Twitch continues to diversify its viewing options—and by extension, marketing opportunities—by sponsoring Chess.com‘s entire lineup of live chess events. Twitch has been the broadcast partner for Chess.com’s regular chess programs and major events like the Speed Chess Championship and Pro Chess League. As an official sponsor, Twitch is committing to increase viewership of the sport now, and into the future.
The multi-year partnership between Chess.com and Twitch announced Wednesday is designed to attract additional fans, players and sponsorships for online chess. According to Twitch, the union will help develop an ecosystem of live chess content for users in both communities. The pact will also include monetization opportunities for chess players.
What do chess and video games have in common? Quite a lot, actually. Both practices require concentration and skill, can be picked up at any age, gender or athletic ability and oh, yeah—sponsors pay major moolah to support the world’s best players.
Ryan Chaply, senior esports program manager for Twitch, told AListDaily that teaming up with Chess.com creates more meaningful ways for brands to engage with chess events, players and viewers alike.
“From a content perspective, chess encompasses an entire spectrum of livestreaming experiences, from the relaxing backdrop of a friendly conversation to the tense back and forth of a speed chess match between Grandmasters,” said Chaply. “The inherent engagement available to broadcasters on Twitch has sparked innovation throughout the community.”
It just so happens that some of the world’s best players are already streaming chess on Twitch, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Last year, a Chess.com Blitz Battle on Twitch between Grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura set records with nearly 200,000 unique viewers. The live match peaked at the No. 3 spot on Twitch’s ranking of live concurrent viewers.
The worldwide chess industry is growing at a CAGR of 2.5 percent, according to forecasts by Ken Research. The analyst firm says that sponsorships and competitive playing have driven a “perfect money-making business” that exceeds most other board games. Creating a prominent livestream ecosystem for chess players could help raise awareness for the game community and industry as a whole.
Chaply explained that the strategies being employed for this activation can be applied to other games and brands.
“In addition to premier competitive events, we’re actively focusing on the growth of content creators, professional players and grassroots communities,” he said. “ By providing value across both Twitch and Chess.com, broadcasters have more opportunities to be discovered and connect with their audience . . . We’ve also seen other content categories grow following tailored promotional efforts. For example, when we recently did a series of promotions around fitness streamers, after every spotlight we suddenly saw a new wave of people broadcasting fitness content. We also had a lot of success with Rocket League when promoting individual pros after tournaments.”
Inspired by positive Twitch audience reactions to televised content, digital network CONtv just launched its own 24/7 channel on the site. The new channel will livestream pop culture-driven films and TV shows such as Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, 21 Jump Street and Little Shop of Horrors, along with original programming.
Known for its gaming livestreams, Twitch boasts 15 million daily active users that watch videos live and on-demand while interacting with the community. Over the years, Twitch has introduced non-gaming content such as TV marathons, wrestling and anime, each with positive results.
Gender gap representation in workforce leadership is a problem—that much has beenwellestablished. However, a new study by Equilar has introduced a small, if significant wrinkle. Among marketing executives, women are paid more on average than men.
In 2016, female marketing executives made an average of $400,000 more per year than their male counterparts. In fact, this gap is not new. Female marketers have garnered higher salaries since 2013, though this gender gap has never before been quite so drastic.
Even though women’s salaries have risen dramatically, their representation in marketing C-suite roles has stagnated in recent years. In 2016, women made up 18.5 percent of marketing executives at public companies, a number slightly lower than 2015’s of 18.8 percent.
Though the number is small, marketing departments are ahead of the admittedly shallow curve when it comes to gender diversity. Women make up 16 percent of board directors and just 5 percent of CEOs.
The total number of female marketing executives have grown steadily since 2012, but this is representative of a growth in hiring of marketing executives across the board, not of increasingly progressive hiring practices.
Dan Marcec, director of content and communications at Equilar, suggests a few potential explanations, theorizing that larger companies with higher-compensated executives tend to value diversity more, citing another Equilar report that indicated a smaller-than-average gender gap at the 500 largest public companies. But he’s quick to point out that none are “100 percent certain . . . since each company’s situation is unique.”
The report also offers some insights into increased value assigned to marketing directors. In the last five years, the number of marketing executives listed as one of the top five highest-paid employees at public companies jumped by 157 percent, from 74 in 2012 to 190 in 2016.
“This clearly shows that companies are putting greater emphasis on marketing expertise as a critical role within the C-suite,” wrote Marcec.
Fnatic has partnered with music streaming service Deezer to promote the brand to its global esports fan base. It marks the first time the professional gaming organization has explored a music partnership, and it’s the inaugural esports marketing initiative for the music company. Deezer has more than 12 million active users in 185 countries around the world, offering access to over 43 million tracks.
