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Forums - Sales - Are marketing deals, bundles and exclusive content in 3rd party multiplats pointless?

 

Are marketing deals and bundles pointless?

Yes, marketing, bundles a... 12 38.71%
 
Yes, marketing, bundles a... 3 9.68%
 
No, marketing and bundles... 13 41.94%
 
No, marketing and bundles... 3 9.68%
 
Total:31
Mike_L on 21 March 2016

Are marketing deals, bundles and exclusive content in 3rd party multiplats pointless or do they improve sales on the marketed platform? Does it hurt sales on e.g. PS4 if games are marketed with Xbox One?

If every game sold according to market share, the PS4 version would account for 66% and the XB1 for 34% but how does exclusive marketing impact this split?

For a franchise like Call of Duty, exclusive marketing doesn't have that big of an impact. Xbox One still has a slight edge even though marketing goes to PS4 with BO3. This is also the case with FIFA. FIFA 13 had PS marketing and bundle and sold 61% of its copies on PS3. Even though marketing went to Xbox One, FIFA 14, 15 and 16 all sold over 70% of its copies on PS4.

So besides the impact in sales number made by bundled copies, it seems that marketing and exclusive content is pretty pointless.
Or what do you think? Have I missed an important aspect?

Games with PS4 marketing sell on average 4.3 million on PS4 whereas games marketed with XB1 sell on average 3.9 million on PS4. Does it hurt the sales of games on PS4 if they're marketed with XB1? Would games like Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 benefit from PS4's momentum and potential bigger advertisement and better selling bundles?

 

Games with PS4 marketing/bundle

(games with exclusive content marked with *)
Game Total sales (million) PS4 sales (% of total) XB1 sales (% of total)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 18.61 11.95 (64%) 6.66 (36%)
Grand Theft Auto V 14.81 10.44 (70%) 4.37 (30%)
Destiny + The Taken King* 11.37 7.20 (63%) 4.17 (37%)
Star Wars: Battlefront 10.35 7.15 (69%) 3.20 (31%)
Watch Dogs* 5.57 4.06 (73%) 1.51 (27%)
Far Cry 4 5.42 3.88 (72%) 1.54 (28%)
NBA 2K16 5.27 3.31 (63%) 1.96 (37%)
Battlefield 4 5.11 3.21 (63%) 1.90 (37%)
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag* 4.87 2.68 (55%) 2.19 (45%)
Batman: Arkham Knight* 4.86 3.50 (72%) 1.36 (28%)
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate* 4.15 2.97 (72%) 1.18 (28%)
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor* 4.14 2.86 (69%) 1.28 (31%)
NBA 2K15 3.98 2.33 (59%) 1.65 (41%)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 3.79 3.13 (83%) 0.66 (17%)
Battlefield: Hardline 3.15 1.99 (63%) 1.16 (37%)
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition* 2.13 1.54 (72%) 0.59 (28%)
Far Cry: Primal 1.57 1.10 (70%) 0.47 (30%)

Games with XB1 marketing/bundle

(games with exclusive content marked with *)
Game Total sales (million) PS4 sales (% of total) XB1 sales (% of total)
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 12.55 7.50 (60%) 5.05 (40%)
FIFA 16* 10.33 7.52 (73%) 2.81 (27%)
Fallout 4 10.03 6.33 (63%) 3.70 (37%)
FIFA 15* 8.63 6.52 (76%) 2.11 (24%)
Assassin's Creed: Unity 7.20 3.80 (53%) 3.40 (47%)
Call of Duty: Ghosts 6.31 3.52 (56%) 2.79 (44%)
Madden NFL 16 5.23 2.99 (57%) 2.24 (43%)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4.45 3.32 (75%) 1.13 (25%)
FIFA 14* 4.04 2.87 (71%) 1.17 (29%)
Madden NFL 15 3.47 1.99 (57%) 1.48 (43%)
Dragon Age: Inquisition 2.74 1.88 (69%) 0.86 (31%)
Tom Clancy's Rainbox Six: Siege 2.65 1.67 (63%) 0.98 (37%)
Evolve 1.46 0.88 (60%) 0.58 (40%)


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HylianYoshi on 21 March 2016

Marketing, bundles, and exclusive content are pointless. They're whatever. Games are going to sell more on PS4, regardless of what they do.


But timed exclusive content/timed exclusive games only serve to alienate the loyal consumer on the other console for a few days/weeks/months (and for the company to make a quick buck off of Microsoft/Sony). It's a disease that plagues the industry and it needs to stop.



bet: lost

vivster on 21 March 2016

Of course they're pointless, that's why they happen so often. If something is pointless and has no benefits then it's only natural that people will repeat it over and over again.

It's the same with micro transactions and preorder bonuses. There are so many of them because they just don't work.



If you demand respect or gratitude for your volunteer work, you're doing volunteering wrong.

