TAcTICS
OPEN YOUR EYES LINK BREATH OF THE WILD FINALLY DEBUTS ALONG WITH NINTENDO’S NEWEST SYSTEM
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It’s about more than just looking at what’s on the surface...
TACTICS EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Janes WRITER & ART EDITOR Katie Gibbs
CONTACT US tactics@fancensus.com +44 (0)1628 483 554 Fancensus 99 High Street Marlow Bucks SL7 1AB
When it comes to being a video gamer there’s nothing quite like the excitement of a brand new console launch. With every shiny fresh piece of hardware the internet is abuzz with plenty of hype and hot new discussion while retailers see fans queuing in the cold hours of the night just to get their hands on the latest tech. The anticipation all-round is high to say the least. So the Nintendo Switch is the latest console to enter the “console race” and after months and months of restless waiting and at times frustrating silences; it is as expected, the hottest topic not only from a press standpoint but also social media. Whether Nintendo will be able to maintain this momentum as we close in on E3 will be interesting. After all the Wii U had a strong start and we all know how that turned out. Of course the release everyone’s been talking about pre and post launch is Breath of the Wild, a game some sources are even claiming could dethrone Ocarina of Time as the best in the series. Despite the launch of the Nintendo Switch releases on PS4, PC and Xbox One have been making their mark too. New IP Horizon: Zero Dawn made its debut on PS4 while EA extended their Mass Effect series with Andromeda. And of course Nier: Automata, a new release from Platinum Games has turned plenty of heads after months of anticipation. Even with a new console launching it hasn’t stopped the impact of titles such as these when it comes to coverage. It’s hard to believe we’re only through the first quarter of the year so far with so much having happened already. From console launches to plenty of exciting new software experiences 2017 is already shaping up to be one of the strongest the industry has seen in a long time.
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This Month In Tactics... 6 On The Horizon 7 Monthly Leaderboard PR Leaderboard YouTube Leaderboard Twitter Leaderboard
10 The Nintendo Switch
How Does Nintendo’s Latest Device Stack Up?
14 Review Rundown For Honor Horizon: Zero Dawn
16 Media Spotlight
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Eurogamer
18 Franchise Retrospect The Legend of Zelda
20 A3 Powerful Influence Delving into the traits of YouTube influencers
22 One More Thing...
Can agencies tell you the full story?
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On The Horizon...
April ‘17
Little Nightmares
28/04
Persona 5
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Yooka-Laylee
04/04
11/04
Arms
APR
28/04
Other releases...
6
04/04
Drawn to Death
PS4
25/04
Outlast 2
PC, PS4, XBO
04/04
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3
PC, PS4, XBO
28/04
Akiba’s Beat
PS4, VITA
07/04
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition
PC, PS4, XBO
28/04
Constructor HD
PC, PS4, XBO
07/04
Just Cause 3: Gold Edition
PS4, XBO
28/04
Portal Knights
PS4, XBO
07/04
Lego City Undercover Remastered
PC, PS4, XBO, NS
28/04
Puyo Puyo Tetris
PS4, NS
07/04
Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits
N3DS
APR
FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
PS4, XBO
07/04
Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls
N3DS
APR
Don’t Knock Twice VR
PC, PS4, XBO
11/04
Star Blood Arena
PS4
12/04
Impact Winter
PC
14/04
A Rose in the Twilight
PC, PS4
20/04
Syberia III
PC, PS4, XBO
21/04
The Silver Case Remastered
PS4
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Monthly Leaderboard PR Week 8 - Week 11
Unsurprisingly Nintendo Switch has dominated PR coverage over the last month; at almost double that of its closest competitor. Whether good or bad it seems Nintendo still knows how to get the press’ attention and that March has very much been the month of the Switch. But let’s not forget about the other big releases, new IP Horizon has ranked highly amid much critical acclaim, doing well to compete with the large returning franchises such
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Nier Automata 2,000 Activities
7
For Honor 1,500 Activities
8 Overwatch 2,300 Activities
Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon: Wildlands 3,000 Activities
4
10 Injustice 2 1,200 Activities
5
Middle Earth: Shadow of War 1,500 Activities
9
Horizon: Zero Dawn 3,900 Activities
Nintendo Switch 10,000 Activities
1
Mass Effect Andromeda 5,400 Activities
2
The Lenged of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 4,700 Activities
3
as Mass Effect and Tom Clancy. For Honor’s online multiplayer has ensured that it has remained in the public eye weeks after its release. Can it compete with Overwatch though which is still in the chart 10 months after release? Newly announced Shadow of War has shown that even in a month filled with big releases gamers are always interested in knowing what’s coming next and not just what’s available now.