A 2008 report from Cassidy and Macdonald found that over 80 percent of gamers play games while listening to music. The recent IFPI Global Music Report 2017 confirmed this trend with the music industry experiencing the fastest growth in 20 years, with music streaming accounting for more than 60 percent of it.
“Music and sports have always gone hand-in-hand, as we know that sports fans are as passionate about matches, their sporting heroes and what they are listening to, as they are about music and artists,” Ralph Pighin, vice president of Central and Eastern Europe at Deezer, told AListDaily. “Following our exclusive partnerships with global football clubs Manchester United, FCB, Flamengo in Brazil and FC St. Pauli, we wanted to expand our offering beyond football into other sports including into esports.”
Pighin said the core premise of the partnership is to give gamers and Fnatic’s fans the chance to connect further in gaming through music.
“Like the music community, esports is a shared platform, so players will be able to connect with their fans in real time and share their personal playlists and tastes to audiences across the globe,” Pighin explained. “As part of this deal, we will also be rolling out joint marketing initiatives which will further promote the relationship between gaming and music, providing further engagement opportunities for both the team and their fans.”
Our official #BlizzCon@Deezer playlist! Reply with your favourites and we'll add the 5 best ❄️
Roison O’Shea, head of partnerships at Fnatic, told AListDaily that this partnership with Deezer provides another great touchpoint for its fans to engage directly with the team’s pro gamers.
“Fans will be able to add their favorite Fnatic players on Deezer and keep up to date with what the guys are listening to when they’re traveling around the world to competitions, chilling out at home, or practicing at Fnatic Gaming Houses,” O’Shea said.
Each pro gamer will have a personalized playlist on Deezer, which they’ll share with fans around the world on their social media platforms. The team members will encourage fans to add them to learn more about each of the players and what kind of music they’re into.
Deezer’s listeners come from 185 countries around the world, all ranging in age and gender, according to Pighin. As a result, there’s a wide range of music and content on its platform, multiple price plans and different campaigns targeting these consumers.
“In general, music streamers are also technically savvy, and it’s a great fit for the esports audience that’s used to watching events broadcast on streaming platforms such as Twitch,” Pighin added. “Both Deezer and Fnatic are global communities that like to share. In the same way that music fans follow their favorite artists, gamers have a dedicated fan base that is genuinely interested in what their favorite players are listening to. Music is also known to help concentration in sports, which is key in esports, where there is a great deal of focus, determination and stamina required.”
Although there’s some crossover, Pighin sees the two consumer bases Deezer and Fnatic reach opening up growth opportunities on both sides. In addition, this partnership enables Deezer to better understand the mindset of gamers and what they want from a music service.
O’Shea said having Deezer on board is just one example of what Fnatic is doing to expand its reach beyond an esports audience, while delivering great opportunities to loyal fans.
“We will use this partnership to showcase both Fnatic’s and Deezer’s unique and pro-active methods to engage music fans and esports fans alike, which we know will encourage more non-endemic brands to step outside of their comfort zone and into the esports space,” O’Shea said.
This latest deal offers another example of how Fnatic is evolving as a lifestyle brand, according to O’Shea.
“We have decided to be the ones to deliver more to the esports community than what is currently available, and by doing so we are opening ourselves up to more and more people drawn by the cool things we do,” O’Shea explained. “We have developed our own range of gaming peripherals that crossover into lifestyle products. We have a range of clothing that are developed by our apparel team, which is very lifestyle focused. We host awesome parties in cities all over the world. We opened the first-ever esports concept store in London. We are creating ways to grow our community and give them products, experiences and content that otherwise they would never have.”
Fnatic works with brands like MSI, Monster Energy, Seagate and AMD.
Thor: Ragnarok is the third—and presumably final—solo film for Marvel’s god of thunder, but if the marketing is any indication, he’s going out with a bang. Pairing retro aesthetics with director Taika Waititi’s unique brand of humor, marketing has moved away from the dark, brooding superhero film and into a brightly colored comedy.
Films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Thor and Thor: The Dark World, have shared a few laughs amid dramatic fight scenes and saving the world. Marketing for Thor: Ragnarok, along with the promise of epic battles, has focused almost entirely on comedic dialogue and situations.
One frequently used trailer scene shows Thor pitted against The Hulk, only to excitedly announce to the entire coliseum that they’re friends from work.
Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For The Wilder People) set the comedic stage with a duo of short films last fall. The shorts “Team Thor” not only explain why Thor and The Hulk were not included in Captain America: Civil War, but helped promote the film’s digital release. Audiences got a sneak peek into what Thor has been up to, and met his roommate Darryl.
“That helped us a lot, by shooting [Team Thor],” Waititi told Den of Geek. “It just gave fans the opportunity to see just how irreverent we were gonna be, and just how different we were making Thor, and [Bruce Banner/The Hunk] as well.”
Overall marketing for Thor: Ragnarok has been of the “feel good” kind. Cate Blanchett, who plays Hela, the goddess of death, was the spokeswoman for Marvel’s Superpower of STEM Challenge—challenging teenage girls to “help their family, community or the world be a safer place.”
Participants created do-it-yourself projects using STEM skills that could be easily replicated by others. Five finalists were invited to the red carpet premiere of Thor: Ragnarok received the opportunity to present their projects to a panel of experts and present the winning project on Good Morning America.
Marketing for the Thor: Ragnarok took advantage of recurring internet themes on social media. Blanchett offered some inspirational advice to fans for Monday Motivation and helped explain the meaning of the word “Ragnarok.”
Marvel invited fans to use the Twitter hashtag #WhatsRagnarok to share their definitions of the word, serious or not. Jeff Goldblum was filmed responding to some of the definitions, which proved to distract the 63-year-old actor when he encountered unusual usernames and acronyms such as “LMAO.”
Taking advantage of the film’s timing with Halloween, Marvel touted the slogan “Hellaween” in honor of Blanchett’s character and shared a recipe for candy apples made to look like Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir.
After the success of Guardians of the Galaxy withdirector James Gunn’s comedic, light-hearted take on the superhero genre, Marvel may have been more open to the idea of a film that is as much comedy as spectacle.
Thor: Ragnarok is expected to reach $400 million at the global box office this weekend—an impressive feat considering the original film earned a lifetime revenue of $449 million.
Through new research, analyst firm Magid found that 10 percent of virtual reality owners and users had watched live NBA games and 16 percent watched live NFL action. More people may be watching basketball in VR since the NBA increased their broadcast frequency.
According to Magid, virtual reality sports broadcasts are opening opportunities for teams and major sports leagues to engage and immerse fervent fans anywhere in the world.
Two years ago, the NBA partnered with NextVR to broadcast games directly to user headsets and is now making the entire 2017-2018 season available in VR for League Pass subscribers. Whether it’s live broadcasts or packaged highlight reels, the NFL, MLB, NHL, soccer clubs from around the globe, and even boxing have all offered consumers a variation of VR.
Debby Ruth, senior vice president of global media and entertainment at Magid, told AListDaily that sporting events in VR is an effective way to reach fans, but not being able to interact socially may be holding it back.
“I think it will really take off when they start building in some degree of social interaction, whether it be voice, chat or avatars,” said Ruth.
Magid is conducting what they call the “Acceleration Study” over the period of eight months to explore consumer sentiment about VR. The study will cover each stage of ownership from choosing which VR unit to buy, initial first months of ownership and beyond to see if the novelty wears off.
“What we’re learning [with the study] is that while VR users love how immersive it is, there’s also a disconnection from others and the world that is also anxiety-creating,” said Ruth. “This applies to VR sports at this point.”
Less than one percent of the NBA’s 155 million core basketball fans experience live games, so technology has become an important part of keeping fans engaged. In addition to VR, the NBA has launched a free mobile AR app called Pop-A-Shot.
Facebook and Microsoft are both heavily pushing social VR, allowing users to witness live events such as sports and concerts—good news for other sports leagues who might consider following the NBA’s lead. In addition to basketball, NextVR offers a number of sports broadcasts in VR from the NFL and NHL.
As more fans engage with VR sports, marketers will need to find engaging ways to reach them on the platform.
“I see VR as a fantastic tool for experiential marketing,” said Ruth. “As it relates to basketball and sports, I think the lessons that can be drawn are that sponsorship opportunities would work really well, as well as branding within that space like product placement. In addition, marketers would learn from how people are reacting to [the campaigns] . . . One thing is clear—the interruption model that we’re so used to cannot be what people do in VR.”
Ruth warned that an interruptive model would lead to resentment more than anything, noting that the issue surfaced in the research they’ve been conducting.
“Users can see how VR would be an amazing platform for advertisers and they’re open to seeing how creative advertisers can get in it, but they’re also completely terrified that they’re going to be trapped into watching ads against their will and have to take off their headsets,” Ruth said. “That, to them, is the worst possible scenario that could happen.”
