January 29, 2010 | by Trung Bui 

Spoilers: Are They Part of Game Company Marketing?

mass-effect-2-launch-trailer

An interesting article came up on Kotaku this week regarding game companies and spoilers in their marketing strategies and it brought about a very interesting point: Are developers giving away too much information prior to the game’s release?

Do yourself a favor and read their story on the matter in addition to the one I’m presenting here. Kotaku cited Mass Effect 2 as the most recent example – and it might be the most justified case for the argument.

 

After the release of Mass Effect, BioWare confirmed that the series was going to be a trilogy. This is the kind of relevant information that keeps gamers excited for the property, but how exactly does a company maintain that excitement? Things can happen: other games take attention away from your title, the usual delays, or, given the amount of time it takes to develop a quality title, the franchise can just as easily have slipped away in gamers’ minds.

So what does a developer do? Trickle bits of information out to the consumer to keep the game fresh in their minds – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Take a game like Modern Warfare 2. There was almost no story information made present to the public, other than the timeframe (it took place shortly after its predecessor) and that your Modern Warfare character would return as your commanding officer in Modern Warfare 2. Other than that, Infinity Ward was mum about details and only really showed the environments in which you would be fighting.

However, information about MW2’s multiplayer was much more desirable to gamers but still Infinity Ward wasn’t very forthcoming with the details. When MW2 finally released, I can say for sure, I was happy about not knowing much about the story and letting the game overtake me with everything it had to offer and I was not let down in the slightest.

The element of surprise in games is still something that gamers always appreciate and enjoy. Game boxes still end up reflecting that to a degree. Take the back of the Dragon Age: Origins box.

It’s very simple:

You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of guardians. With the return of an ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.

Along side a few screenshots, that’s all the information you get. Considering we live in an age where information is so readily available to us via the Internet, if a consumer wants to know something about a game he may consider purchasing, it’s available to him. And yes, this trend of overwhelming gamers with information regarding games is something I can do without, I’m very happy the information is available at all.

The problem is, there is a fine line between being given enough information to pique and maintain your interest and being given too much that it just seems like the game you want to play is less of an immersive experience and more of a mundane slog from point A to B.

Do you enjoy the massive ad campaigns game companies are putting out? Or do you have to put yourself on information blackout?

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  • Other than the spoiler about the game's first 20 minutes. I haven't really noticed THAT much stuff that is directly spoilerific in the launch trailer.

    Not to mention that Infinity Ward, while initially tight-lipped on Modern Warfare 2, pretty much laid it all out on the table with the later trailers that appeared around the game's release (similar to Mass Effect 2's launch trailer).

    I'm really excited for Heavy Rain and, as a result, have stopped looking at trailers. I think if we're going to complain about spoilers in trailers - we always have the option of looking away, etc. It's not the same as movie previews - which we actually have to sit in front of before a film... we have to, for the most part, seek out video game trailers.
  • The word "spoiler" is a huge red flag for me. I love reading about upcoming releases that I intend on playing, but the second that article says "spolier alert" I back out. I want to experience to be 100% new, not waiting for the sweet gun I found out I'd unlock because I read an article the other day that stated so.

    Box art should be vague. Here's the premise, cover shows main characters, etc. Basic. We know what developers we like, that should be drive enough with a couple screenshots and the premise of the story. Don't tell me what happens to pull me in, because inevitably I'll play it and be underwhelmed.
  • Mass Effect 2 spoilers for those trying to stay away from any info:


    I really wish they hadn't given away that Shepard "dies" in the beginning and the Normandy gets destroyed. That would have been a HUGE narrative punch at the very beginning of the game and would have been an irresistible hook. I understand companies need to try and keep people excited about their product, but I really believe a "less is more" attitude is extremely beneficial, especially with RPGs and other games that tout their narrative as a selling point.
  • The last game I was mad hyped to purchase was Left 4 Dead 2, and yes, I definitely read everything I could about it including some spoiler information. The game itself doesn't really have much when it comes to 'story' but characters and locations were involved. I don't hate the knowledge. If I compare this to the iPad release and I was -dying- for legit information. I'd hate to have the next game in my favorite series come out with absolutely no information, but full spoilers I usually stay away from. I don't want to know what the third boss is and how to kill them. That's overkill.
  • After reading this story, I realize that I do not like over saturated marketing campaigns. For the games I absolutely love, I stay away from certain trailers. The latest case being ME2 where they had a profile trailer for each party character and class.

    That is stuff I want to discover on my own. Going into ME2, I knew nothing about the story, parties or classes. I only watched the "TV Spot" type trailers and non of the extended ones.
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