What difference does branding make to the success of video games?

We discuss how branding can generate loyalty, community and even trends within the gaming industry.

Do you have any particular favourite game brands?

Abbi: Fallout has multiple games that all work in the same universe. It has its own style and brands within brands in the fallout universe, like Nuka Cola for example.

Josh: Cyberpunk 2077 is a cool, futuristic game and they’ve made a whole style for this future world. I also think Valorant has a cool graphic branding style. They give you assets to download so that when you're streaming the game, you can put them on your stream, and your stream looks like part of the brand. 

Another thing is people streaming the game, like influencers and people just playing the game, and filming it for YouTube. It’s often the biggest way to get people looking at your game these days.

Abbi: Yeah that works really well for low budget or smaller game companies. Especially where the game sounds ridiculous! Like the other day, Taylor (Abbi’s partner) was watching somebody on YouTube playing a game where the only objective is to dig a hole in your back garden. You just have to keep digging. And apparently there's something to find, but you don't know what it is, and that's the entire purpose of the game. And you have a little shed that you can go in and upgrade your spade and stuff. There was a 40-minute YouTube video of this guy just digging a hole. But people love it!

Or Shop Simulator, where you have to stack your own shelves. In real life - worst job ever. But get me a game where I can stack shelves and then I'm all over it! It’s weird, but it works.

What are some key features of successful gaming branding?

Abbi: Everyone has such different preferences, but across the board, I would say graphics is a really important one nowadays. With technology getting better, graphics can get better. The trailers market the game, using sweeping landscapes for example. Theme is also a key feature of branding too.

Josh: Yeah, like how Cyberpunk 2077 is so easily recognised; it’s got a really distinctive style.

Abbi: Exactly, it’s really sylised so you could easily tell if something is Cyperpunk themed. So having a distinctive brand is great for brand recognition, which translates into more successful merchandise sales and promotion.

Josh: You could buy a special edition of Halo 3 that came with a helmet.

Abbi: Yeah I was just thinking about collaboration! Minecraft do collabs with Crocs, so stuff like that is quite clever marketing as well. Oh my God, when they released Fallout 4 limited special edition that came with your pip-boy, I wanted one so bad. SO BAD! But it was like ?200. And I was like, it's just gonna sit and collect dust… but it looked so cool!

I guess another good thing to consider is, what can you bring out of the game world and into the real one that we don't have in the real world? For example, with Fallout 4, the pip-boys’ machine that you use in the game to track all your stats, etc. They made one that was functioning and the screen lit up and you could do stuff then in real life, similar to having an actual pip-boy. 

Josh: You could get an Apple Watch screen that looked a bit like a pip-boy as well. 

Abbi: I have that!!

Are there any game promotion campaigns you’ve particularly enjoyed?

Josh: There’s a thing called ARG’s, Alternative Reality Games, which are like secret games that happen in the background that when players get to the end and solve it, they’re rewarded with the marketing campaign. It makes people become engaged with the treasure hunt and excited to learn the result.

Abbi: I've never heard of ARGs! 

Josh: Yeah, it gets the nerdy gamers excited to solve a puzzle online. So there will be some really esoteric stuff in a trailer, it'll flash up a single frame with some codes on, and people are like, 'what are these codes?' And then they start decoding it. That'll take them to a website, and then the website will have something on. They go down a rabbit hole, and by the end they figure it out, and it's the launch date for a game or a bit of branding. So, yeah, people get very excited.

How does branding help gaming companies differentiate themselves from competitors?

Josh: I guess they can appeal to different audiences with their brands. Nintendo is more family friendly, whereas Microsoft when they first started was a bit more hardcore and gamer’y.

Abbi: Yeah, I think they differentiate by giving themselves a name for something. For example, if Bethesda make a game, I'll play it. Chances are, I'll like it, because I've liked most of the games that they've done previously, like Starfield and Fallout I enjoyed.

So it’s a bit like brand loyalty in a way?

Abbi: That's the word, yeah, loyalty. Same with Capcom, I like quite a lot of their games. So if Capcom is coming out with a new game, I'm already interested. And ConcernedApe, who made Stardew Valley, is making a new game. I’m so excited.

Why do gamers often feel a strong sense of allegiance to certain gaming brands?

Josh: Because they’re weird! But possibly because it costs a lot of money for consoles and games so they feel a sense of ownership to the brand, maybe.

Abbi: I guess it will vary from company to company, but thinking about Bethesda, obviously, I know I like their games, and you know what you're gonna get. For example, the controls will all be quite similar, so you know that it's easy to navigate. You almost already know how to play, even though the game content and story could be completely different.

And then also on the other side of it, when it's not a massive, multimillion-dollar company, for example with Stardew Valley. It's literally this one guy who spent eight years building this game. So you have a little bit of loyalty in the sense that when he next brings one out, I'll definitely get it, because I know that he's worked his ass off to get it done - because it's literally just him on his computer.
 

So a part of the allegiance is the craftsmanship that went into it?

Josh & Abbi: Yeah, definitely.

Does a strong visual identity impact player engagement and loyalty?

Abbi: I'd say more so for engagement than loyalty. Nowadays people rate a game looking good really highly.

Josh: It's so hard because there's so many different games, marketing for an online shooter is probably completely different to a Bethesda Game that Abbi likes, such as Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley or something. A brand is maybe more important for an online shooter. Because with an online shooter game, people have more of an attitude of like, 'this is the game that I've decided to play, and I'm gonna play this online against people.'

Abbi: Yeah. Actually thinking about it, loyalty to a game franchise is big, isn't it? So for example, there'll be people who will buy the new Call of Duty game every year on the release date, regardless of whether it's got good or bad reviews, simply because they've got every game previous. It’s the same with Assassin's Creed, that comes out every November once a year. And it’s the same with FIFA. It’s the same game, but they’ll still pay like ?60 for it.
 