KFC announced the hiring Andrea Zahumensky to lead the company’s marketing operations. Beginning in December, Zahumensky will assume the role of chief marketing officer, and contribute to build the brand’s turnaround efforts in the US.
“Andrea is a highly regarded marketing professional with a 20-year track record of success building multi-billion dollar brands globally,” said Kevin Hochman, president and chief concept officer of KFC. “With her transformative approach to marketing and ability to build and inspire teams, I’m confident she is the right leader to continue to drive KFC’s marketing efforts to the next level.”
Before joining the fried-chicken company, Zahumensky worked at Procter & Gamble for two decades, rising to the position of brand director for the company’s baby care business in North America. In the role, she spearheaded efforts to rebrand Pampers to better appeal to millennial parents.
Jamba is tappingClaudia Schaefer for the role of chief marketing officer, replacing Rachel Phillips-Luther, who is departing to pursue other interests.
Schaefer has worked with restaurant brands for more than 20 years, most recently serving as chief marketing officer for Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen since 2015. She has also held executive positions at Brinker International and T.G. I. Friday’s.
Andrew Donkin and Pamela Catlett are departing from their respective roles at Under Armour, according to The Wall Street Journal. Donkin served as chief marketing officer, and Catlett was the head of the company’s women’s clothing department.
Kelly Day has joined Viacom as president of digital studios, a new unit devoted to expanding the media conglomerate’s content on digital channels.
“Kelly has an impressive track record of building successful digital businesses, and I am so pleased to have her on board to accelerate our push into digital-native content,” said Bob Bakish, CEO of Viacom. “She and our new Viacom Digital Studios group will ensure that we are delivering more, better aligned and digital-first experiences, helping us to further grow the reach of our brands with our diverse audiences and introducing more opportunities for our advertising and distribution partners.”
Before throwing in with Viacom, Day worked at AwesomenessTV as the company’s first-ever chief digital officer and later chief business officer. Prior to that, she was chief executive at Blip Networks before it was acquired by Maker Studios.
CBS Television Network has brought on Radha Subramanyam as executive vice president and chief research and analytics officer.Prior to signing on with CBS, Subramanyam held executive research roles at iHeartMedia, Yahoo! and Nielsen.
Dustee Jenkins has joined Spotify as its latest head of public relations as the music streaming service prepares for its upcoming IPO in 2018. Jenkins joins the streaming service after a seven-year tenure at Target, where she also led the company’s PR team. Prior to joining Target, Jenkins ran communications for the Department of Housing and Urban development under president George W. Bush.
Bleacher Report is promotingBrian Kelly to the position of senior vice president of ad sales.
“Brian has been on the frontlines telling the Bleacher Report story to our ad partners and helping them tap into our highly engaged, millennial audience,” said Howard Mittman, Bleacher Report’s CMO. “We are excited to have him take on additional responsibilities as we continue delivering to our audiences the interesting stories beyond the scores.”
Kelly has worked with Bleacher Report’s parent company, Turner Sports, for more than seven years, most recently as vice president of integrated sports ad sales.
Norwegian Cruise Line has hiredKaren Sequeira as their latest marketing and PR director for the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa regions. Previously, Sequeira held the same title at Azamara Club Cruises.
“2018 is set to be a busy year with the launch of Norwegian Bliss, and with Karen’s experience and in-depth knowledge this will strengthen the brand, and we look forward to the support in our ever-increasing focus in these regions,” said Nick Wilkinson, managing director of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Christopher Bailey, currently the chief creative officer of Burberry, will be departing the company in early 2018. Bailey, who was also Burberry’s CEO at one time, has been with the brand for 17 years and was a driving force in its stylistic and business growth.
“Burberry has undergone an incredible transformation since 2001, and Christopher has been instrumental to the company’s success in that period,” said Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti. “While I am sad not to have the opportunity to partner with him for longer, the legacy he leaves and the exceptional talent we have at Burberry give me enormous confidence in our future.”
Burberry has not announced who will fill the soon-to-be vacant position, but reported in its press release that Bailey will assist the executive team transition until December 2018.
Hard Rock International has promotedEdward Tracy to the position of Asia CEO, representing the corporation’s increased focus on developments in the region.
“As the former CEO of Sands China and CEO of the Trump Organization, Tracy brings more than 30 years of proven gaming, hospitality and integrated resort experience to Hard Rock,” said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International.
As CEO of Sands China, Tracy oversaw a staff of 30,000 and was named one of “The Best-Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review in 2014.
Paramount Network has promotedJason Cipriano to the role of vice president of multiplatform content and strategy, where he will be responsible for original content on platforms owned by company and TV Land.