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Monthly Leaderboard YouTube Week 8 - Week 11 *Excludes games released pre December 2016
YouTube is the only leaderboard not to be topped by Nintendo Switch this month, suggesting that perhaps once unboxings are done YouTubers are no longer interested in hardware. Preferring instead, to watch footage of new open world games like Horizon and Zelda which have racked up a considerable number of views between them. Key Influencer favourites such as Ark: Survival Evolved
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Sniper Elite 4 1,500 Activities
10
Finding Bigfoot 32 Million Views
For Honor 51 Million Views
6
8 Mass Effect Andromeds 37 Million Views
5 Ark: Survival Evolved 68 Million Views
3
Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon: Wildlands 81 Million Views
4
Nintendo Switch 117 Million Views
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 128 Million Views
Horizon: Zero Dawn 164 Million Views
1
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard 47 Million Views
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and Resident Evil have consistently gained high views and interestingly so has Finding Bigfoot, a tiny early access game. To have found its way onto the top 10 leaderboard with the likes of the latest Mass Effect and Tom Clancy shows just how influential these YouTube personalities are and how their adoption of a game can drastically change it’s campaign.
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Twitter Week 8 - Week 11
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Our Twitter chart bears a striking resemblance to that of our PR, suggesting that people are using Twitter to share and engage with their news stories. The same games are dominating the social sphere as well as PR, with the Switch and Zelda way out in front. Shadow of War and Splatoon 2 have used Twitter this month to make huge announcements that have gathered a
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10 For Honor 15,000 Retweets
Halo Wars 2 22,000 Retweets
9 Middle Earth: Shadow of War 17,000 Retweets
7
Splatoon 2 19,000 Retweets
6 Nier Automata 29,000 Retweets
5 Tom Clancy;s: Ghost Recon: Wildlands 49,000 Retweets
Horizon: Zero Dawn 105,000 Retweets
3
Mass Effect Andromeda 64,000 Retweets
4
2 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 154,000 Retweets
Nintendo Switch 200,000 Retweets
*Excludes games released pre December 2016
lot of attention from followers. Splatoon’s announcement of its Pre-Trial event comprised of just 2 tweets but accounts for 78% of all their retweets. For Honor has also shown that it is keeping the momentum going and is using social media to actively engage with its fanbase, a wise move for any online multiplayer, and one that Splatoon looks to be already ahead of.
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The Nintendo Switch
HOW DOES NINTENDO’S LATEST DEVICE STACK UP? The Switch is here! The wait is finally over! Whether you’ve actually picked one up or not it’s hard to deny the buzz surrounding the Switch at the moment whether it’s Zelda’s long awaited return or even just the idea of the quirky home console/handheld hybrid finally hitting shelves. Of course with the usual excitement of a new console launch still very fresh in people’s minds it’s easy to overlook the real figures behind all the smoke and mirrors. Just how effective have Nintendo been in terms of presence? In general the push for the device has been a surprisingly strong one from Nintendo over the last couple of months. Everything from an appearance on popular American talk show “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and a much more robust advertising presence to demos by popular WWE superstar John Cena and hands-on events in major cities show a much more confident Nintendo. A Nintendo that is making damn sure you and everyone around you know what the Switch is. And as far as the press goes, it looks to have worked. If we look at launch week press coverage for devices released in the last few years Nintendo’s Switch has dominated, activities reaching as high as 3,500. Consoles Xbox One and PS4 (both of which launched within a week of each other back in 2013) meanwhile only managed around 300 and 500 respectively. Even last year’s PlayStation VR device only accomplished 1,500. Sure
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you could argue that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are consoles that merely focused on improved horsepower resulting in less for critics to discuss while Switch and VR being devices that take gaming into newer territory make for more discussion points. Delve into these strong figures a little deeper though and you uncover some curious results. While I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” it seems the Nintendo Switch has not been entirely bulletproof when it comes to criticism. The device itself has already started to show signs of weakness. Over 100 articles are relating to screens scratching due to bent docks or unprotected
BEST REVIEWED SWITCH TITLES
97%
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
90%
Shovel Knight Treasure Trove
81%
Snipperclips Cut it out, together!
