How ‘Free’ Sells Games
The one thing everyone wants when it comes to gaming is to hear the word ‘free.’ Whether it is free DLC – regardless of how trivial – or even a free bonus offer when making in game purchases, getting something for free is so elusive these days that when we get it, we tend to make a big deal out of it. Enter every marketing personnel around the globe, whole knows exactly what I’m talking about. Give away something for free, and see how the masses react.
The big thing in the mobile marketplace right now is pre-signups for the hottest free-to-play titles that provide exclusive gifts for those who agree to download the game when it officially launches. Most big players in the mobile marketplace are doing it on a consistent basis, including industry giant Gameloft. I remember signing up for Disney Magic Kingdoms before it came out, which gave me a pack of premium currency, as well as decorations for my Disney park.
And if course, I was given the opportunity to shout excitement about the game across all my social media accounts. And of course, I did.
So many companies take this approach, including some of the internet’s biggest gaming sites, offering up free videos games online to get people to sign up with their company. In the competitive of online card games, this is incredibly popular, and as sites work to gain your business, the freebies get better and better.
Despite the famous sayin that “nothing is free,” the truth is…it doesn’t matter whether it’s truly free or not. People enjoy hearing the word free. Free means something you normally wouldn’t get, you are getting. Free means bonuses, oftentimes limited, that you might not be able to get the next day. Free means everything.
While offering up freebies is something constantly seen in the free-to-play, app based marketplace, more and more AAA companies are looking to offer up freebies for their premium titles, including exclusive preorder DLC. Downloadable Content is likely the easiest way for companies to entice people to purchase their games ahead of launch, and these DLC codes are often for incredibly trivial bonuses.
Sure, games like Assassin’s Creed Origins offered up extra missions and weapons, but more recent releases like Shadow of the Tomb Raider offered up bonuses that mean a lot less to people, including weapons and character skins. But the reality here is that it doesn’t matter, because there is a perceived value on top of what you are paying, and that perceived value is enough to make people say, “I’m going to purchase this game now.”It’s not just skins for weapons, or extra character outfits. No, it’s FREE skins for weapons, and FREE character outfits. Trivial, yes, Valuable? Yes.
What AAA studios are doing now to push presales is nothing new, but they are finding ways to perfect the marketing campaigns to maximize the dollars brought in before the game even launches. Every person that ‘falls’ for freebies-in-exchange-for-preorders is a guaranteed sale that the company can bank on when the game launches. I use the term ‘falls’ for lightly, however, because if you are planning to pick up a game anyways, why not preorder and get the extra bonuses, no matter how trivial they might be!
It’s a marketing technique used by many, most effect the online gaming and gambling sites, to entice people to sign up and play their games, as opposed to playing the games of the competition down the street. As we all work harder for the dollars in our pockets, we want to maximize the money we have. Let’s go back to video games again. If EB Games / Gamestop is going to give me a poster with my preorder, and Walmart is going to give me nothing, who will most people likely give their money to? EB Games / Gamestop of course.
Marketing teams aren’t stupid, and they know what people want. Consumers shouldn’t be stupid either. If you see a freebie for a game you really want, it makes sense to plop your money down early and take advantage. Remember, the power to cancel that preorder always lies with you.