Study to publishers: Don't release demos, just trailers
by Justin McElroy 
{ Apr 15th 2008 at 11:30AM }
To us, demos seem like a great way to get the word out about games, but a recent study suggests that they might be better tools for consumers than solid marketing strategy. The Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group (EEDAR) reports that games that are marketed on Xbox Live and PSN with a trailer only sell considerably better than games that ship with a demo.On the PS3, games with no demo or trailer actually sold better than those with a demo, while the inverse was true on the 360. Now, this doesn't mean EEDAR wants you to lose your precious demos forever, but they recommend starting work on a demo after the game's on shelves so no polishing resources are lost. Though we can definitely see the logic in this (we've been kept from buying a few bad games by demos), we kind of wish EEDAR would keep our secret to themselves.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
scott willis @ Apr 15th 2008 12:10PM
in other words , dont let the public know your games shit before they buy it .
baby sea tuna @ Apr 15th 2008 12:14PM
Hey, between the review embargo and the 3 week-late demo, that strategy seems to have worked out quite nicely for Army of Two!
Maverick Saturn @ Apr 15th 2008 12:16PM
Whats even more a pisstake is that they won't just stop demos and release trailers, but go 1 step further and do that FF and MGS crap on us, showing us pretty cgi clips and rubbish and zero, nill, nout, no actula gameplay footage.
Better yet, the CGI will be over the top and all exciting much like Killzone 2 E3 a few years back, only to find the CGI is 1. Not all that and 2. The actuall gameplay plays like Lair or Genji or something :S
Maverick Saturn @ Apr 15th 2008 12:17PM
WHich in fact demeans those two games, cos even they aren't half as bad as some games I have mistakenly played.
*Shudders* Horrible memories :(
The Purveyor of Justice @ Apr 15th 2008 12:21PM
No demos...great idea; all that does is make it easier for devs to peddle crap. Make a good game, and provided it is sufficiently advertised, it will sell.
This is just another business strategy that makes it easier for crappy developers to sell their crap games, instead of raising the bar. It just hurts the consumer, and if you hurt the consumers you will ultimately hurt the developers. BAD IDEA.
Here's a revolutionary business strategy, DON"T MAKE A CRAP GAME...what a concept.
emax @ Apr 15th 2008 12:22PM
or they can just make a quality game that people will want to buy after they play it. Instead of getting conned into buying a game based of marketing crap alone.
Joe Smith @ Apr 15th 2008 12:27PM
Seems to me that if you have a good game, a demo will help. If you have a bad game a demo will hurt.
I have often tried a demo and decided not to buy. BUT a good demo can help a lot for a game that people aren't sure about. Overlord is a great example.
ANGELUS @ Apr 15th 2008 12:28PM
I think this article is racist...
Maverick Saturn @ Apr 15th 2008 12:30PM
What, to the demo race?
skullivan @ Apr 15th 2008 12:59PM
This is a completely flawed study because publishers don't waste their developers time or money to produce a demo for games they know are going to be huge hits. Gears of War, Halo 3, COD4, GTAIV, Mario Galaxy are all huge titles that only had "trailers". Of course those massive titles are going to skew the results.
That's hardly an indication that the average game is going to sell better without a demo. This is horrible horrible advice for publishers.
The advice should be: If your game sucks, don't put out a demo, because it's just going to convince people not to buy it. Especially if your demo is a 6 month old build that isn't even representative of the final product.
Abscissa @ Apr 15th 2008 1:08PM
Trailers are nothing but a worthless waste of resources. Pure shit. Doesn't tell a damn thing about the game.
But I *expect* demos. Not a chance in hell I'm plopping down anywhere near $50-60 on a game without actually being able to try it first.
MN Guy @ Apr 15th 2008 1:09PM
This is a garbage statistic. Highly anticipated titles that require no hype receive no demos. They don't sell well because of no demo. They have no demo because they are already going to sell well. This is one of those stats that finds a correlation, then assumes causation in the wrong direction.
Less people would have bought Dead Rising or Bioshock if it hadn't been for the demo. The demo was what hooked me to games that already sounded sorta decent.
Look at this following link. Most of the highest rated 360 games, which are if you can fathom it also most of the best selling, all failed to receive a demo. Bioshock is the obvious exception.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/scores/
Dan Bugglin @ Apr 15th 2008 1:13PM
All this tells me is downloadable content on XBLA and the PS3 sucks, and that I'm glad I went with a Wii.
If a game is good, a good demo is going to serve its intended purpose and convince the undecided to buy the game. If a game is bad, the demo will already be bad and the undecided will be convinced NOT to buy. If there is no demo, the undecided has one less channel through which they can decide to buy the game or not, so if it's a bad game the chance of them buying it (even though they'll hate it) just shot up, especially if it has a good trailer.