Cipriano has worked at Viacom for more than a decade, beginning at MTV in 2004, rising to the rank of director of digital content strategy at Spike.
Tony West, a former federal prosecutor and Department of Justice official, will join Uber as its latest chief legal officer. West will be replacing Salle Yoo, who will depart the company in the next few weeks.
“Tony is exactly what Uber needs now,” wrote Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in an internal email that was seen by Reuters.
Before joining Uber, West served at PepsiCo as general counsel.
Netflix is promotingJessica Neal to the position of chief talent officer, the leading role in the company’s human resources department. Neal has worked at the streaming company since 2006, though she did depart in 2013 to earlier this year to lead Coursera’s human resources department.
Augmented reality firm Magic Leap has recruited ILMxLAB co-founder John Gaeta as senior vice president of creative strategy. Lucasfilm’s virtual-reality studio has already announced a partnership with Magic Leap, which Gaeta will continue to work on for the foreseeable future.
Big Block announced the hiring of Ed Tomasi as the company’s head of esports brand engagement. Formerly of ESL, Tomasi will assist the brand in partnering with brands to provide content to esports teams and fans.
(Editor’s Note: This post will be updated daily until Friday, November 3. Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.)
Longer videos lead to higher engagement, according to a new study by Wochit. Videos longer than 90 seconds garner 79 percent more shares and 75 percent more views than other video lengths. Despite this marked difference in performance, 80 percent of videos posted on social media are shorter than 90 seconds. The number of long-form videos posted increased by 24 percent over Q1 this year.
Both Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status have reached 300 million daily viewers, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced. By comparison, the full Snapchat app, temporary public posts notwithstanding, only has 173 million daily users.
Facebook has also registered massively increased ad revenues this quarter, per information released by the company. Facebook’s advertising income hit $10.1 billion in Q3, 88 percent of which came from mobile. Daily active users have increased by 16 percent over the same time last year, reaching 1.37 billion on average in September.
A new report by the Video Advertising Bureau indicates that in spite of the rise of cord-cutting millennials, television still holds the lion’s share of content consumption. Younger Americans spend an average of 5,400 minutes per month watching TV, compared to just 1,163 monthly minutes on YouTube, the closest other platform.
EMarketer has forecasted a dramatic increase in programmatic ad spending in the next two years, claiming that 84 percent of all digital advertising will be transacted programmatically by 2019. Currently, 78 percent of digital ad spending is programmatic, accounting for $32.56 billion spent in marketplaces.
Facebook beats out all other social media networks in last-click commerce, according to a study by Open Influence. Of the polled social media users, 48 percent reported buying an item off of Facebook. The second-largest group was those who had never purchased anything through social media at 35 percent. Only 9 percent had purchased something from Instagram, 5 percent from YouTube, 2 percent from Pinterest and less than one percent from Snapchat.
Microsoft’s Game Pass program showed healthy growth this quarter, contributing to a one percent overall growth in revenue for the company’s gaming division. According to the company’s quarterly earnings report, the service’s revenue grew by 21 percent. Additionally, monthly active users for Xbox Live rose 13 percent, totaling 53 million.
Sony Corporation also released its latest financial results, pointing to the PlayStation driving much of the company’s growth. Sony’s operating income has increased by 364 percent this year, hitting $1.8 billion. In Q2 of 2017 alone, Sony shipped 4.2 million PS4s, bringing the total to 67.5 million.
Consumers are beginning their holiday shopping earlier in the year, according to a report by Brand Keys. Of the 11,625 people surveyed, 51 percent reported intent to shop for gifts before Black Friday, up from 41 percent last year.
Additionally, only 20 percent reported that they’ll shop on Black Friday itself, down by five percent from last year.
“Marketers have taught, and consumers have learned, that deals abound year-round,” said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys. “This has resulted in earlier shopping and the knowledge that deals are likely to only get better as Christmas approaches.”
Dark social—private messages between users—accounts for vastly more shared holiday shopping content than conventional social media, according to a study by RadiumOne. Seventy-two percent of respondents shared Christmas-related content on dark social platforms, compared to just 22 percent publicly on Facebook.
Global ad revenue is set to hit $1.225 trillion this year, research by PQ Media indicates. With last year’s presidential election and Summer Olympics having been long gone, the industry is set to grow by 3.9 percent in 2017. This rate is substantially lower than 2016’s figure of 4.9 percent.
According to PQ Media’s data, this growth is due mainly to mobile channels.
User spending on the Apple app store is increasing dramatically, per a new report by Sensor Tower. On average, individuals will spend $88 per year on apps in 2019, an 86 percent increase over 2016. Game purchases make up 70 percent of that figure, but streaming services are set to become the second largest contributor to app-store spending.
