marketing is based in test and error. Hi Fi Rush was a test with low risk that went well. However, we dont know how much it generated or if it achieved the ROI goals of mkt. I think we could see some shadow drops here and there but just a few and never in AAA. Maybe rarely in AA if someone wants to take a good calculated risk.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Most of marketing is based in test and error. Hi Fi Rush was a test with low risk that went well. However, we dont know how much it generated or if it achieved the ROI goals of mkt. I think we could see some shadow drops here and there but just a few and never in AAA. Maybe rarely in AA if someone wants to take a good calculated risk.

it sold a shitload of copies on steam. made more revenue than forspoken despite being less than half the price, and probably had less than half the budget.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

Most of marketing is based in test and error. Hi Fi Rush was a test with low risk that went well. However, we dont know how much it generated or if it achieved the ROI goals of mkt. I think we could see some shadow drops here and there but just a few and never in AAA. Maybe rarely in AA if someone wants to take a good calculated risk.

Would have it been more of a success with traditional marketing though? That I'm not so sure about.

 

[Rykan]

So shadowdrops are probably not something that will happen too often and if it does, it will most likely only be with smaller titles.

Planning is a big issue. You typically don't want to develop a game with the intention to shadowdrop it at a certain date or event, because development time can be fairly unpredictable. This is important, because if you miss your opportunity to shadowdrop it at an event or keynote, that means you'll either have to wait until another opportunity arises, or release it in a more traditional method which means that you'll have to suddenly start up an entire marketing campaign that you didn't plan for.

As such, shadowdrops can only be done with games that are already completed. Apparently, Metroid Remastered was already finished and ready to go for a number of years. You can sit on a smaller scope game for that long, but you really can't do that with a big budget title.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

GaaS

 

[Batiman]

Apex legends was still the best shadow drop done

 

[Jonnie_Darko]

it sold a shitload of copies on steam. made more revenue than forspoken despite being less than half the price, and probably had less than half the budget.

Still we dont know what the goals where. Marketing its not only sales, there are more KPIs involved. Anyway, like I said it was a test that seems it went well but not for setting a trend.