Is the branding of each release of a game from the same franchise important for differentiating between the releases?

Josh: I dunno, they keep pumping out FIFA’s, and they all just look the same! And with Assassin’s Creed, they all look different, but they all have Assassin’s Creed written in the same style across all of them.

Abbi: Yeah, they have an Assassin’s Creed logo.

Josh: Each one is based in a different time period, so for example one was in Valhalla so they had a bit of branding in Norse Viking style. One was in Ancient Greece, so that had an Ancient Greek look to it, so that’s how you can tell it apart. But they all have a look and feel so you can always tell it’s an Assassin’s Creed game.

Abbi: You can see the similarity. Even though they’re all set in different times and the main characters are completely different, 9 times out of 10 there’s that distinctive look. The assassin’s on the front, the hood’s up - it’s an iconic look with the logo at the top and the title underneath.

You could pick them out of a line up and know they go together even though they’re all completely separate games. You know what you’re getting, the setting and characters will be different but the mechanics of the game play and controls will be the same, more or less. Obviously they get a bit better every time, though.
 

How do gaming companies use branding to foster a sense of community among players?

Josh: I think consistent communication with the audience, such as what they’re working on, and asking for customer feedback, is building a better game. A lot of games nowadays release in a state called 'early access' which is the developer saying, 'We’re still working on this, but we can take your feedback as we work on it, to make a better game.' If you feel like you’ve been on the journey as a game has developed, that fosters a sense of community. A feeling of ownership and involvement.

Abbi: So a bit like betas?

Josh: Yeah, so you can foster a community of people that are excited to play your game and have a feeling of ownership, because they're helping.

Abbi: Yeah, they feel like they're then involved in the game itself.

Josh: After they release a game, they then release updates for it based on what the community has said, so it’s like a living service now, rather than just a one-and-done release.

Abbi: Which can only be a good thing, because games are so big nowadays, and the coding is just insane that glitches are common. So they need to be consciously on top of stuff, because the minute somebody finds an issue they've got to almost already have it fixed before it's found.

Josh: Unless it's a funny glitch, and then it's great marketing!
 

Is it important for gaming brands to stay ahead of technology trends, as well as cultural, societal and industrial trends?

Josh: Yeah definitely important, but not the be-all and end-all. Like, VR has a very small audience on the grand scheme of things. So, if you design your game just for VR you’re cutting yourself off from a big potential market. It’s too expensive.

Abbi: I agree. I’d add that also VR technology isn’t there yet in terms of what people are expecting from their video games.
 

How do gaming companies integrate new technologies like VR into their branding?

Abbi: There’s not a vast library of games for it yet. And there’s even fewer existing games that have moved to VR.  There’s a couple, Assassin’s Creed being one of them, but that’s a very rare occurrence. 90% are made only for VR.

Josh: The positive things is that the audience is still quite small so if you do make a good VR game, it’s going to be very successful with that small audience because everyone with a VR headset will probably play it; they don’t have a lot of choice. So if you are in that niche the chance for exposure to that smaller audience is bigger.

Abbi: Yeah! I researched VR games and if you look at the top ten lists published across the internet, you’d be laughing because 90% of the lists are all the same! And the top two games were the same across the board. Because if you’ve got a decent game out on VR you’re one of the few. Whereas if you did the same search for Xbox games the lists would be completely different.
 

In what ways do gaming companies align their branding with cultural and societal trends?

Josh: I think nowadays a lot more main characters are women. Gaming used to be a bit of a boy’s club, but now companies have realised there’s a big audience of women who play games. It’s not just killing people!

Abbi: There’s still definitely a gap.

Josh: Oh yeah, it’s not there yet.

Abbi: But I’d draw a comparison between film and games here. In film there’s better representation of women and people of colour in lead roles, because inclusivity is a prominent cultural issue now, more so than it has been. We have to remember that not everybody is a white man.

Josh: Are they not..? (Laughs).

Abbi: No, Josh! (Both laugh).

Josh: Moving on, there’s a game called Infinity Nikki which is a dress-up adventure game. So you go exploring for materials and stuff and you make outfits. It is definitely targeted towards women, and you definitely wouldn’t have seen that, what, 20 years ago maybe?

Abbi: Yeah, there’s more aimed towards women and girls, definitely.

Josh: And Cozy games…

Abbi: Love a Cozy game! I’d say Animal Crossing is more aimed toward female audiences than male. Probably Sims too. And there are games for more middle-aged people too. I’d say there’s something for everyone these days. Like, if they put the time in, I think everybody could find a game they’d enjoy. I even used to love those brain training games on the DS!
 

Can you share an example of a gaming company that successfully adapted to a major industry or cultural trend?

Josh: Fortnight is pretty much an industry of its own now. It has collaborations with all sorts of other brands. They even had in-game live events of music performers that players can dance to in game.

Abbi: Even Eminem has an outfit on there now!

Josh: Snoop Dog has done a virtual performance for people in game. And Travis Scott did that too. So it’s like using the game as virtual meetup place for kids, and then you do a collaborations with brands and kids get exposure to those brands.

Abbi: We haven’t touched on Mario at all, that’s weird! Talk about branding, there’s literally a Super Nintendo World now in Japan, and another in California. That’s a massive branding thing, because it’s built to look like you’re in the game.

Josh: They can do that because they have what, 30-40 years of loyalty with Nintendo?

Abbi: Yeah, there’s a big loyalty to Nintendo, probably because they’re very isolated. Like with Assassin’s Creed, you’ll get a release for PC, PlayStation, Xbox… Whereas Nintendo games are only for Nintendo.
 

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