As much as there’s a great deal to master when creating an MMORPG, there’s also quite the learning experience when it comes to promoting an upcoming title. In the fairy tale, Goldilocks continually evaluated the Three Bears’ home for its services, finding some of it dissatisfying to varying degrees while other things hit just right.
How can an MMO studio’s promotional wing attain that “just right” balance when it comes to hyping up a title? And have we ever seen a game do this so well that when it launched, that MMO reaped the maximum amount of benefit from interest and enthusiasm?
To ask Goldilocks to stick around for a paragraph longer, we can learn from her example that there’s such a thing as “too hot” and “too cold” when it comes to PR and community building. Over- and under-hyping an MMO could have dire results on your project and tank the game right from the start.
When I think of too much promotion, my mind immediately goes to Kickstarted MMOs that started out by exploding onto the scene with a very exciting fundraiser that promised the world. Then, after a month or so of stirring up the community’s interest with visions of what could be, the studio is practically forced to keep communicating to its financial backers… for years.
Since these Kickstarters often happened in the early stages of an MMO’s development cycle and these studios usually are indie, there’s a huge length of time that ensues during which the studio feels the need to keep talking and talking, both to retain its funds and possibly drum up more donations. As a result, there’s a lot of oversharing by the studio, resulting in fatigue by players who have been hearing about a title for years — sometimes well over a decade! — with no playable game to show for it.
On the other end of that spectrum are the titles that seem to be operating under a dare to come onto the scene like a stealthed Rogue, attracting as little attention as possible before, bam, now it’s launched. But an MMO that launches with no pre-established community and nobody really watching for it is an MMO that isn’t long for this world at all.
So what’s the sweet spot? There’s that impulse to say, “Somewhere in the middle,” but friends, it’s a big middle with a lot of complicating factors.
MMOs don’t often have the luxury of launching small and building up interest over time. If it lacks a critical mass of population, other people are going to see that and stay away. Therefore, it’s vital for online games to launch big, trusting that they can survive the inevitable population falloff to settle somewhere sustainable.
Getting as large of a crowd for Day One is fiendishly tricky. Again, start advertising too soon, and fans will grow restless and drift away before it actually releases (I’m reminded of a particular SWTOR podcast that started up years prior to the launch and completely burned out after hundreds of episodes without a live MMO to sustain interest). Come to the party too weak or too late, and you won’t have anyone either.
What’s the best approach? It’s a topic we’ve wrestled with on the MOP Podcast many times as we’ve looked at these upcoming games. I don’t think we’ve come up with a firm answer to it because it does depend on a whole bunch of factors including the IP in question, any prior studio fanbase, the method of comms, whether people will be asked to pay money up front to play, if this is an import from the east, and so on.
Plus, and this is a big one, the studio doesn’t usually know when that launch date is going to happen. Development delays, extended testing cycles, and financial support all affect this. And if you don’t know the date in question, it’s harder to work backwards to form a schedule of promotion leading up to it.
I would say that having at least an idea of a development/testing/launch schedule is imperative for formulating a promotional campaign. Once there’s at least a target window with leeway for delays, you should start at least a couple years in advance. Kick things off with a big announcement that covers the outline of the game, shines a light on its special distinguishing features, and put some visuals (screenshots, trailer) in front of fans.
Then commit to pumping out announcements on a regular basis. These could be monthly at the beginning but ramp up to weekly once the game is within a half-year of launch. These comms could cover the ongoing development, sure, but also explain features, interview studio members, and share slices of gameplay videos.
Testing in and of itself is a hype tool — and a pretty effective one if the build is solid (stop letting testers and early access players in too soon!). If you keep it NDA free and people like what they see, testers will begin promoting your game for you.
Probably the best campaign I’ve ever seen to drive up interest in an upcoming MMO was WildStar. Y’all remember WildStar Wednesdays? I certainly do! It made every Wednesday exciting as a fan because I knew that I was assured some new nugget of info or a fun video about this project. This campaign primed people perfectly for a strong launch.
Again, there’s no perfect formula to promotion, community building, and hype. We’ve seen too many studios fumble it badly, but one would hope that future projects would learn from the mistakes of the past and improve their chances.
Do you love spectating and speculating about upcoming MMOs? We do too! Every week, Justin tackles another upcoming title on the MMO Hype Train with opinions, analysis, and blind fervent hope. Choo choo all aboard!
