THE POWER OF GAME COMMUNITIES

I AM PLAYING WITH CHAT GPT. I WILL START POSTING ON TOPICS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT AND TRYING TO GET MEANINGFUL ARTICLES WRITTEN WITH THE AI.

As a long-time gamer and marketing professional, I firmly believe that community is the backbone of successful video game marketing. The power of a strong, engaged community cannot be underestimated, and there is no better example of this than Stardew Valley.

Stardew Valley, developed by ConcernedApe, was released in 2016 as a farming simulation game. Despite being developed by just one person, the game quickly gained a cult following and has since sold over 10 million copies across multiple platforms, has over 160K discord members, 1.4 million “farmers” on their sub-Reddit, and over 480K Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam. The game's success is largely due to its dedicated community, which has contributed to its growth and longevity through various channels. On social media @ConcernedApe has 855K Twitter followers, 110K Facebook followers, #stardewvalley on TikTok has over 1.2 billion views, and it’s generated over 1.8 billion views on YouTube.

One of the most significant ways the Stardew Valley community has contributed to the game's success is through mods. The game is incredibly mod-friendly, and the community has created a vast array of mods that enhance and expand upon the game's core mechanics. These mods have helped keep the game fresh and interesting for players, long after they've exhausted the content provided by the developer.

Additionally, the Stardew Valley community has played a crucial role in spreading awareness of the game. Word-of-mouth marketing has been incredibly effective, with players recommending the game to their friends and sharing their experiences on social media. Just in the last year alone, Stardew Valley has been watched on Twitch for a whopping 16 million hours distributed among over 157K streamers. This has helped the game continue to sell steadily, even years after its initial release.

The power of community extends far beyond Stardew Valley, though. There are countless examples of game communities that have kept their respective games active for decades. Two notable examples are World of Warcraft and Runescape.

World of Warcraft was released in 2004 and has maintained an active player base ever since. The game's community has played a massive role in its longevity, with players creating and sharing their own content, participating in in-game events, and even influencing the direction of the game through feedback and suggestions.

Similarly, Runescape has been around since 2001 and has a thriving community that continues to support the game. The community has helped keep the game fresh by creating their own content and mods, as well as by providing feedback to the developers.

In conclusion, the power of community in marketing video games cannot be underestimated. Stardew Valley is a prime example of how a strong, engaged community can help a game succeed and continue to sell years after its release. Additionally, games like World of Warcraft and Runescape have shown us that a dedicated community can keep a game active and fresh for decades. As a marketer, it's important to recognize the role that community plays and to foster and support it in any way possible.