AppLift has released a new report on video advertising in mobile games, breaking down click-through rates (CTR) by genre. The adventure genre features the most enticing ads, with CTRs of 16.15 percent across all regions. First runner-up was simulation with 13.52 percent, and last place fell to puzzle games, with only a 4.41 percent CTR.
(Editor’s Note: This post will be updated daily until Friday, November 3.)
The phrase “fake news” has been unavoidable from everyday vernacular in recent months, even to the point of being a central theme to a music marketing campaign. However, despite presidential accusations and congressional hearings, public trust in mainstream news media remains as strong as ever.
Research and design firm Kantar has released the results of its 8,000-person “Trust in News” study revealing that public reliance on conventional news outlets for an accurate picture of world events has been largely unaffected by what The New York Times, Forbesand The Economisthave called “the post-truth world.” You can download the full report here.
Individuals are taking greater responsibility for vetting the news they read, Kantar’s survey found. Forty percent of respondents claim they have increased the number of news sources they rely on, and 75 percent said that they have independently fact-checked a news story as they read it.
Conventional Media Fights Fake News
Print magazines, cable networks and radio programs ranked highest among news providers, with 72, 69 and 68 percent, respectively, claiming they trusted said sources. Survey respondents trust social media and messaging apps the least, with only 33 and 37 percent valuing them as news sources.
Furthermore, out of all news providers, magazines, radio networks and news channels suffered the least from accusations of fake news. Of those Kantar surveyed, 23 percent responded trusting magazines less than they had before, but the same percentage claimed to trust them more. The same held true with radio bulletins, with both 18 percent trusting less and 18 percent trusting more.
The hardest sectors that were hit once again were social media and messaging apps, with more than half of all respondents claiming to view both verticals as less reliable for accurate coverage than they had before.
Dark Days Ahead For News Publishers
Many respondents understood both the importance of and the difficulties faced by independent journalists—73 percent believed that accurate journalism is key to the maintenance of a healthy democracy, 79 percent responded that news organizations do not get enough money from online advertising to support themselves and 44 percent expressed concern that media businesses face difficulty earning money.
Despite this, many are not willing to actively support news organizations monetarily. More than half of those surveyed claim not to see the point in paying for news when they can get the same content for free, and just 8 percent felt socially or morally obliged to pay for unbiased and independent journalism.
Mathieu Côté, game director at Behavior Interactive
Practically every horror fan has claimed that they can survive or outsmart a movie monster, or has pointed out the mistakes that the protagonists make. Behavior Interactive challenges those fans to put their skills and knowhow to the test with the game Dead by Daylight.
In Dead by Daylight, four survivors must work together to outwit and escape an unstoppable killer that’s coming for them. The killer can be any one of 10 different characters, equipped with signature weapons and abilities that enable them to hunt down the group. Although the killer may be impeded by clever players, he can never be stopped, and the survivors can never go on the offensive.
Recent additions to the game have come from classic horror movies, beginning with Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise as well as with movie protagonist Laurie Strode as a survivor. Other movie killers include Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. More recently, Freddy Kruger from A Nightmare on Elm Street showed up with Quentin Smith as a new survivor.
“We always wanted a game where you could play as the villain,” said Mathieu Côté, game director at Behavior Interactive, explaining to AListDaily how the developer came up with the concept. “We prototyped a few things and somehow ended up with a hide-and-seek game, and the mechanics and tension that created let us know that we had something fun. So, we mixed those two together and created a world that’s inspired strongly by the 1970s and 1980s slasher movies. It’s an absolutely unfair game, where four survivors are trying their best to repair generators, open a door and get out while a killer is mercilessly chasing them down.”
Although having movie characters adds extra personality to Dead by Daylight, it’s the unpredictability of the game that keeps players coming back for more. The maps are procedurally generated, and survivors don’t know which killer they’re facing until they come face-to-face with him, creating a tremendous sense of uncertainty. Killers are also controlled by players instead of an artificial intelligence. Côté said that there’s no better intelligence than real people. They create a tension that’s impossible to replicate using AI.
“Playing against other players will always keep it fresh,” said Côté.
As it turns out, a horror movie survival game is as much fun to watch as it is to play. It’s also driving awareness to the game.
“The biggest motor we’ve had so far has been Twitch streamers and YouTubers,” said Côté. “Mostly, it’s a good show. These people play the game and they’re genuinely reacting. The stress and tension created by the game make for an entertaining show, and they’ve been growing their viewer base because of that, bringing the game to the attention of many more people.”
