How to Market Dark Souls 3
Jun. 9, 2015How to Market Dark Souls 3
Recently, one site claimed a source told them to expect a Miyazaki-directed Dark Souls 3 at E3. Then my internet exploded.
So you can safely assume I’m not a fan of using more than 4 trailers for any upcoming Souls games. What else would I recommend? First let me tell you why I’m at least a little more qualified than internet rando #5,361 to tell people how to make a campaign. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I have a passion for games and for marketing. What you don’t know is I’ve been promoted 3 times in the past 5 years; lead the rebrand of a half billion dollar company (like, told the CEO we needed to rebrand and he said yes); built a boutique web design agency from the ground up, which I then sold; built a web marketing division to 6 figures in sales in 12 months; and am currently at the marketing manager level in my career. Obviously there are lots of people who’ve done more momentous things with their careers. This isn’t a pissing contest. All I’m saying is I know more about marketing than the average bear.
So if I were to create a marketing plan for Dark Souls 3, what would it look like? Well reader, I’m glad I asked. Because if I didn’t this transition would be even more strained that it already is.
Like many of you, I’ve been here a while. Started with Demon’s Souls. Got big into Dark Souls lore after Quelaag and ENB’s Youtube coverage. If Miyazaki is directing a game, I know it’s going to be a fair challenge. We all know that. If the rumors are true and Legendary Big M is the lead game designer/director: communicate that.
Then shut up. Boom. Just like that you’ve confirmed the challenge will be substantial and fair, like Demon’s, Dark Souls and Bloodborne.That portion of your job is done. Do not talk about the difficulty. The media will remind us a billion times between now and launch the game will be hard; you don’t have to. If someone asks, just remind them it’s being directed by Miyazaki and move on.
You know what you should talk about? Literally any other emotion a player can expect when playing the next Souls game. Here’s some lines to use in your campaign. Free of charge.
“Exploring the [vast cavern/open fields/abandoned city], I thought this is what Indiana Jones would feel like, treading on [sacred earth/uncharted territory/blasphemous ashes]. Tense exploration amid skirmishes and the feeling of panicked euphoria when looking across a chasm and seeing a [crumbling castle/tree-city/desert oasis] would fit perfectly into Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
“Souls games have always had this profound sense of history to them. You can point and say: here the black knights were incinerated trying to stop the demons; this yellow bird adjudicated the souls of heroes. Those intricate threads are present in Dark Souls 3 – tale of a knight from [place] who never learned his sacrifice for [thing/person/kingdom] was too late.”
“The original Dark Souls told a tragic story of a character who was cursed not just with the burden of the Undead, but with an ultimately meaningless existence. The ending saw the character choose between sacrificing themselves to extend the light a little longer or give in to inevitable darkness. The world of Dark Souls tells the same tale: a golden world inevitably lost to time, where the efforts of Gwyn and his greatest knights ultimately meant nothing. Dark Souls 3’s characters, setting and plot revolve around similar concepts, but [plot twist/unique take/different timeline].”
Do you see how none of that was DRAGONS! GODS! DEMONS! and all that other bullshit? Because Souls games aren’t power fantasies. They’re grounded in realism. Soulshasthose things, but it’s notaboutthem. It’saboutputting your face in the dirt, metaphorically as much as literally, and searching for clues while you’re down there. This is why Dark Souls II’s announcement trailer featuring a fight with a dragon (that never actually showed up in the game – what the f&%k?!) could have been better. The emotions elicited by the Souls games are so much more complex than a hum-drum overdone “it’s hard, you’re an undead, look a dragon.”
You want a real set of trailers? Tell a story. I’m serious here. Let me just pop one out real quick. Again: you can have this.
That’s how you do a cinematic trailer. We communicated a sense of hopelessness, loneliness, exploration, cooperation and frustration all in one simple trailer. Players know what to expect, fans get hyped, everyone’s happy. How many bosses did we spoil? 0.
After you’ve presented the E3 trailer, release a followup trailer with in-engine combat along with more coverage of the gameplay with game industry news people who are good at talking about the things you can’t communicate in trailers. Maybe we bring out 1 boss and a few enemies for this one. The knightess from the cinematic trailer should be the subject. No more than 90 seconds.
At this point you start doing more interviews and press releases, because fans will be well-informed enough to have educated opinions and good questions.
Then a story trailer. Who is this knightess? Where did she come from? What is the world like now? Are any story elements from Dark Souls or Dark Souls II still in place (please say no)? Use dialogue and visual cues to communicate. You get 1 more boss reveal; better make it important to the story. It doesn’t need to be as long.
Answer questions. Give an in-depth interview/preview with someone who didn’t fully endorse Dark Souls II (Edge may not be the best choice). Why? All fans loved Dark Souls, but some fans weren’t impressed with Dark Souls II – and became jaded with the media that praised it. Also, make sure you’re answering the questions fans are asking. Give the Souls Youtubers something to do.
Then the final long-form trailer combining all the info released thus far. You can go all in here. 3 or 4 new rank-and-file enemies, maybe 2 more bosses we haven’t seen yet. Do it big. Release this one a couple of weeks before the game.
There you go. Your guide for marketing Dark Souls 3 with 4 trailers. What do you think, readers?
We’re all hyped, in the meantime catch up on all things “Souls” (and more) at the FextraLifewikisandforums
jayholden
Love my family. And good games. I own the @BloodborneGame twitter account.
I assume that most developers in this net-world are aware of leak-buzz, and I suspect they themselves are the ones pulling the strings on these “leaks” –
I mean, what creates more commotion than a bunch of fans discovering allegedly official content they are notsupposedto see and taking to the forums and social media to investigate? It becomes a very inexpensive and effective method. Everyone wants to believe its real, and the fear it may be a hoax creates genuine anticipation.
I tend to agree.
Call me a cynic, but I pay almost no attention to repeated trailers. Saw the first one, decided if interested, follow for real information (because trailers are often lacking that) or don’t. That simple. (I’d also rather you spend that 20 million dollars on the actual game, or just keep it so you don’t have to sell quite so many copies to be a success.)
Great. I see open roads and super cars and cops and helicopters and spike strips and Criterion. I’m game. Everything I needed to know to be excited is in one place. We’re all set. Now confirm it. Not 27 more prerendered trailers, my trust will evaporate faster than rubbing alcohol and I’ll think you’re hiding things. Give me gameplay details and show game footage so I don’t get the impression you’re lying to me and my already (barely contained, I’d been waiting for NFS to abandon its underground phase for like 9 years) excitement will be firmly cemented into a week one buy unless all the reviwes are hugely negative.
Nice article as usual! But I personally think the marketing is not the aspect they ought to work on. Dark Souls 2 was a great success, but the long term appeal suffered because of lack of depth in certain aspects, and fluff in others. Hopefully that is adressed
