Marketing and Advertisments of MMOGs: The Likely Future

In the past recent years, console and generic PC games were really the only games that had television or magazine advertisements. Although, lately, there's been a few companies out there willing to break the boundaries of what is 'acceptable' to market and what is not. In the North American market, there have been very few games that have been advertised that were focused around online play. This isn't to say that there weren't any, but most of them were console games. As time progresses and the market becomes more flourished and prepared for newcommers, we're seeing more and more companies jumping off of the normal bandwagon and advertising in the 'real world'.

One of the more 'revolutionary' companies that have decided to pull their power from their asian-based companies is Nexon America with their MapleStory television advertisements. There was alot of negative feedback from the already-existant players of Nexon's flagship, MapleStory, as they felt that the advertisements didn't do the game 'justice'. However, as horrible as the advertisements seemed to most of the players, it did bring in more players. The difference between Nexon and most of the other distributors out there, is that they have had a very strong presence in the MMOG scene in other countries. Plus, with their microtransaction system (Cash Shop) available, it caused a number of players to jump into their wallets to make sure they could purchase the Nexon Game Cards that were released throughout the USA and Canada. On top of releasing Game Cards in the States, they've also released a Trading Card Game that gives players the ability to get in-game quests, items, or pets that are exclusive to users/players of the TCG.

Enough bragging about Nexon, right? Good, I was getting a little bored of talking about them too. The next company that's been pushing around a lot of users and decided to jump into advertising/marketing is...  (you've guessed it) Blizzard. Blizzard has been pushing out the big bucks while trying to get the 'hottest' MMORPG in history advertised to the general public. They too have gone through television advertisements, trading card games, and even been featured in a number of television shows (South Park, for instance). Blizzard has the money, the resources, and experience to market a game in North America as well; considering they've had a number of games launched there beforehand [certainly there should be no need to list them all]. With all of their cards on the playing field, there isn't anyone on the face of the planet that hasn't at least heard of World of Warcraft in one way or another.

What Now?

With the popularity of MMOGs jumping through the roof, it's only going to higher from here. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of different distributors out there that are trying to get their feet into marketing their 'flagship' game(s). The number of different ways of advertising and marketing are unlimited. Most of them will pay certain popular websites (including our own MMOsite) to advertise their game through banners. But is this enough? Will this bring record-breaking numbers to fly to these games? Definitely not. Sorry to say, but with other companies expanding their advertisements to other mediums these less fortunate companies are going to suffer for it.

This, by no means, is an attempt to scare the communities or companies into thinking they have to start marketing in other formats in order to get attention. In fact, I just know that it's an inevitable situation for them to promote their products if it becomes popular enough through 'normal means'. We all know that MapleStory wasn't a multi-million dollar franchise in North America just because they started doing advertisements for it; there was a structured community and loads of money coming in from the players that were there pre-advertising. How much are we, the current gamers that participate in Open Betas and 'unknown' games, willing to spend in hopes that our game(s) stay alive and they can promote them in a 'more expanding' way?

I foresee the world of MMOGs expanding exponentially within the next five to ten years. Why do I say this? The Internet is growing as an amazing rate; and mainly for the sakes of mere communication do people find a computer in their household these days. Eventually, what we gamers consider an MMOG will be the next step of communication. Granted, we may not have the various activities that we enjoy now. You won't find your Mum out there slaughtering Slimes/Porings, shooting down mechas, or trying to kill off some huge dragon. In a more likely scenario, you'll find her in front of the computer screen or television (since the PC realm is getting closer to using televisions now more than ever) playing a game of Tennis with her best friend that's across town. While I'm not saying that there's going to be an end of MMOGs as we know them, I am saying there's going to be a next generation of them in the coming times.

With all of the information passing through the Internet, you find yourself looking at advertisements on sites like YouTube these days. So when will companies like Ntreev, Ijji, Aeria, and all of the other distributors decide to take a chance with making advertisements to gain a stronger userbase? I don't know, to be honest. But I do know it will have to happen sooner or later. Either that, or advertising online is eventually going to get more expensive than advertising on television. All I can really say is: "Don't be too disappointed." The advertisements that are bound to come aren't to get you to keep playing, they are to try to appeal to a certain demographic community that would be more likely to 'grasp' onto the product. Eventually, we'll see more cheeky advertisements and the population will sky rocket. I only fear that some companies worry about 'damaging the current community' by having an onslaught of new players join. It's another possibility as to why we don't see too many advertisements at the stage we're in now.

Next time you see a new game open for "Open Beta Testing", think to yourself. "Will this game make enough money to get the company to go the extra yard?" If you're anything like me as a gamer, you'll only be hopeful that it happens. Right now, I have my fingers crossed that NtreevUSA decides to up the guns and come out with an advertisement for "Grand Chase" (when it goes gold) or even "Trickster Online Revolution". Some games simply deserve the recognition, others are only going to slowly find that the population is dying because the distributor doesn't give enough focus on one game to make it 'great'. That's why companies like Nexon and NtreevUSA are actually profiting, in my opinion. They each started with one game and went with it. Have you ever wondered how many copies of LOTR:Online would've sold if it was marketed properly? "With each pre-order, you get a closed beta account"? I could imagine the horde of Lord of the Ring fans jumping in their seats to go to Gamestop to pre-order. Not everyone is in on the gaming scene; and that is why I say it's an inevitability. The product will eventually need to be seen by all possible customers, not just the ones who keep "game hopping".

Lets all say "Hello" to a hopeful new era of Online Gaming. Perhaps one day, many games will have the 'instant' recognition that World of Warcraft has right now. Everyone knows about it, heard about it, or think they've heard the word or phrase somewhere. Personally, I welcome all the potential new gamers with open arms. Hope to see them in-game too!