10 Insane Marketing Stunts That Were Used To Sell Video Games
1. No Marketing Whatsoever (Apex Legends)
Apex Legends' marketing stunt isn't insane in a "let's spray-paint some pigeons!" or "let's launch some space-balloons!" kind of way, and this entry might seem a little tame when compared to others on this list. But from a financial perspective, this might be the single riskiest marketing strategy in gaming history.
Major AAA games are usually announced anywhere from six months to five years before they release: we'll see gameplay demos, trailers, images, developer interviews, betas, and general info dumps, all of which raise awareness about the game, tell people what it's about, and persuade them to buy it on launch. Granted, the hype train can be a bad thing since it can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations, but it's always best to let people know your title is coming, right?
Well, Apex Legends just took a big fat dump on that idea. Respawn's free-to-play battle-royale released on all three major platforms on 4 February 2019, with no build-up and no pre-release coverage. It launched on the same day it was announced. This move could have backfired spectacularly, but instead, the game racked up 25 million players in just one week - for comparison, it took Fortnite six weeks to hit 20 million.
When asked about this release strategy, Drew McCoy - the game's lead producer - told Eurogamer that it was all about perception:
"We're doing a free to play game, with essentially loot boxes, after we were bought by EA, and it's not Titanfall 3. It's the perfect recipe for a marketing plan to go awry, so why have that - let's just ship the game and let players play."
Basically, after the Star Wars Battlefront 2 loot box controversy, a free-to-play loot-box-heavy battle-royale from EA would have turned a lot of people off instantly, so Respawn decided to let the game speak for itself on launch. A risky move? Yes. A stupid move? It had the potential to be. But it worked, and that's what matters.
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Know of any other bonkers video game marketing methods? Share your picks down in the comments section!