PCGamesN links to a
D.I.C.E. SUMMIT 2013 Keynote Speech by Puzzle Clubhouse creator Jesse Schell where the CEO of Schell Games makes the interesting, if counter-intuitive case that releasing a demo for a game hurts sales, and that the key to successfully marketing a game is to make players want to try it without giving them a chance to. He offers a chart of the "Hype Curve" of marketing a game, which contains data points with disturbing labels such as "Peak of Inflated Expectations" and "Trough of Disillusionment," and offers the following personal perspective on how this works, at least in the case of his game: "You mean we spent all this money making a demo and getting it out there, and it cut our sales in half?," he asks himself, before answering: "Yes, that’s exactly what happened to you." Thanks Joao.
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Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Feb 12, 2013, 13:38 |
Beamer |
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Frags4Fun wrote on Feb 12, 2013, 13:34: Yeah, they sure do hurt sales, if the game sucks to begin with. Some good games have bad demos. And other games have too good demos. While I'm sure GTA and Carmageddon sold very well due to word of mouth from their demos, I also think the demos were so satisfying (especially if you removed the time limit) that they made actually purchasing the game superfluous.
Same for Quarantine. Loved that demo! I put dozens upon dozens of hours into those three demos and sadly never bought the games. Can't imagine I was the only one. |
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Feb 12, 09:32 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
MoreLuckThanSkill |
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2. |
Feb 12, 09:33 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
nin |
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4. |
Feb 12, 09:37 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
SpectralMeat |
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6. |
Feb 12, 09:42 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
InBlack |
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8. |
Feb 12, 09:46 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
SpectralMeat |
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10. |
Feb 12, 09:49 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Beamer |
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22. |
Feb 12, 14:22 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
jdreyer |
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12. |
Feb 12, 09:57 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Wowbagger_TIP |
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3. |
Feb 12, 09:36 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
El Pit |
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5. |
Feb 12, 09:40 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
InBlack |
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7. |
Feb 12, 09:44 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
netnerd85 |
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9. |
Feb 12, 09:48 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
siapnar |
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11. |
Feb 12, 09:50 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Cutter |
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13. |
Feb 12, 10:01 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Verno |
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14. |
Feb 12, 10:24 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Alamar |
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15. |
Feb 12, 10:37 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
SpectralMeat |
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16. |
Feb 12, 11:53 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
cento |
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17. |
Feb 12, 12:10 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Creston |
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18. |
Feb 12, 13:34 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Frags4Fun |
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20. |
Feb 12, 13:38 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Beamer |
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19. |
Feb 12, 13:38 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
DeadlyAccurate |
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21. |
Feb 12, 14:12 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
m00t |
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23. |
Feb 12, 14:48 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
LaxerFL |
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24. |
Feb 12, 15:36 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Ecthelion |
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25. |
Feb 12, 16:36 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
WaltC |
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26. |
Feb 12, 16:43 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Beamer |
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36. |
Feb 13, 08:34 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
WaltC |
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27. |
Feb 12, 17:42 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Narf2029 |
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29. |
Feb 12, 18:25 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Closed Betas |
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30. |
Feb 12, 18:56 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Golwar |
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33. |
Feb 12, 20:14 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
netnerd85 |
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35. |
Feb 12, 22:59 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Closed Betas |
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32. |
Feb 12, 20:10 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
ViRGE |
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34. |
Feb 12, 22:53 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Closed Betas |
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28. |
Feb 12, 18:13 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Erebus |
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31. |
Feb 12, 20:07 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Nate |
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37. |
Feb 13, 09:02 |
Re: Developer: Demos Kill Sales |
Jonjonz |
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