Yes, I’ve got it all figured out now. There are tons of discussions here everyday about games and how they sell. People offer up analysis on demographics, marketing, content, critical reception, timing, brand recognition, and other selling points in an attempt to find out why something does or does not sell. Those things all play a small part in a game’s sales, but none of them are the most important deciding point.
A game’s cover art is THE defining aspect of any modern video game’s sales. It serves as the hypnotic glance to mesmerize potential customers into becoming willing buyers. Dubious premise I admit, but let me prove it to you. Differing demographics, marketing, and timing all play roles too, but mostly only to help shape what cover arts must be in order to thrive. For my first analysis, let’s start at the top of high-selling hardcore gaming. The Grand Theft Auto series.
Grand Theft Auto games are iconic of hardcore games for hardcore gamers, but why is that? Why does Grand Theft Auto sell? Because it’s cover art is a brilliant representation of the most important things a hardcore gamer wants in his game. They contain guns, and people using those guns, badass gangsta characters, and fast sleek looking cars. All VERY important things your average hardcore buyer looks for. The only major thing missing would be a character with a sword, or other sharp weapon. These stylish (another important selling point) combination of elements in these cover arts are the chief reason behind Grand Theft Auto’s financial success.
That may seem like a broad generalization, but allow me to analyze two similar games made for the same market to better illustrate how important cover art truly is.
Both Battlefield: Bad Company and Army of Two are FPS’s, published by EA, within 3 months of each other, on both HD consoles, with similar advertising on similar networks. Bad Company is part of the Battlefield brand of games, and holds an 83/85 average on Metacritic. Army of Two is a new IP and is rated 72/74 on Metacritic. Yet, Army of Two has sold nearly 2.25 Million copies on both HD consoles, while Bad Company has sold just over 1.5 million. Why did Army of Two outsell Bad Company, when Bad Company had both better reviews and brand name? The cover art!
Army of two has TWO kick-ass soldiers with a badass helmets, big guns, and smaller guns making up the buildings Pretty good stuff. Bad Company just has a grenade, an offshoot of a gun, and the soldiers are all silhouette in the background with the edges softened. (The opposite of hard) The smiley also weakens the grenades dangerous presence. When side by side, a consumer’s choice is clear, Army of Two.
It’s important to note it’s not enough to put a guy with a gun on the cover of game and think hardcore gamers will buy it. The quality of the gun, or badass nature of the guy is also important. Here are two more games that sold less then half a million each, despite their choice of covers.
I’ll start with Stranglehold. The guns are okay, but Chow Yun-Fat? Hardly a space marine or a gangsta, and sub-par even by his own standards of badass. The bright red to yellow colors and soft edges make it even less threatening and edgy. No good.
Haze is a little better, gun is a little cooler than Stranglehold, helmet makes the solider looks a bit badass, but his eye makes him look worried, not cool. Average cover at best.
Now Haze is a PS3 Exclusive, while Stranglehold is multi-platform. On just the PS3, Haze far outsold Stranglehold, which I attribute to it’s decent, but under whelming cover art.
These trends aren’t just on the HD consoles, core Wii gamers use a very similar criteria. Look at Red Steel.
Generally reviewed somewhat poorly, but sold over a million copies anyways. I doesn’t win many points with the arty silhouette stuff, but numerous guns and a sword at the same time help to make up for it in a big way. They even got a gun and sword into the title itself, and the hardcore blood red and solid black colors help to seal the deal. Despite lousy reviews and word of mouth on a casual focused gaming console, that cover was too good for a million people to pass up.
Even Nintendo themselves are aware of this trend.
Who is in the center? Starfox. What’s he carrying? A gun. In the foreground stands Link and his sword, with a dozen other character in numerous stylish poses, with Samus and Pit brandishing their sword and gun like weapons. None of that is by chance; even Nintendo concedes that guns on covers sell. Go check out the cover of Link’s Crossbow Training. They’re already tinkering with the idea of hooking Link up with a piece.
I’ve done a lot to make my case, but I’ll leave everyone with something to judge for themselves. Peter Moore from EA sports commented recently on the difficulty of selling their traditional sports titles on the Wii. Can you figure out what he may be doing wrong in regards to the Wii version of this title?
Think about it. It makes perfect sense.