79%
FAST RMX
77%
Skylanders Imaginators
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plastic. A further 100 relate to the infamous desyncing issue affecting the left Joycon. In fact when searching keywords such as “issue” or “problem” in any Nintendo Switch related articles in the last month, the number is well over 1,000. Of course this doesn’t spell doom and gloom for Nintendo by any means - the press are always hungry for any sort of controversial story when it comes to a hot product like this. However it will be interesting to see if these sorts of stories die down over time and if Nintendo indeed attempt to “fix” some of these problems that are being pointed out by early adopters.
the strong software support to back it up. In terms of the Nintendo Switch, the system’s initial line-up has been met with some criticism, comments often citing a lack of games or pricing being too high. That being said when you look at previous console launches the Switch doesn’t actually fare too badly. Of course the standout here has been The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild already parading a 97% average from critics, making it one of the best received games in our system ever. Not only that but in the month leading up to the console’s launch, the game has been all the press can talk about, Zelda alone seeing nearly eight times more activities than any other Switch title.
Of course a new console will only go so far if it doesn’t have
HIGHEST PR ACTIVITY COUNT 08 FEB - 08 MAR The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
3,800
Splatoon 2
600
YookaLaylee
500
1-2 Switch
500
Super Bomberman R
300
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While from a retail standpoint, the releases may not have been met with the same level of positive reception as Breath of the Wild, digital products Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Snipperclips and FAST RMX have all helped boost the line-up significantly higher in terms of quality. And while Xbox One and PS4 may have entered the arena with a wider range of titles at their respective launches, it’s worth bearing in mind that a lot of these were not exclusives and could already be purchased on the previous generation of consoles. Also no single game managed to receive an average score in the 90% region, something Breath of the Wild accomplished easily. Nintendo have a strong opener with Zelda and it’s how they follow up on this that will be interesting.
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The Nintendo Switch So how has the console done sales-wise? Reports from other sources are pointing toward roughly 1.5 million worldwide, a good debut for any console nowadays. The positive news continues with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seeing an attach rate of an impressive 89%. To put that into perspective that means for every ten systems bought, 9 copies of Zelda were also picked up too. Super Bomberman R has also been revealed to be the best selling in the series for 20 years (at least in Japan) which for a franchise that many thought was done is surprising. A strong debut is just the beginning of the battle though and now all eyes will look to how Nintendo maintain this forward momentum. 2017 is already looking fairly strong and that’s in large thanks to big support from independant developers - games like Stardew Valley, RIME, Overcooked, Yooka-Laylee and SteamWorld Dig 2 all noteworthy additions to the expanding library from popular teams. But of course it’s the big AAA releases that sell systems and in Nintendo’s case theirs are more important than anyones.
Of course Super Mario Odyssey will be the big holiday game for Switch, the game’s debut trailer seeing the highest view count of any title on Nintendo’s YouTube channel at just under 17 million. Just like any Mario adventure, expect to see hardware sales jump. A “Deluxe” version of Mario Kart 8 will hope to continue momentium in April while new IP ARMS and a Splatoon sequel will fill in those summer months. Big third party support paints a rather more bleak picture with Ubisoft and Bethesda pushing older ports out the door while yearly sports updates in the form of FIFA and NBA will hopefully be the first of many more sporting franchises to make an appearance. Nintendo have never been known for their ability to get the big third party titles and it looks (at least out of the gate) that the Switch will be no different, which to some may be a worrying sign. Then again games will always be developed for systems that sell and right now Nintendo needs to make sure their install base continues to grow and not stagnate like the Wii U.
