Thoughts on the Starfield Pre-Release Marketing Campaign

 

Starfield is coming out in the next couple of days, and I am very excited but there is one area of concern for me: the marketing. While some may say that the game's marketing may not really matter in the large scheme of things, I believe that it is very important. Starfield's success will allow for greater amounts of DLC and content to be released and I think that Bethesda should probably step up their game with the marketing.

Starfield is very important game for me. It isn't just another game that I can enjoy; its a game that will make space sims popular among a general audience. I am aware that games like Mass Effect have laid the groundwork for games such as this, but Starfield has a potential for being even greater than those games. 

Many games that came before Starfield had great ambitions. Freelancer in 2003 was one of the antecedents to this type of game. However, they were limited in technology somehow. Every game since the mid 80s has tried to create the ultimate space game. Each generation was trying to outdo the previous generation. It is this current generation that will learn the many lessons from those that came before it; Starfield is the culmination of many developments in the area of video games and the space sim in particular. No Man's Sky was the closest to get to this level of detail and breath, but it fell flat on its face because of the lack of experience. I believe that Bethesda is the company that will be able to bring the dreams of many gamers and non-gamers into reality with this game. 

Video Game Marketing: Is Bethesda trying to be elusive?

In comparison to most AAA games out there, Bethesda seems to be holding back information. Ever since the release of the two Starfield directs, there has been only a trickle of information available. This has led to many YouTubers and content creators to go crazy with speculation. 

Some YouTubers have stated that they believe that Bethesda is trying to hide a game that is poorly optimized and is not of great quality. Others state that Bethesda is playing it safe.

There are multiple ways to approach this.

Either Bethesda is going to be spending their time trying to make this game prefect or they are lying to us like other developers in the industry.

My personal opinion is that Bethesda is taking a cautious approach to marketing this game instead of lying. I highly doubt that Microsoft, a company that invested millions of dollars into Starfield, is going to allow a game such as this to be broken on release. Microsoft probably lobbied to get Xbox to be the exclusive console for Starfield and I suspect that they want quality control on this product.

However, that doesn't explain everything about Starfield's lack of traditional marketing. It's probably having something to do with the past couple of AAA releases being terrible, at least in terms of their technical aspects.

Traditional marketing of course is not everything. In the past, it was common for video game companies to advertise in stores, newspapers and primarily on television. It was on television that the truly memorable ads were shown to the public. While newspaper ads and store mailers could be effective means of advertising one's products, the television was really where consoles managed to showcase themselves to their audience.

Television used to be main way that the video game industry advertised itself to the general public. Alongside magazines, the ability to get out information about video games was largely limited by the technology of the times.

With the advent of YouTube and influencers, there is tons of people on the internet who advertise your product. There is no need to spend millions of dollars on expensive advertising. Because of this, companies are essentially outsourcing their advertising to individuals. This is the genius of the social media in this age.

There are many influencers, who are very well-established names who are able to tell their followers about this game. No need to spam the television with ads. Many of the younger generations generally feel personal connections to these influencers. They will listen to an influencer talk about a game for hours compared to someone on the television. This is why I think that Microsoft and Bethesda are choosing to be careful with the advertising. They already have a built-in audience that will advertise the game for them. That is truly a brilliant marketing strategy. 

Cyberpunk 2077: The Issues with Hype

However, the main reason why Bethesda is holding back the content is because they do not want a Cyberpunk 2077 situation to affect this important title.

We are all aware that the director of this game, Todd Howard, has been wanting to make this game for some time. Would he really want to have this dream tarnished by rushing it out? It seems likely that the director of this game wants particular care being taken to make sure that this game is ready for prime time and does not end up like Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 was hyped beyond recognition. Ever since the first trailer was released in 2013, there was tons of anticipation for this game. That trailer was simply a CGI trailer and had no gameplay. Gamers would have to wait until 2019 when a 48-minute gameplay trailer was released. This was the true start of hype going through the roof and caused many people to have unrealistic expectations of the game. 

This continued with the addition of famous actors to play roles in the game, garnering even more attention from the gullible gaming press. 

When the game was released, there were tons of videos that were made that criticizing the game for its many glitches and unfinished content. Even though that the developers have worked hard to improve the game, Cyberpunk 2077 has a reputation that stuck to it. That is unfortunate but it shows that first impressions are everything in this industry.  I believe that Todd Howard wants to avoid that. 

Of course, based on the trends in the video game industry, I expect that Starfield will have some glitches. However, I do not expect it that it will be as damaging as the release of Mass Effect Andromeda was in 2017 or Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. The question is whether Starfield will have entire videos devoted to how buggy it is or whether people will actually be making videos praising the game.

What I hope that is that people are saying how great the game is not whether it is buggy and show how the video game industry is corrupt. I just want to have some games that release in a proper manner without having to wait years to get it be playable for a mass audience. 

Starfield will be a success.

While some may have issues with the marketing campaign for Starfield, I believe that it has something to do with Bethesda wanting to be careful. Who can blame them? They are in a cutthroat market with highly fickle customers. Being careful is the best approach here. 

Considering the experience that gamers had with Cyberpunk 2077, it is understandable that Bethesda wants to make sure that this game is ready for release on day one and not a buggy mess. Starfield is a game that has millions of dollars that are put into it. I am confident that Bethesda will make sure that this is a game that will meet the expectations of gamers.