Gamesindustry.biz looks at results from a study by research firm EEDAR that point to marketing spend as the primary force in how well games sell. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich has said that developers should wake up to the fact that a quality game can still be outperformed by a poorly developed title based on marketing support. He made the comments at the Montreal International Games Summit, where he also shared his view that low-level developers are better equipped to make a proper marketing plan for their games than most marketing managers.
EEDAR looked at games released in 2007 and 2008, finding that higher investment in marketing can increase a title s sales revenues three times more than better review scores. In one example, Take-Two’s BioShock outsold EA’s Dead Space nearly two to one. Both horror shooters had favorable reviews, but Take-Two dedicated $5.5 million to market its title compared to EA’s $2 million commitment. Divnich also credits Sony’s recent well-received campaign for PS3 as the reason for the system s sales spike, saying it s a bigger influencer than the price cut.
Read more at Gamesindustry.biz.
