I'm not an expert in marketing, but it seems like a bad step to me to announce a game a year before it comes out then release all the info in a GI issue a couple months later.
Why? All the excitement will be gone before the end of the spring. Skyrim will come out in November and it will take a while for it to hit everyone.

The only smart move I can see is if gamesas has even more exciting content to reveal later, though I don't know what else they can cover. The only thing I can think of is talking more about the art and revealing new weapons, armor, and creatures (which will just spoil the game, for me at least).

So, can someone please explain to me why gamesas's marketing strategy is good whatsoever?

I'm sure they're seeing all this 'bad graphics' talk and they're just sitting around laughing somewhere.... "Wait until we release THIS video...*chuckle, chuckle*"

That's kinda what they're doing. It's like dangling a fish on a fishing pole in front of a cat. You don't let the Cat get the fish but you allow him to get close, it basically means that Beth releases info at certain times but not all at one time.

Edited- @ The Black Ghost, yes I completely agree I bet Killmoms is getting a kick out of hearing all that bad graphics talk. Just wait till he releases a video of the Dragonborn fighting a Dragon.

Ya there defintelty more stuff coming.. I have no doubt about that.

So just be patient and keep it in your pants.

We hear about many games years in advance, and get a slow trickle of information over the course of 2-3 years.
Take for example Diablo 3. Announced years ago, and a slow, intermittent release of information ever since.

Bethesda announced Skyrim 11 months from release. It's now 9 months away and we really don't have that much info. A few magazine articles scattered across the entire globe. They can ride on this for a while, then give us a trailer. Then a few months go by, perhaps a larger scale release of info at E3, then another few months lull and they're ready to gear up for pre-release ad spots. I don't really see the problem.

Heh, you must not be to excited about Skyrim huh? A lot of people are bursting at the seams for skyrim they could've announced this game four years ago and i'd still be excited.

Well we still haven't seen any gameplay, or seen any of the factions. I heard in another thread that there are nine houses. Maybe you can join them as facrions. To me it seems like Bethesda is doing a good job of making not so much information seem like a whole lot more than it really is. We know a good bit about this game, but we still don't know much. We haven't even seen an Argonian yet.

They obviously got us buzzing, which is a good thing. The trick is to make it last. They're probably not going to leave us in the dark now, with trailers they'll be able to keep the hype up durring the summer. And by the time fall and then winter rolls around, the buzz of it almost being November itself will be enough to keep buzz going. I mean, we haven't had any new info for a while, yet we keep speculating.

Not many people watch this as closely as most of us do here. A sizable group does, but not everyone. People will forget, only to be reminded by trailers and other comercials. Its actually kinda suprising how some games can pretty much generate their own buzz. As long as we get little bigs of info every two months or so and with comercials reminding people the game's coming, the buzz will keep going strong.

The be all to end all electronics/media orgy that is E3. A live demo there will generate enough buzz to last 6 months and that will carry them up till release.

Why else do you think they would reveal such obviously unpolished screens? They are saving the best visuals and of course the best game play(some will be seen in the trailer before then) until E3.

This.

Please, everybody, stop being so pessimistic about 19 screenshots of an unfinished game on a new engine that is coming out in 9 months. And the SC's were probably taken 3 months ago. I have extremely high hopes about the game. OP: Seriously, could you come up with something better?
AND: Gameplay > Graphics

There's still heaps of stuff we don't know about. Factions, crafting, stealth, NPC AI, conversation system....

We haven't seen in-game footage.

There's also another book to be released before Skyrim, which will fill in more details on the lore.

Actually announcing a game as early as possible is the best marketing move. It allows for people wanting it so badly and not being able to get it and when it finally comes around to them being able to get the game, they will be craving it so bad they will get it. If you've ever seen the South Park episode where Cartman gets his own themepark, you would understand.

You kidding? I'm right there with them! I was just concerned about the less hardcoe Elder Scrolls fans.

Please don't take this thread pessimistically. I was just questioning gamesass marketing, not their awesomeness.


I'd have to disagree with you there. Most people intending to buy something are not diehard fans of it, and will lose interest if there's not enough hype produced about it. If you announce it too early, you'll run out of content to keep the ball rolling, and your consumers will lose interest.

P.S. I've seen that episode

Bethesda's awesomeness is not limited to their development. They apply lessons learned to all aspects of their companies and PR is right at the top of the list. FO3 and F:NV both had superbly executed marketing. They have found a very good working model and it's obvious they will continue to follow it. Any money says FO4 releases in the Fall.

They haven't released any video yet!

Not bold enough to experiment with a new pattern? :tongue: I see your point.

Thanks e'ryone for clarifying!



Sure they have! ... Wait, the teaser trailer was in-game footage, right? Right?? :ahhh:

...gameinformer did a 14 page spread in this months' issue that covered pretty much all the aspects and new anticipated changes/improvements... I'm totally fired up about how the characters are supposed to be super - lifelike... no more out of sync mouths to the dialogue hopefully.

Beth disagrees, at least with Skyrim.

I imagine there will be videos, hands on demo's at some game shows, fan interviews, announcements of box art and collectors editions, commercials, announcement of going gold. More previews, interviews and a concert or two.

It should be an interesting 9 months.

What do you mean?

The best since pregnancy!

Compared to MW,OB,etc The first real info on Skyrim came out much closer to release date than the other games. So they must not think release info as early as possible is the best course, at least for this game.

And I am happy about it, I hate when a game is announced 1 1/2-2 years from release.

Don't forget a book release too.

Yet the release date was released much earlier than MW and OB, thus it allows for much more hunger for the game when they know exactly when it will come out. It's a great PR strategy.

Sure, Beth thinks release info later than normal is good in terms of announcing Skyrim and because they waited they were also able to give a release earlier, they def got there PR down.