Study suggests promoting games with trailers, not demos

Posted on Sunday, April 20 2008 @ 9:52 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck

Shacknews reports about an odd study that was presented at the MI6 game marketing conference. According to the report releasing trailers is the best way to promote an upcoming game:

The study, conducted by the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group, found that a majority of the highest selling titles on Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 were promoted by trailers alone. Games accompanied with trailers as well as playable demos sold significantly less on average.

The findings of the study are consistent across both platforms with one exception: games without trailers or demos available sold better on PlayStation 3 than Xbox 360, indicating that games on Microsoft's console are better off with some sort of promotional material on Xbox Live.

In light of the research, EEDAR heads Gregory Short and Geoffery Zatkin recommended that publishers make playable demos available only after release of a game.

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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Re: Study suggests promoting games with trailers, not demos
by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30 2008 @ 21:48 CEST

This is true as probably most people are less interested once they can actually play a game; a video will show off the graphics but not give a good indication of game play.

Demos are the main reason I did not buy Frozen Planet, Two Worlds and Turock for the 360!

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