With the casual gaming genre now one of the biggest money makers for developers, figuring out the best marketing strategy for the titles can be tricky. The tried and true plan of showing off trailers, screenshots, and bits of information almost an entire year in advance really doesn’t cut it where casual games are concerned.
One of the best examples of this is the highly acclaimed Boom Blox by EA and Steven Spielberg. While heralded by some reviews as one of the best Wii games made, it should surprise some readers to know Boom Blox has only sold sixty thousand copies in the US. This has met EA’s internal expectations, but there is no doubt they were hoping for more. Interestingly enough, Boom Blox may still net the numbers to make it be considered a bigger success.
It all comes down to how casual games are bought in comparison to the popular titles. For a franchise like Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Madden, or Battlefield a majority of the sales hit when the game is first released and the first few weeks are indicative of how the game will sell overall. If it doesn’t start strong then it can be a good bet to assume it won’t end strong. Casual games may end up differently. Instead of a major spike, casual games may gradually just sell more and more as time marches on.
It’ll be interesting to see how casual games are marketed in the future. As EA’s Riccitiello said, ""To be honest, I think everything in casual [gaming] makes us all challenge our assumptions."
[via GamesIndustry]