Mike_L on 21 March 2016
HylianYoshi said:
Marketing, bundles, and exclusive content are pointless. They're whatever. Games are going to sell more on PS4, regardless of what they do.


But timed exclusive content/timed exclusive games only serve to alienate the loyal consumer on the other console for a few days/weeks/months (and for the company to make a quick buck off of Microsoft/Sony). It's a disease that plagues the industry and it needs to stop.

I fully agree in both points.

I think making official bundles (with interesting box art) is a great idea and effectively drive sales but they should be able to make bundles with all consoles (PS4, XB1 and NX).

Exclusive content is bad and I hope it stops.



Mike_L on 21 March 2016
vivster said:
Of course they're pointless, that's why they happen so often. If something is pointless and has no benefits then it's only natural that people will repeat it over and over again.

It's the same with micro transactions and preorder bonuses. There are so many of them because they just don't work.

Yeah, bundles do improve advertisement and sales but is it necessary with exclusive content and would it be possible to collborate with several manufacturers and bundle your game with more than 1 console?

Also does it hurt the sales potential of a game like Fallout 4 to market it with a console that has less momentum?



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hunter_alien on 21 March 2016
Mike_L said:
vivster said:
Of course they're pointless, that's why they happen so often. If something is pointless and has no benefits then it's only natural that people will repeat it over and over again.

It's the same with micro transactions and preorder bonuses. There are so many of them because they just don't work.

Yeah, bundles do improve advertisement and sales but is it necessary with exclusive content and would it be possible to collborate with several manufacturers and bundle your game with more than 1 console?

Also does it hurt the sales potential of a game like Fallout 4 to market it with a console that has less momentum?

I think at the current moment those marketing campaigns mostly work as a reminder, that it is also comming to the least popular system. People know that most of this games arrive on the PS4 anyways, but they might not be just as informed about the fact that the Xone has them all as well. Same was with the PS3 last generation in the US.



Vote the Mayor for Mayor!

Mike_L on 21 March 2016
hunter_alien said:
Mike_L said:

Yeah, bundles do improve advertisement and sales but is it necessary with exclusive content and would it be possible to collborate with several manufacturers and bundle your game with more than 1 console?

Also does it hurt the sales potential of a game like Fallout 4 to market it with a console that has less momentum?

I think at the current moment those marketing campaigns mostly work as a reminder, that it is also comming to the least popular system. People know that most of this games arrive on the PS4 anyways, but they might not be just as informed about the fact that the Xone has them all as well. Same was with the PS3 last generation in the US.

So it would actually benefit sales of most games with Xbox One marketing and bundles. Maybe you're right. It just seems that PS4 bundles are sometimes driven even further by hype (primarily early in the gen) and momentum (PS4 seems to have strong momentum led by great exclusives and PSVR releasing this year).



hunter_alien on 21 March 2016
Mike_L said:
hunter_alien said:

I think at the current moment those marketing campaigns mostly work as a reminder, that it is also comming to the least popular system. People know that most of this games arrive on the PS4 anyways, but they might not be just as informed about the fact that the Xone has them all as well. Same was with the PS3 last generation in the US.

So it would actually benefit sales of most games with Xbox One marketing and bundles. Maybe you're right. It just seems that PS4 bundles are sometimes driven even further by hype (primarily early in the gen) and momentum (PS4 seems to have strong momentum led by great exclusives and PSVR releasing this year).

Exactly... they are popular no matter what, as it is the most popular choice with gamers. I think it would be exactly the opposite if the marketshare would also be opposite. In that case, it is simply an extra incentive to reach out to an even larger croud.

QUality of the ads also come to my mind. Even tough Sony poured in a huge ammount at the beginning of the 7th gen, into marketing, we know that those were... well weird at best, but mostly plain terrible



Vote the Mayor for Mayor!

Mike_L on 21 March 2016
hunter_alien said:
Mike_L said:

So it would actually benefit sales of most games with Xbox One marketing and bundles. Maybe you're right. It just seems that PS4 bundles are sometimes driven even further by hype (primarily early in the gen) and momentum (PS4 seems to have strong momentum led by great exclusives and PSVR releasing this year).

Exactly... they are popular no matter what, as it is the most popular choice with gamers. I think it would be exactly the opposite if the marketshare would also be opposite. In that case, it is simply an extra incentive to reach out to an even larger croud.

QUality of the ads also come to my mind. Even tough Sony poured in a huge ammount at the beginning of the 7th gen, into marketing, we know that those were... well weird at best, but mostly plain terrible

Yeah. Maybe you're right.



bananaking21 on 21 March 2016

no point in using VGC numbers as they are shit.

but marketing deals arent about X game selling more on Y console. its about mind share and marketing the brand. these big third party games are games that consumers want. so when they watch their trailers, gameplay sections or so on, and see the logo of a console brand after it, it will build mind share. its the best way to market a console.

plus bundles and offers such as Limited editions have proved to be very successful. just look at the Starwars and CoD LE that released for PS4 last year.

 

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