A demo is meant to be an accurate reflection of the game. A trailer is meant to sell the game. I prefer demos.
baby sea tuna @ Apr 15th 2008 2:01PM
"All this tells me is downloadable content on XBLA and the PS3 sucks, and that I'm glad I went with a Wii."
"A demo is meant to be an accurate reflection of the game. A trailer is meant to sell the game. I prefer demos."
In case you didn't notice, the Wii doesn't provide its user-base with demos, therefore you totally contradicted your first statement with your last.
Is Not Null @ Apr 15th 2008 1:30PM
That's the problem with the world today; the corporations want to screw you out of as much money as possible and an educated consumer is their biggest fear. WHAT A LOAD OF STEAMING HOT BULL!
Dr0ooo @ Apr 15th 2008 2:12PM
I gotta say, demos can be dangerous to game sales. I was super excited about a new Turok game, and then I played the demo. That demo saved me $60.
ComicShaman @ Apr 15th 2008 4:58PM
The Turok Defense Force claims that the demo for that game is particularly poor and not reflective of the overall experience. But since I hated every single thing about that demo, the only thing that could make me even remotely interested in the game would be a disclaimer: "This is an Anti-Demo. Nothing you find in this demo will appear in the actual game."
Otherwise, it was a flaming turd.
Burn1 @ Apr 15th 2008 2:27PM
Half of the time playing demos makes me hate the games.
http://www.burnedbytheman.com/politics/the-gamestop-conspiracy-the-final-solution/
marauder800 @ Apr 15th 2008 2:46PM
I can honestly say that I never would have considered Bioshock until I played the demo. I went out and booked my preorder the next day. On the other hand, I wasn't impressed with the Motorstorm demo, and passed on that until I got it super cheap this week. Now I love it. Overall I think demos in advance of release dates are a good thing. To me they are an important consideration in my purchase decision. There are only a handful of games I'll buy without playing a demo first (GTA4 comes to mind).
Brazell @ Apr 15th 2008 3:04PM
I'm sure that this point has been made, but the study would seem to be drawing the wrong conclusions. The conclusion being drawn is that because games with demos sell poorer than games with trailers-only, therefore, more games should only release trailers... sales ++.
The reality behind it is that the best games -- that ultimately sell the best -- do not have any need for a demo. GTAIV, Halo 3, others, no demo, trailers only. Those two games alone will account for the greatest distortion of statistics.
John @ Apr 15th 2008 3:44PM
I'll just continue to use gamefly to demo games anyway.
Michael K. @ Apr 15th 2008 4:09PM
Instead of not releasing demos, why don't they just make good games, then demos would make people want to buy the games. When I play a demo of a game that I was planning on buying, then the demo shows me that the game sucks a lot, then I don't buy the game (like Condemned 2 and Ninja Gaiden), but a demo of a good game convinces me to buy it when I wasn't planning on it (like Heavenly Sword).
ComicShaman @ Apr 15th 2008 5:03PM
I think I find demos most useful when they are showcasing a new title. A Metal Gear or Halo demo would probably be pretty pointless these days, since by this point we have a good notion of what those games do (the first Halo and MGS2 both had demos, though, and I think they helped sales).
For the PS3, demos have sold me on Heavenly Sword, Ratchet & Clank, and Uncharted. The demos have turned me away from Turok and some medieval game from Koei that I can't be bothered to look up, but the odds were not good that I would've bought either of those anyway.
My fondest demo memory was the one for the first Devil May Cry. It was the start of a love affair that has lasted to this day (though we temporarily separated for Devil May Cry 2...)
Dr. Stabbingworth @ Apr 15th 2008 7:30PM
FF7 demo anyone? I had to change my pants after that one.
Kevin @ Apr 16th 2008 3:24PM
Saints Row is an example of a game I would have avoided if it wasn't for the demo. I would not have bought it and I would have never regretted that. Thanks demos!
Not always a great thing though. I decided to skip Lost Planet because of my experience with the demo and I felt a little betrayed by Crackdown because of the demo. (I expected more to the full game, not just the demo but 3x-4x bigger and no time limit.)
I think the answer may quite simple:
- If your game is for a niche market, release a demo to hope to bring more people to that niche
- If your game has something amazing which can not be fully experienced with a video, release a demo.
- If repeated playing of the demo can severely dull the experience of the full game, perhaps avoid it.
Ghaleon @ Apr 21st 2008 3:24PM
Whoever was complaining about Metal Gear -- the series uses no CG, so I think it IS important just to see the engine at work, regardless of what gameplay an MG trailer is or is not showing off.
That said, yeah, I like demos because it shows me that literally every game that gets hyped is totally not what I want to play these days, so I can play the demo and see why I don't need to spend $60 or my time on it.
Course if there were NO demos, I wouldn't even have the chance to find the rare title I would wanna buy new.