Shits_McGiggles
Member
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.
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.