mike591@kbin.social to Gaming@kbin.social · 7 months agoSteam Next Fest is back and underway with "hundreds" of playable PC demoswww.eurogamer.netexternal-linkmessage-square12fedilinkarrow-up114arrow-down10file-text
arrow-up114arrow-down1external-linkSteam Next Fest is back and underway with "hundreds" of playable PC demoswww.eurogamer.netmike591@kbin.social to Gaming@kbin.social · 7 months agomessage-square12fedilinkfile-text
If it’s demos you want, today’s your lucky day; Valve’s thrice-yearly Steam Next Fest event is back for another outing,…
minus-squareGamma@beehaw.orglinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up5·7 months agoThey wouldn’t be doing them multiple a year if they didn’t get sales. Steam Next Fest continues to boost engagement and sales for most games in 2021 Steam next Fest: How did these games earn so many wishlists? Latest Steam Next Fest attracted record 11.4 million players
minus-squareampersandrew@kbin.sociallinkfedilinkarrow-up1·7 months agoNote what kinds of games populate the Next Fest. Mostly games without any other form of marketing. Anecdotally, I found four demos that interested me, and all four convinced me not to to bother keeping up with the game as it gets closer to release. EEDAR, later absorbed by NPD, the combined entity of which is now known as Circana, works with lots of big developers and publishers and found a correlation with demos losing sales. In later analysis of demos, devs found that you could (a) convince someone to buy the game, (b) convince someone that they don’t like the game, © give someone everything they wanted from the game, where they don’t want to play any more, or (d) give someone everything that they wanted from the game, where they don’t need any more than what the demo provides. Note that 3 out of those 4 don’t result in a sale. A trailer tended to be much better marketing material. Of course, your mileage may vary if the game’s loop or selling point is hard to articulate, but in most cases, seeing someone else have a good time with a game is going to be more likely to convince you to buy a game than if you had a demo where you might not understand its appeal. It’s why games are built around how well they present on Twitch these days.
They wouldn’t be doing them multiple a year if they didn’t get sales.
Note what kinds of games populate the Next Fest. Mostly games without any other form of marketing. Anecdotally, I found four demos that interested me, and all four convinced me not to to bother keeping up with the game as it gets closer to release. EEDAR, later absorbed by NPD, the combined entity of which is now known as Circana, works with lots of big developers and publishers and found a correlation with demos losing sales. In later analysis of demos, devs found that you could (a) convince someone to buy the game, (b) convince someone that they don’t like the game, © give someone everything they wanted from the game, where they don’t want to play any more, or (d) give someone everything that they wanted from the game, where they don’t need any more than what the demo provides. Note that 3 out of those 4 don’t result in a sale. A trailer tended to be much better marketing material. Of course, your mileage may vary if the game’s loop or selling point is hard to articulate, but in most cases, seeing someone else have a good time with a game is going to be more likely to convince you to buy a game than if you had a demo where you might not understand its appeal. It’s why games are built around how well they present on Twitch these days.