Video Games Marketing Newsletter - July 2023 - Jakub Mamulski, Heaps Agency
Hey, I’m back!
Let’s start off with a number of articles I’ve written for the blog of my new venture, Heaps Agency!
RPG Maker is an awesome engine. Some cult titles like OFF, LISA: The Painful, To The Moon, Peret Em Heru, Ara Fell or Fear & Hunger 1 and 2 were made. It’s well known since the 90s when it was first released in Japan. Its purpose was to grant the possibility for all people to easily make their RPG game, usually in the style of early Dragon Quest games. You know, turn-based combat, an overworld, a levelling system and all other staples of old JRPGs. The engine got many plugins over the years and it has granted tremendous possibilities, compared to what it used to be. As RPG Maker is also easy to use, it makes for a great first dive into the world of learning game, level and combat design.
Still, all these accolades don’t necessarily mean much in the world of video games, especially on the business end of it. RPG Maker games are often overlooked by distributors and publishers. Today, we’ll talk about 3 reasons why this is a case and why using Unity, Unreal Engine or Godot would probably be a better choice if you want your game to sell well and have it widely available.
Good reviews, whether as a part of a PR push or an effort to get a better KPI (yup, some companies use the Metsacore rating as one), are quite important in the industry. After all, they can greatly influence the sales of your title. In this article I’ll showcase two ways of securing a better rating and, hopefully, making a better game. Keep in mind that what I’m going to talk about are just tools that you or 3rd parties can use. They don’t guarantee that your game will be rated better, but they significantly improve the chances for it to happen.
The more, the merrier. At least when it comes to sales in the industry. One of the basic ways of expanding to broader audiences and selling more copies is to create a port of your title. After all, it means expanding to new markets and allowing thousands of people to give your creation a shot. In this article, I’ll talk about how to make your game appealing to publishers and easy to be released for various platforms.
领英推荐
Pikmin is an odd series. Long story short, you, represented by Olimar – a spaceship captain –? need to steer sentient aliens that seem a bit like radishes (yeah) through a series of maps. It’s a combination of a strategy and a puzzle game. The first Pikmin game was released on the Gamecube in 2001 and the latest in the series, Pikmin 4, was released 3 days ago, on the 21st of January. Even though it’s a 1st party Nintendo franchise, which usually does wonders for the strength and sales of the IP, it’s not exactly flying off the shelves. Shigeru Miyamoto believes that the lack of sales and popularity may result from the fact that it’s an RTS and that, while most such games don’t put a lot of emphasis on the conservation of your units, Pikmin does. I think there’s more to that, though and I’ll present my theories in this article.
That’s a good bunch of reading, so I keep my fingers crossed for your kind reception!
—
And now, a few words from me. In the earlier newsletter entry, I said that I’m through with gaming and that I’m off to dabble in the world of legal services marketing. While it was an interesting time and I learned quite a lot, it’s always been games and this is what I enjoy the most. Also, working for the last few years almost exclusively in English made my mother tongue, Polish, a bit rusty (sic) in writing. At least that’s what I was told.
While it is true, that I was committed to quitting the industry after a particular experience I don’t want to talk about, it called out to me again. Honestly, I feel better than ever. And being better than ever.
So, if you’d like to see what I can do for you, click this link. You’ll see my offer there! I’m up for both short and long stints, so feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. You can also reach out to me if you’d be up for a talk about marketing and the business side of the gaming industry. I’m strongly considering creating a podcast about these topics and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll also see if I’ll be able to manage to pump out more articles - if I do so, there’s a high chance the frequency of this newsletter will be bumped from monthly to biweekly.
Whatever your stance is on the topic - keep your fingers crossed for me. See you next time, cheers!
And, as a small bonus, picture of me and my lovely cat Pizza.
Your recent newsletter offers a treasure trove of insights for marketers in the gaming industry. The breakdown of RPG Maker games' market challenges, strategies for boosting review scores, and tips for enhancing portability are all goldmines of information. Your analysis of Pikmin's sales dynamics adds a unique angle to understanding player behavior. Your passion and expertise are palpable, I think a podcast would be a natural fit!
I’m pleased to see you mr bond love the cat photo very bond villian