STILL TO COME IN 2017... ARMS DISGAEA 5 COMPLETE ELDER SCROLLS V FIFA 18 FIRE EMBLEM WARRIORS LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER MARIO KART 8 DELUXE NBA 2K18 PROJECT SONIC 2017 PUYO PUYO TETRIS RAYMAN LEGENDS SONIC MANIA SPLATOON 2 STEEP SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY ULTRA STREET FIGHTER II XENOBLADE 2 YOOKA-LAYLEE AS WELL AS OVER 60 INDIE TITLES...
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#1
#1
8
2,000
HARDWARE WITH THE HIGHEST PR OF 2016
PRODUCT WITH THE HIGHEST PR OF 2016
WEEKS WITH HIGHEST PR COUNT IN 2017
LIFETIME MEDIA FRONT PAGE SPOTS
300,000,000
29,000,000
850,000
900,000
LIFETIME YOUTUBE VIEWS
SWITCH DEBUT TRAILER VIEWS
LIFETIME TWITTER RETWEETS
LIFETIME FACEBOOK SHARES
E3 will be a very important one for Nintendo. In the last 4 visits to LA’s convention center the company has proven they’re not afraid to try something new. We’ve seen digital streams replacing the usual press conference, live demonstrations throughout the event and even a whole E3 presence focused on a single game. And amazingly Nintendo’s share of voice whether it be on social media or via traditional media has sky-rocketed. Last year in particular saw Nintendo dominate despite really only having one major game on show. This year though, Nintendo find themselves in an important position. They will need to show not only exisiting owners of the Switch what they have to look forward to but also fresh faces what they’re missing out on. They need to (and I continue to say this) keep momentum going. The line-up at the moment is a little spotty in parts and E3 is the key time to surprise us with announcements. Furthermore we’re left scratching our heads at the moment with regards to the online service, Virtual Console and a number of absent features on the system. Put those queries to rest. In short deliver, deliver, deliver. The Nintendo Switch is an exciting piece of hardware and clearly that’s how the public view it too. Media can’t stop talking about it (both good and bad) and social media is alight with constant discussion and videos. Sales are off to a strong start but let’s not forget we’ve been down this road before and just as is the case with any new console, its how you continue to captalise on that success and not just opening figures. Here’s hoping Nintendo do just that. Ryan Janes
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Review Rundown For Honor Publisher Ubisoft
Developer Ubisoft Montreal
Genre Action
Formats XBO, PS4, PC
81% 80%
79%
80%
86%
79%
79%
Nioh
Sniper Elite 4
For Honor
79% 79%
Worldwide average review score and by territory
Top three reviewed February releases
73%
71%
70%
72%
62%
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 Yearly February average review scores
What the press love...
What the press hate...
Excellent multiplayer.
Weaker single player.
Great new combat system.
Larger battles too chaotic.
Outstanding visuals.
Expensive microtransactions.
Plenty of variety to suit all player types.
Server stability issues.
For Honor is a bold step for Ubisoft, embracing a new IP in a market saturated with returning franchises. It has been gathering PR for over 91 weeks and has gathered more than 11,000 activities. We have collated all the data together and sifted through the hundreds of reviews from over 100 different sources to bring you this concise roundup. For Honor has been generally well received, reviewing on average at 79%. The game had a very successful campaign utilising its public Alpha and Beta tests to garner interest and make amendments to the final game. For Honor is a primarily multiplayer focused game and reviewers all agree that it excels in this area. The new combat system, fittingly named “The Art of Battle” has been praised by reviewers who say it is one of the best, with great controls, variety and balance. The main criticism was that it handles poorly with larger battles; reviewers found that as soon as they entered larger brawls they struggled to provide counterattacks and to defend themselves with the same skill as in the smaller battles. The single player campaign was both praised and criticised, the overall consensus being that it’s a good tutorial for the game and introduces the storyline, but it’s not why you bought the game. The multiplayer is what really makes this game and with more improvements coming in the future it looks like For Honor could be an IP that sticks around.
