Marketing this game is hard!
When I released the original Stanley Parable on Moddb, this was the only description I gave to accompany it:
Other than that and a single short trailer, I literally said nothing about the details of the game in any sort of official marketing capacity. And somehow that worked! A lot of press picked up the story and either filled in their own details or said nothing and encouraged readers to discover it for themselves.
But...I'm concerned. I don't think that's going to fly with the Stanley Parable remake, since we'll be charging actual money for it. This is not a new concern, we've been thinking about it a lot, and we have a few surprises that we're saving for closer to launch to help promote the game.
That might be a ways off though, and I'm trying to figure out how we can continue to talk about the game now, to engage the fanbase we do have and continue to let you know how cool we think this game is! The problem is, saying almost anything about the game itself might spoil your actual experience playing it. The images on the Greenlight page were vetted pretty carefully to make sure they looked interesting without spoiling many of the more interesting parts of the game. We want this experience to be fresh, a complete and total surprise on day 1. And it's cool that people have really responded to that approach! But there are many people still who have never heard of the game or have no idea why it's interesting.
The three trailers we've released so far have been really effective at teasing the game, but there's two problems with relying on them:
- They're pretty time consuming to make and so ultimately we won't be able to make more than a handful or so of them in the long run
- They avoid a direct conversation about what the game actually is
This second point is emblematic of a larger problem, which is that I (as creator) want to be able to speak more directly to you (a potential fan) about what the hell we're actually doing here! Because we're doing such cool stuff, it feels like a shame not to talk about it more! And yet...that's not really an option since what makes those things cool is how you'll be surprised by them when you at last do encounter them. I suppose partly I'm trying to mitigate this problem by writing regularly on this blog about me and some broad development details, just to convey that there is actually a person behind the curtain doing something, but even that is really only compelling if you were already interested in the game in the first place. I doubt anyone read my post on learning guitar and thought to themselves "wow! I really need to get the stanley parable!"
I want to be more involved with the community but I don't want it to come off as cheap, like running polls on which famous actor you'd most like to play the Narrator in the Stanley film adaptation (I don't need to run a poll, you all already constantly tell me it's Morgan Freeman). But I also don't want to ruin the game by getting too eager and posting spoilers. So it looks like the best course of action is to stick with the trailers and a few other to-be-revealed things leading up to the game's release. And of course I'll be writing here whenever it feels appropriate.
I relate all of this to you to let you know that if it ever feels like we're not being super open about development, that's not at all our intention! We're simply trying to navigate a very tricky relationship between our work and our community. If you have any other thoughts for how we could talk more about the game without ruining it, or what would help you to feel more involved, I'd 100% open to hearing it. If you feel we've been leaving something crucial out of our discussions of the game that you'd need in order to connect with it more while it's still in development (something other than specific details of what's in the game), please tell me. I'm not always sure where to draw the line between our development and direct communication with all of you. We're very fortunate to have people that have been as generally receptive as you have all been, and I cannot possibly express how grateful I am for that! I look forward to letting the Narrator out of his cage a bit more in the months to come.
“saving for closer to launch”
For some reason it had to be at least 40 characters.
well i myself found the game at a lets play on youtube, and it didn’t ruin any of the experience, then i played it, and lastly recommend it to some friends telling them it was a multi-choice adventure, which was driven by an awesomely bastardish sarcastic narrator, who’s orders you may or may not follow, and as you go, you may discover nothing new outside the realm of puppetry, but it was entertaining so go play dat shit.
maybe you should talk about your team. and give some screen shot’s of your little company maybe, just an idea. it would be a fun way to see it without seeing it. please reply. jack
Why don’t you just try to contact the mayor videogame news websites (Kotaku, The Escapist and Polygon for example) as soon you know the release date for sure? I’m sure some of them are willing to cover the game in an article.
Absolutely, but that doesn’t really work until we know the release date for sure
I’m already a fan, and the mystery around this makes it more exciting. I don’t see it as lack of communication or community engagement.
I think as long as a few people give it a chance and really love it, it’ll spread quickly through word of mouth. I loved the original Stanley Parable, so I know I’ll be doing my part in ensuring my friends check out the Remake, because I am confident that it will be worth it. And I’m sure gaming sites will post articles about its release as well.
Well, looking to the description gave me an idea.
What about if you do a description written as the Stanley’s “contract”?, due the game is (kinda) office related.
You can send a certain message to the player without talking directly to him/her and (kinda) create a relashionship with the in-game Stanley with things like “this is not just to sit in a chair in front of a computer pressing buttons” or something like that, as you did in the first version.
You also can explain that there ‘must’ be obedience towards his (superior(s)) and in the same time don’t to let now what can happen if you “break the rules”; say that “the company” might have certain problems/incomplete-proccess/(or something) but that you can trust and Only trust to your superior(s). You can also can put at the end a question or something like “do you accept?” with two options: “yes” and “yes”… idk, I just tought that.
The only potential problem I see with this is that this more directly about “the story of the game” instead of what you’ve been doing, talking about “the game itself” and its production. I don’t know if this is the relation you wanna have with this version, but if it is, idk if this idea could fix in that system.
The other option I thought is to do a “contract” as well, but talking to the player as a “tester of the game itself” or something, but I don’t know if this breaks down the connection with the player-Stanley.
Anyway, You game is in a good path, I think. Good luck with it and best regards!
I saw what you did there at the end
……………..
“I don’t need to run a poll, you all already constantly tell me it’s Morgan Freeman.”
Stephan Fry is clearly the better choice.
It’s hard to recommend any alternative advertising styles since we know next to nothing about the game, but maybe you could get people interested with fake information releases. Stuff that the narrator wants in the game that clearly won’t be. Only in small, online posts, thus with a smaller work load. Something like Yahtzee Croshaw’s original review of Duke Nukem Forever.
Agreed! Stephen Fry would be a better choice.
I think you are handling the marketing as well as you could, you are doing really great. I am really HYPED about this game and I wish Valve could handle HL3 the same way.
Hi,
we are facing the same problems with our own projects. Having a small team has it’s benefits but also it’s disadvantages like marketing is. Big game companies have a separate team working fulltime on the publicity but sadly we (small teams) can’t afford that. I learned some stuff through time with my mod team so maybe I can give you some tips.
First of all you have to take the first step in the beginning because interviewers don’t know you. Try to contact some game podcasts on the internet, game sites, … give them some exclusive stuff like screenshots. After a while other sites will see this and want also try to catch you for an interview.
Use social media like facebook, reddit, twitter and try to answer the fans questions and listen to what they say. It’s sometimes very useful to get in touch with your fans. It’s very time consuming but it’s worth it.
To build a hype around a product is very difficult, you need to chose a style and build an own personality so your game is recognizable trough the dozens of other games. The indie Dear Esther did a great job with this part. It was mysterious, pattern of the same colors, fitting music, … they had their own style.
On the other hand, like you said, the core of your game is the story and you can’t tell much about it without ruining the whole game. The road you were taking with your trailers, screenshots,… was a good start but you need to work it further out.
Well I hope these tips were useful.
I think you’re doing just perfectly. This game WON’T easily attract people who don’t know what it’s about, before it’s done. There’s nothing you can do about that, it’s the nature of an experience like this.
The most important marketing for The Stanley Parable will be in the days just after its release — people like me, after playing, will go around insisting to our friends “Oh man, you absolutely HAVE to get this game, no I can’t tell you what it’s about, it’s all about the surprises, but I know you’ll love it.”