App Trigger
Fansided

The importance of marketing in the gaming industry

By Shannon Flynn

In this photo illustration taken on November 20, 2020, Zeyan Shafiq prepares to play the PUBG mobile game in Srinagar. - When India banned the hit PUBG mobile game over its diplomatic row with China, Zeyan Shafiq's eSports team was suddenly left without players. So Shafiq, who is based in war-torn Kashmir, did something very unusual: he reached across the border to Pakistan. (Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP) / To go with 'eSports-IND-PAK-India-Pakistan', story by Faisal KAMAL (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP via Getty Images)
In this photo illustration taken on November 20, 2020, Zeyan Shafiq prepares to play the PUBG mobile game in Srinagar. - When India banned the hit PUBG mobile game over its diplomatic row with China, Zeyan Shafiq's eSports team was suddenly left without players. So Shafiq, who is based in war-torn Kashmir, did something very unusual: he reached across the border to Pakistan. (Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP) / To go with 'eSports-IND-PAK-India-Pakistan', story by Faisal KAMAL (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The video game industry has become one of the most lucrative industries in the global market. Statistics show that the industry is set to reach $482.30 billion by 2027. The largest segment of this market is mobile gaming, which reached $116.43 billion in 2022. That means having a good game marketing strategy is essential to earning your slice of the pie!

Who Is the Gaming Audience?

Like all marketing strategies, a good video game marketing campaign must know its audience. Recent studies show that the average gamer is 35-44 years old, with 59% of gamers being male and 41% female.

However, these numbers are only scratching the surface. To create your video game marketing strategy, you must consider who your game is for on a more detailed level. Like movies, there are many genres of video games and they all appeal to different audiences and earn various returns.

For example, the first-person shooter genre is among the most lucrative. One of the genre’s biggest titles, Call of Duty, has earned an estimated $31 billion over the series’ lifetime! These games are known for being competitive action shooters and their audience pays for new editions of the game every year.

Part of Call of Duty’s wide success is its consistent product messaging. They know who buys the games and what they want to experience. If you want your game marketing strategy to succeed, research and find out what audience you want to aim for.

The Differences Between Gaming Platforms

When planning your video game marketing campaign, determine which platform your game will be on. Video games can be made for three leading platforms — consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. Of these, the mobile market is by far the most successful — followed by consoles and then PCs.

The PC and console audiences behave similarly. Video game consoles include the PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Each console has its audience. While some people only play games on one console or PC, there is also a lot of overlap between them.

Mobile games are both the newest and the most financially successful platform for video games. Once considered a niche market, evolutions in mobile device technology have made it possible for mobile games to compete with PC and console games in terms of quality. It has become so lucrative that mobile gaming may generate 60% of revenue for the global gaming market by 2028.

Video Game Marketing Strategies

Now that you’ve learned what data you need to look at to develop your video game marketing strategy, here are two ideas unique to the video game market to get you started.

Influencer Marketing

Influences are called such for a reason — they can be a massive force for pushing their audience toward your game. Gaming influencers are incredibly prolific on video-sharing platforms like Youtube and Tiktok, many with viewer counts over the 10 million mark.

For example, Supercell partnered with several gaming influencers to market their game Brawl Stars as part of their mobile game marketing strategy. Immediately after the launch of this campaign, the number of registrations for the game shot up to 5 million within eight hours. It became the number one gaming app in 32 countries and earned $10 million during its launch week.

Interactive Advertising

Video games are all about interactivity, so finding a way to incorporate that aspect into your game marketing strategy will go a long way to exposing your product to the right people. Interactive advertising is precisely what it sounds like — advertisements that potential buyers can interact with.

This form of digital marketing normally includes infographics, fun quizzes, interactive videos and other forms of advertising. Interactive ads are especially effective for a mobile game marketing strategy since touchscreen ads are easy to engage with.

A unique form of interactive marketing is advergames. These short games are created for the sole purpose of advertising a product. While novel, the time and resources it takes to make even a small game may only be worth it if the game is a hit with the audience.

Make Your Video Game Marketing Strategy A Success

If you’re making a video game you know is great, you need a marketing plan to reach as many people as possible. Knowing your audience, partnering with influencers and developing an interactive advertising strategy are some of the best ways to spread the word about your game!

Home/App and Gaming News