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Horizon: Zero Dawn Publisher SIE
Developer Guerrilla Games
Genre Action RPG
Formats PS4
96% 94%
91%
93%
97%
91%
89%
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Horizon: Zero Dawn
NieR Automata
93% 92%
Worldwide average review score and by territory
Top three reviewed March releases
69%
71%
71%
71%
73%
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 Yearly March average review scores
What the press love...
What the press hate...
Engaging and interesting storyline.
Poor lip syncing and facial animation.
Great character design.
Battle with human enemies lacking.
Visually impressive.
Supporting character animation/design.
Satisfying combat. Horizon: Zero Dawn had a lot to prove, releasing just days before a long awaited Zelda game, not to mention a whole new console; but despite this release slot it has garnered a lot of critical attention and might just be one of the best games of the year. After 94 weeks of PR, with more than 13,000 activities, we are finally able to bring you this concise roundup. Horizon: Zero Dawn has been praised across the board earning itself an average review score of 91%, which is no easy feat. All reviewers agreed that its greatest strengths were the storyline and the main character of Aloy, and the way they worked together. Team that with the impressive visuals, from the vast apocalyptic landscapes to the mechanical dinosaurs; add in the satisfying combat system, the smooth gameplay and pace and it looks like Guerrilla have found the recipe for success. In general reviewers couldn’t find anything negative to say about the game; the common grievances were simply the poor lip syncing and facial animation, particularly in close ups; the battles with human enemies compared to those with the dinosaurs and that the supporting characters weren’t quite as developed as the mains. But when you’re purely focused on exploring this huge open world as Aloy, this doesn’t seem like the end of the world and besides Guerrilla had to leave themselves something to work on for the sequel that will inevitably be on the horizon.
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Media Spotlight Eurogamer.net Date Site Launched: May 3 1999 Country: United Kingdom Average Monthly Unique Visits: 5 Million YouTube Subscriber Count: 340 Thousand Twitter Follower Count: 290 Thousand Facebook ‘Like’ Count: 330 Thousand What is Eurogamer? Eurogamer is the largest independent gaming website in Europe, founded by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman in 1999; it was designed to be at the forefront of gaming events catering to an online global community of gamers. It also helped carve the way for future websites, highlighting the changing online media landscape and the importance of up to date news. The site has gone from strength to strength and has won the Best Games Website award 6 years in a row. It was also the first site to have their traffic independently audited, publishing regular, transparent and accountable figures since 2005. The site is owned and operated by Gamer Network Ltd., a company that started with Eurogamer but has gone on to design and run numerous other gaming websites that it claims are amongst the most popular in the world.
Who are Eurogamer’s audience? Eurogamer prides itself on being the largest independent gaming website in Europe, but as shown on the map to the right the largest audience comes from America, with the UK not far behind. France barely makes it into the top 5 for visiting countries. This demonstrates the success of Eurogamer that is has successfully reached out to a worldwide audience rather than narrowing itself just to the European market. This is down to Eurogamer’s choice to branch into other territories across Europe, starting with Germany in 2006. The reason being that consumer
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gaming tastes and habits differ between each European territory and Eurogamer aimed to have a site specific to cater to each of these. They now operate in 14 different territories across Europe, but their success and reach far outstretches those borders.
How engaged are Eurogamer’s visitors? Eurogamer has always been a popular website and despite 75% of visitors “bouncing” away after viewing only one page users are still spending on average 2 hours on the site. A quarter of visitors come to the site via a search engine, suggesting that they may be bypassing the homepage completely and going straight to the story they have searched for anyway. In terms of user engagement Eurogamer launched its own forum in 2007 specifically for its online community. The reasoning was that other social networks were too vague for what the gaming community wanted. Now in 2017 the forum has over 500,000 registered users. But that doesn’t mean their social media accounts are lacking, they are active on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube with hundreds of thousands of users engaging with them on a regular basis.