According to Côté, even though the studio has done numerous interviews at Comic-Con and other events, things still come down to that close one-to-one relationship with its community. The developer hosts weekly livestreams on Twitch, and Côté said that the company is present on the Steam forums and Reddit.
Bringing in licensed killers wasn’t done on a whim, as Côté said that Behavior had always wanted to bring in iconic characters but felt that it had to establish its own story and lore first. The studio then got in touch with license holders about bringing characters into the game, and in some cases, the license holders approached them.
Characters like Michael Myers must fit certain criteria, including having a physical presence, which precludes ghosts but doesn’t necessarily disqualify Freddy Krueger.
“We needed to make sure that whatever deal we did would pay respect to the beloved characters we were bringing in,” said Côté. “They also had to make sense in our world by stepping into our world and exercise their power without having to change them too much.”
Côté also explained why the original characters were chosen instead of ones from recent movie franchise reboots.
“We talked to a few people—and maybe it’s because of my age, but the original Michael Myers from the 1979 movie was what we were hoping to get,” said Côté. “He’s the iconic villain and the one who started it all. Same thing with Leatherface. We went with the 1974 movie because it broke ground, established things that didn’t exist before, and he was the original. We could have gone a different way, but for us, this was the best resolution possible.”
The studio also worked closely with the movie license holders to ensure that the killers had an authentic feel.
“For Michael Myers and Leatherface, we were lucky enough that they (the studios) were very involved and interested in what we were doing,” Côté explained. “There was a lot of back-and-forth. In the case of Myers, they were able to show us images from Haddonfield that weren’t in the movie. They were recon shots and reference materials that gave us much more detail, since the movie is lit in a very cinematic way, so a lot of those details are difficult to know.”
Despite how some of these characters have been around for more than 40 years, they still maintain a strong grip on people’s imaginations. It seems as though they’re unkillable on a number of levels. Côté believe that these characters endure because they broke new ground when they first appeared.
“The impact they had at that moment sent ripples that still haven’t died down,” he said. “They were smartly designed, and they tapped into some of our core fears—things that everyone is afraid of—the guy with the mask, who could be anybody and anywhere. The dehumanization of the mask works well for Myers, and Leatherface is the same kind of principle.
“In a sense, Leatherface is scary for a completely different reason. He’s not evil or a monster. He’s a big, scared child that doesn’t understand and wants to protect his family. That’s scary because he’s a wild and powerful force, and you don’t know when he’s going to go off. But in a sense, you can still feel for him. There’s a good mix of alien and familiar concepts.”
Although the characters have been around for decades, these movies may seem to have a uniquely North American appeal. However, Côté said that Dead by Daylight has a strong global audience, and the way the company engages with that audience is through the survivors.
Many of the original survivors were inspired from the company’s home city of Montreal. The studio is working to diversify its characters, which is why it’s important for the game to continue developing its own characters, stories and lore. Some of the newer survivors include a Brit, a person from Argentina and a woman from China. Additionally, one of the non-licensed killers is The Huntress, inspired by Eastern European and Russian folklore.
Côté said the game worked to go beyond the horror movie tropes found in movies like A Cabin in the Woods—stereotypical horror movie characters like the athlete, nerd and virgin. The original characters wore shirts denoting their roles, but that concept was later abandoned.
“It was fun, but we thought it was a little limiting,” said Côté. “Also, some of these tropes still perpetuate cultural archetypes that we’re not really fond of, so we didn’t think we needed them. Instead, what we decided to do was create characters that are real people. You wouldn’t blink if you bumped into them on the street because they look like you and me. We also made sure they were all adults, so there are no kids or teenagers. Most importantly, we wanted to create characters that you could empathize and identify with. They’re much rooted in modern culture, inspired by people from around the world.”
It’s this kind of engagement, coupled with the sense of uncertainty, that creates a sense of tension and keep players coming back for more.
“[It’s about] hiding and not knowing if they’re going to catch you or not,” said Côté. “The fact that you don’t know how the map is going to turn out or who you’re up against. You don’t know if the player is good or not. Those moments, where your hiding behind a tree and the killer misses you, then turns around and spots you, creates a genuine reaction. Your palms will get sweaty and your hearts races. This still happens when players are a thousand hours into the game.”
Crackle, the ad-supported TV and movie streaming platform, has been taking off thanks in no small part to original shows like SuperMansion, a stop-animation television program created by some of the same people behind Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken.
SuperMansion is an animated sitcom starring Bryan Cranston, Heidi Gardner, Tucker Gilmore, Keegan-Michael Key, Yvette Nicole Brown and Jillian Bell; Seth Green is one of the executive producers. The series involves a group of superheroes who must deal with each other’s quirks while living in the same house and dealing with supervillains.
