The gaming industry is much more than just game creation. It’s an art form. It’s storytelling. It’s the finished product of its creator’s vision. But a game’s success in the market is much more than just whether the game is good or not. Marketing campaigns, atmosphere, action or sex appeal; they’re all an important part of taking a game from “good” to “successful.”

So, who should you put in charge of running your game’s marketing and image?

Non-Traditional Markets

While many of us were growing up video games were for nerds. Kids who spent their weekends playing Mario or Castlevania on their Super Nintendos would get hassled in the schoolyard come Monday. Video games were also largely considered to be a male interest, as if girls wouldn’t be interested in them. It’s currently estimated that about 45% of gamers are women! That’s not a market to be ignored anymore!

A successful video game creative agency would consider both gender and the social aspect of video games in their campaigns!

Video Ads

Thirty years ago, gaming magazines and print ads were the highlight of game advertising. Make sure that your video game creative agency is up on current trends and pushes your projects in the right direction. Video ads are incredibly effective, and most major brands use them. Youtube ads between videos, SEO advertising, and banner ads in news or pop culture articles; video ads are eye-catching and draw in your customers’ attention and wallets.

Streaming Content and the Importance of the Gaming Community

Games aren’t just a solo project anymore. Studios don’t just make the game and wait for it to sell. The gaming community at large has a huge role to play in a game’s success.

Streaming content sites such as Twitch are extremely important to a game’s exposure. Streamers themselves become minor celebrities in their own right! But their effect on game sales and income cannot be understated.

Many popular streamers have upwards of 1-5 million followers who login to literally watch this person play a game. Savvy game developers and video game creative agencies will take advantage of these large audiences by handing out promotions, free copies or beta edition codes to try to get extra hype for their games. Some streamers run contests or promotions for their sponsor agencies for additional content.

Streamers are also an important part of the gaming community because they often take part in the message boards and game FAQs. But they’re also influencers, and the community will follow them. Getting popular gamers on your side can be an incredible boost to your game’s sales and traffic.

Inclusivity

So many games out there are tough to break in to. Picking up Call of Duty when you’ve never played any of them before can seem extremely difficult. Loading up World of Warcraft for the first time and trying to compete with other players is nearly impossible.

Modern game markets call for games that have modern strategies. While keeping your game accessible to the most people possible will depend on your game’s format, the free-to-play formats have seen a lot of success in recent years. Free-to-play games are great because they let anyone start playing and then monetize themselves by optional content or early-access content available at the pay wall. Video game creative agencies will help advise you on the best advertising path for your game.

Go Mobile

Everyone has a smart phone these days, and most of them are capable of playing hundreds or thousands of different games. Creating a mobile app version is a fantastic way to both further monetize your current market and to expand your client base!

Riot Games has recently created Team Fight Tactics, a mobile version of League of Legends. Wizards of the Coast has released a mobile app version of Magic the Gathering: Arena. Creating a version of your game that is even more accessible than before can result in a huge boost to your game sales, market share and your overall consumer audience.

There are so many ways to take advantage of the current video game market because it’s so hot right now, so make sure that you sign on with an experienced agent who can bring you both tested marketing options as well as creative and modern marketing options!