What content do they publish? Covering all things game related, from reviews and breaking news to in-depth articles and previews. Eurogamer covers hundreds of different games. Tallying the publisher’s activities together the big 5 come out as the most featured. This is to be expected as they are the largest of
the gaming publishers and have the most content to be written about. In fact the top 10 publishers including Nintendo, SIE and Square Enix to name a few, take up 67% of Eurogamer’s content with all other publishers squeezing into the remaining 33%. Considering Eurogamer has featured almost 200 different publishers, that we have collated, this is an impressive feat from the top 10. It by no means suggests Eurogamer favours these publishers over smaller indie games; it just reflects the landscape of the gaming industry being dominated by these larger companies.
How strong is their social presence? Eurogamer has a very strong social presence overall, reposting the vast majority of their content to both Twitter and Facebook. They regularly upload videos to Youtube with an average of 51,077 views each time. In terms of their followers’ engagement they have seen the most likes on Facebook at just over 856K with Youtube not far behind on 799K. They have had over 400K shares of their content with 67% of that coming from Facebook. Eurogamer has proved how successful it has been in creating an online community not only through its own website and forum but branching into more traditional social networks too. Launching itself into other territories has further shown how Eurogamer is adapting to cater to its many audiences and keeping up with the changing landscape of PR in an online world. Katie Gibbs
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Top featured publishers How engaged are Eurogamer’s visitors? and percentage share
2 02
75% BOUNCE RATE
hr
mins
DAILY TIME
EA
15%
SIE
9%
ACTIVISION
8%
UBISOFT
7%
MICROSOFT
6%
ON SITE
1.5
DAILY PAGE VIEWS PER VISITOR
What website content do they publish?
Reviews
Videos
Everything Else
Breakdown of Publishers
Who are Eurogamer’s audience? Visitors by Country Top 5
Percent of Visitors
Rank in Country
28.7%
2,887
20.0%
593
4.3%
1,267
3.7%
2,478
3.4%
4,228
Top Ten Publishers Everything Else
Data from Alexa.com
How strong is their Other sites operated by Gamer Network Ltd. lifetime Social Presence? 33% 130K
Retweets
vs
67% 271K Shares
AVERAGE Youtube Views
51K
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Franchise Retrospect
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA 30 YEARS WITH THE HERO OF HYRULE Nintendo is a company home to perhaps the largest and most beloved lineup of video game IPs. In fact the publisher even went ahead and created a series to celebrate its existing series both past and present in the hugely successful Super Smash Bros. Donkey Kong, Kirby, Metroid, F-Zero, Wario and Fire Emblem are just a handful of names that spring to mind as I write this but trust me when I say there are plenty more quirky and impactful ones to add to that list. Of course when it comes down to the major players of the Japanese firm the titles Mario, Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda are always going to be the ones that stand out. And rightfully so, the three are among some of the best-selling video game series out there (Mario and Pokémon in particular seeing figures well in the hundreds of millions worldwide). Zelda while never a series to reach the dizzying sales figures of its older and younger brothers has always been one that continues to achieve high critical praise and grab headlines time and time again.
First Release: 15th Nov 1986 Latest Release: 3rd Mar 2017 Number of Mainline Entries: 20+ PR Activities: 45k YouTube Videos/Views: 5k/480m Tweets/Retweets: 23k/600k Facebook Posts/Shares: 8k/640k
When Nintendo headlined its E3 with a whole booth dedicated to Breath of the Wild many thought the decision was crazy, yet on reflection the results speak for themselves. The game received the highest share of coverage from media both over websites and YouTube the entirety of E3 week despite strong competition. Social media also paints a flattering picture with Zelda receiving the strongest interactivity over Twitter and among the top five strongest over Facebook. Then there are the numerous awards the game has received pre and post launch.