The series includes the same kind of edgy—sometimes raunchy—and off-the-wall humor fans expect from the creators of Robot Chicken, and actors Chris Pine (Wonder Woman; Star Trek: Beyond) and Keegan-Michael Key (The Lego Movie; Keanu) were both nominated for Emmys for their performances on SuperMansion. The show released its Halloween special SuperMansion: Drag Me to Halloween in early October to help prepare audiences for the season 3 premiere in 2018.
AListDaily sat down with show creators Zeb Wells, Matt Senreich and series executive producer Tom Root. All three write and animate the show while Wells and Root voice two of the main characters. Wells kicked off the discussion by talking about balancing the humor between SuperMansion and Robot Chicken, which features parodies of characters such as Superman and Batman.
“What I think is fun about the Robot Chicken superhero stuff is that we’ve given Superman and Batman their own Robot Chicken personality, which is different from the comic books,” said Wells. “So, we knew we couldn’t take those personalities and put them on these characters—they had to be different. But once we got through the fifth episode, then the characters felt like the comedy was coming from that instead of the parody jokes. Now they’re more character-based jokes. Now that we’re on season 3, we’re far enough removed that there isn’t a whole lot of bleed.”
With movies like Wonder Woman, Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League—just to name a few—busting into theaters this year, it’s clear that superheroes are seeing a golden age at box offices. Wells commented on whether the immense popularity of these movies led to a bump in interest for the comedy show.
“When I was growing up, the comic books the movies were based on would get a bump whenever a movie like Batman came out,” said Wells. “Now there’s like a new superhero movie every weekend, so I don’t know if that bump happens anymore.”
The Halloween special, which has been prominently featured on the Crackle app, helped keep audiences engaged while the writers worked on creating the third season, which Wells promised would have a Comic-Con-themed episode. Wells also admitted that, in a way, writing the show has become easier with the actors helping to define the different characters—making the show funny just by adding their personalities.
As the season premiere approaches, Senreich described how audiences continue to discover SuperMansion when it’s exclusive to a digital-streaming platform.
“I think we’re getting to a place where, because it’s the third season, people are starting to discover Crackle as a medium. [The app] is on every television [platform] and it just sits there. Over time, people are learning that it exists and are spreading it through word-of-mouth, which has been working nicely,” said Senreich. “SuperMansion aired on Adult Swim for a short stint, which made people more aware of it. I also think that the Emmy nominations that Chris Pine and Keegan got made people wonder about this ‘little show that could’ that’s competing against the people from South Park. We like being that little spot where people say, ‘Hey, what is this?’ It’s starting to get a lot of that attention, and Crackle has been really happy with it.”
Senreich also spoke about the growing number of superhero-themed TV shows and whether or not that drew attention to SuperMansion.
“In some ways, it does,” said Senreich. “The thing we like about it is that every other superhero show is about the heroes and their villain of the week or having them go out to fight bad guys. For us, it’s about the superheroes when they come home. That’s the big difference. How do they deal with who gets to use the bathroom when they want to use it? I think that has helped us stand out from the rest of the pack. Add in the fact that it’s on a medium that not a lot of people use (stop-animation)—you’re seeing your action figure of this character out there. You can pick up what you see and play with it yourself if you want to. I think that also connects with audiences in ways that most of these shows may not.”
“I think that it’s different enough that when the inevitable contraction of superhero shows happens, this will stand apart by its look and by its take on things,” Root added. “But get ready for that contraction when it comes.”
Wells talked about whether there were differences in creating a show for a cable TV channel compared to a digital streaming one.
“Toward the end, we could say ‘shit’ on Adult Swim, so there’s a little more leeway language-wise,” said Wells. “Aside from that, it’s pretty similar. All the streaming services are basically just television networks now, so there’s not that much difference. Though it’s fun that, since Crackle is free, if anyone wants to see [SuperMansion], they can just get online and watch without signing up for anything. But when my mom used to ask me when Robot Chicken was on, I used to say, ‘I don’t know.’ Now I don’t have any excuses except maybe, ‘I don’t know what website it’s on.’”
Root similarly talked about whether the show had to recognize different lines for humor when on a digital platform, especially a free one like Crackle.
“I think there are topics that are hard to get humor out of, but as long as it’s funny and your perspective is coming from the right place, there really isn’t a line,” Root said. “Sometimes, if a network or streaming entity has a line, you can find ways to work around it by being more clever than using the word, curse or crude joke you wanted to. Or don’t be so on-the-nose about what you’re trying to say.”