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As you can see the franchise has a huge impact on the industry every time Nintendo announce and release a brand new adventure. The world stops and take notice. Now Breath of the Wild in particular has stood out thanks to its diversion from the tried and true formula the series has long been known for but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen such a dramatic change. The very first Legend of Zelda of course had the adventure viewed entirely from a top-down perspective where the player was free to go anywhere he or she wanted. Zelda II would interestingly switch the viewpoint once more, to a side-scroller complete with heavier RPG elements before SNES release A Link to the Past would again revert back to the original’s style. The Nintendo 64 would then allow the series’ to take its first steps into 3D and we all know how that turned out. What followed would then be a split between top-down handheld experiences and big 3D home console ones and of course all of these have received mass critical acclaim. In fact looking over all mainline Zelda releases every entry has seen an average score of at least 83% with most hitting over 90%. An impressive feat for a series that is now over 30 years old. How has the series done in terms of coverage though when compared with its competitors? Much like its sales, Zelda isn’t seeing the same levels of PR support (45 thousand activities as of March 2017) as the likes of Mario or Pokémon nor competitive long-running series like Final Fantasy which has well over double. In terms of YouTube Zelda’s presence is much stronger competing with big fantasy franchises such as The Witcher and Dark Souls all of which are seeing viewership around 400600 million. Of course Zelda isn’t going to see the same mass appeal of competitive shooters as these make for a much stronger spectator experience, Call of Duty and Battlefield soaring well into the billions of viewers. Social media paints a landscape where Zelda is hotly discussed whenever new information is revealed but lacking outside of that. One could argue the timely gaps between new releases in the series prevent the series from headlining constantly especially when compared with a yearly franchise like FIFA or Call of Duty. Sure the Legend of Zelda may not be as mainstream as other franchises nor achieve the same sales but remains a truly beloved franchise and one that continues to set new standards even after 30 years.
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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is largely regarding as one of the most important video games ever created. It has been released on Nintendo’s Virtual Console service as well as the Nintendo 3DS system.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword rounded off Nintendo’s support for the Nintendo Wii placing a large emphasis on the controllers motion technology.
A Link to the Past marked the series’ first appearance on the SNES system and reintroduced a top-down perspective. The Nintendo 3DS would later retain this style for 2013’s A Link Between Worlds.
Top Rated Legend of Zelda Titles (1998)
Ocarina of Time (2017)
Breath of the Wild (2006)
Twilight Princess (1992)
A Link to the Past (2011)
Skyward Sword
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A3 POWERFUL INFLUENCE Delving into the traits of YouTube influencers
90% 1 in 2 key influencers have not covered a B title.
Of all key influencers cover a AAA title.
THE EARLY BIRD... AAA releases on average start appearing on key influencer channels 15 weeks earlier in their campaign.
AAA
TITLE DEBUT
AA 15 WEEKS
TITLE LAUNCH
1 in 3 Key influencers only cover a single game.
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2/3 of those ensure it’s a AAA title.
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Analysis based upon:•
Physical titles released during 2016 that sold more than 100k units to end of Feb 17 UK.
•
AAA = Titles that sold 100k during first week of launch UK.
•
AA = Titles that sold more than 50k first week of launch UK.
•
B = Titles that sold less than 50k first week launch UK.
•
Nearly 55k Youtube videos from 1800 global Influencers published up to end Feb 17.
WHO’S WATCHING? AAA titles achieve on average 200 thousand more views from a key influencer.
AAA AA
GOT YOU COVERED...
B
AAA games have on average over 100 more key influencers covering them.
B
A PUBLISHER PRESENCE...
28% of all videos published by key influencers featured products from EA.
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AAA
AA
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There are double the number of videos available on YouTube from key influencers for AAA titles.
LONGEST CAMPAIGN... No Man’s Sky had the longest key influencer campaign.
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One More Thing...
“Why your agencies can only give you part of the story.” Social media growth is a never-ending phenomena and it has well and truly established its importance in any video game launch. It has of course transformed how publishers and developers can gauge consumer reaction; without the need for expensive focus groups, way in advance of the first tracking of a pre order.
ship with data needs to be improved.
However when social media is in constant growth, how do you know if your overall quality is actually improving or just increasing as natural growth of the social platform?
Reliance has been previously on snapshot industry studies that are out of date long before the reader has had time to digest. In addition most in-house analysts’ focus primarily on sell through and will never venture into the new world of campaign performance. Even though statistically understanding this creative
Whilst upper management is comfortable with data, it is traditionally been only for financial purposes.
process could potentially reduce the financial risk more. As a poorly implemented campaign will surely fail to deliver the analyst’s own sales forecast. However where do you start with this analysis? Especially when you receive ten different excel spreadsheets, each in its own format and compiled by ten different PR agencies across several territories and languages. You could begin by using a universal online only monitoring company, with a suite of tools to match. Yet being comprehensively focused, their engine relies on keyword searching going forward only for collating your data. This will
The social challenge is obviously not quality over quantity; so instead of just sending digital keys to those who will take it, consider finding a influencer that has successfully promoted your competitor. Cultivate those media partners that have not published your trailer on their social channels. Also understand what your developer is doing, are they using their own channels as well as they could? Highlighting the good as well as the bad is a prerequisite for any campaign, giving your team hard facts how content performs for others, will encourage them more than an email request for more, more, more. The Fancensus’ belief is that the relationThe greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.
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Red Dead Redemption 2 despite only a small handful of mentions from the developer on social media and a teaser trailer dominated coverage late last year.
construct a false economy of analysis due to including coverage that merely mentions a product name in a non-relevant article. This will effectively create a different perception than could be the reality. In essence, the problem with keyword analysis is that it gives no more than a non-historic Google search, which of course you’re paying heavily for.
Try putting Homefront into Google and you will see 8 million or more responses, although only a fraction are actually video game related. Another belief all too common is that analysis only takes place after launch. Historically due to the amount of effort needed to analyse a campaign, investing time into scrutiny was probably not worthwhile. Other big risk industries that have already learnt this importance of real time data is today’s football culture. I’m not sure that the financial investment of Manchester United would be protected if Jose Mourinno purely relied on data post-match, it is common practice that even in the short 90 minutes of live play, adjustment of gameplay is a constant. An overhead camera tracks play providing ball procession, player distance on the pitch and gap analysis, all statistics we come to rely on to give us deeper game understanding. Every minute each manager constantly guides his team, providing analysis from the sideline to fine tune
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each opportunity to glean victory. The advantage is clear, don’t wait until the game is over to understand what’s happened. For 10 years and more, Fancensus has approached monitoring in a different way. Being industry specialists we categorise each communications channel not only by source but into several sub sectors. Everything from professional media channels through to influencers and retailers, developers and internal channels, we provide insight against any past, present and future release. All of this displaying instantly if the product is performing adequately against KPI’s and its competitors. Crucially this insight is available every day, almost real time, prior to launch and will empower any readjustment or enhancement of a campaign. We know that this, coupled with our front page monitoring of articles that secure a primary or secondary position, will do more than any standard Excel spreadsheet of keyword links.
We need to celebrate that social platforms have allowed us geeky gamers to grow outside its closet industry. We need to admire that we can promote several years prior to launch as Final Fantasy XV and Red Dead Redemption 2 have shown. Applaud that we can also elongate the promotional period far beyond the launch with Let’s Play, Twitch and eSports opportunities. However analysis is not just spot-checking retweets every week, or views on channels every hour on day of an asset drop. Campaign analysis is setting KPI’s, monitoring against competitors and flagging gaps as a campaign plays out. Data should be motivational and not used to beat up agencies or pressurize team members, as the correct use highlights where to create more opportunities and guide your team to even bigger long term success. Kerri Davies
eSports has played a large role in extending the promotional period of products many years after their initial launch.
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KICKSTARTING SENSATION YOOKA-LAYLEE MAKES IT’S DEBUT ALSO... INJUSTICE 2 HOW IMPORTANT IS RELEASE TIMING? ONE YEAR LATER - WHAT IS THE VR SITUATION? WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO SET A KPI 24
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“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this” Old Man