Blizzard begins to warm up for StarCraft 2 in Korea. Jim Raynor everywhere~
http://img1.178.com/chinagame/201007...3614468696.jpg
More pics here~
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Blizzard begins to warm up for StarCraft 2 in Korea. Jim Raynor everywhere~
http://img1.178.com/chinagame/201007...3614468696.jpg
More pics here~
that guy isn't jim FFS
It is.....
nice advertisement it dont beat the plane tho :D
They should have just made the copies cheaper than make us pay for these ads.
They want to make money. You have to advertise to make money. Besides, it is in all of our best internet to make sure that StarCraft 2 takes off in Korea the way the original did.
Do you really think this is the way things work? Like, really?Quote:
Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk
Comments like this make me want to have the ability to ban you.Quote:
Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk
Grr, link wont open.
There's pictures on busses and in front of cybercafs as well.
I'll try to take some pictures... Gives me something to do over here, it's rainy season so I have nothing else to do. XD
Oh, sorry for that, I didn't know that was prohibited. And yes, I have always believed that it's always an added cost to have ads and so have those costs added to the selling price.
Again, I apologize if that was a rude thing to say.
Damn I wish they'd have posters like that on TTC buses in Toronto :D!
And, people would just stop to oogle and cheer :D
Advertising is part of development cost.
aka. of the 100 million spent on the game, that includes ads. The cost of the ads isn't built into the retail price
But if you plan ahead before putting the price on, you know that each unit will help in stacking up the money for the ads right? Or, in reverse, if the price tag is fixed in the market, estimate total sales and take from that whatever amount you could spend for ads, and then choose what ads to pay for, right?
Typically, yes, advertisement costs are included in development costs. However, for this particular number, ad costs were not included. This was specifically stated as far as I know. This especially apparent since the article said that StarCraft 2 was the most expensive game to date with a 100$ million development cost while Modern Warfare 2 cost 250 million with ads. Seems pretty obvious to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noctis
Okay, so, if say Blizzard didn't do so much ads and made the clients cheaper for koreans, do you think that would increase sales?
edit: Ah, but the cost of ads distributed as discount to each client (x expected sales) would maybe amount only to some few extra coins for candies maybe.
No, it would not. Advertising has been a universal practice for decades for a reason.
I should learn more about this macro mechanic to survive the desert of the real more efficiently. :D
Is that a tarp? I'd have that thing on my roof for google earth awesomeness in a flash.
It's not prohibited ;) Don't worry. And you weren't rude at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk
That's just not how marketing works, nor business in general.
If advertising allows you to make more money, and then you put that money into product development, then that's positive marketing, which is a good thing.
Advertisement is a necessary investment (and NOT a waste of money obviously). They aren't brainwashing people into buying the game, just hyping it up and letting people know.
On a side note, those $100M they said SC2 cost Blizzard did not include marketing or ads. While $100M may seem to be a lot (especially when compared to WoW), it's really not THAT much in the entertainment business... Look up how much WoW make blizzard in a month...
100M is a lot considering you have games like Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 costing 40-50 mil. True they are different genre's but we're looking at quality, and those 2 are considering among the highest quality games.
I think the main reason is cuz it took them nearly 5 years to make the game, others are done in about 2.
Advertising costs can look steep as a lump sum, but are not so heavy when the ads do their job and the cost can be spread over millions of units sold and become very little, as GnaRwffotsirk just noted. An illustration:
Let's assume hypothetically that the mentioned $100 million figure includes current ad costs of $15 million, and we'll add another $50 million for the rest of the year. Let's assume 90 million copies sell between 7/27/10 and 1/1/11. That's about 72 cents per copy (USD).
This brings an interesting note that many people miss. Any production and ad costs incurred in 2010 do not get carried into 2011's product price. This repeats when 2011 moves into 2012. This is why we see so many games drop in price or get re-released in War Chests and other such packages after 3 to 5 years. Once the advertising sweet spot passes, these expenditures no longer mean anything to sales and can be eliminated. Only reprinting costs carry year to year beyond this point plus costs for patches and a generally smallish amount to be used elsewhere in the company.
Uncharted 1 & 2 cost 20 million each and God Of War cost 44$ million. These numbers are so low because Sony sucks at advertising and has somewhat given up on it recently. Where as game like Halo 3 may cost less to develop, the overall costs are well over 60 million. For StarCraft 2 to cost 5-8 times some of the biggest budget games, we know we're getting a good deal at 60$. I hope this silences the complainers.
*Ahem*
Advertising is only done if it increases the profit for the company. They obviously think that it's worth it to advertise, or else they wouldn't have done it.
How does advertising increase profit? First, it tells people, "Hey, look at me, I'm this thing you could buy." That's directed to people who don't know about the product in the first place. Then it says, "Hey, look at me, I'm this totally awesome thing you could buy." That's directed to anyone who knows of it's existence, (including those people it just told) but are unsure whether or not it's anything worth getting.
Are you either of those people? No, since A. You don't live in Korea and B. You're on a Starcraft fansite. So it can be easily understood why you think it might be better not to "make us pay." However, if money was not spent on advertising, the cost would be even higher (or if it did not change, Blizzard would make much less money).
Think of it this way. Blizzard makes X amount of money off each copy of SC2. Blizzard lowers the price, making 1/2 X on each copy. Everyone who would have bought the product at the higher price, buys the product at a lower price. Let's call these people A. Other people who were undecided now decide to buy, because the price is lower. Let's call them B. Lowering the price does not affect the buying decisions of those loyal, or those who had no idea the price was changed or the product was even there. Blizz makes 1/2 X(A+B)
Now, scenario 2. Blizz still makes X profit on each copy. Blizzard now spends 3,000,000 X on advertising. This does not affect the buying decisions of A. This does, however, generate hype among those undecided, and many of them determine they will buy SC2. It also generates hype among C, the very largest group, who previously had no idea about SC2, but now and are interested. For many of these people, the cost of the product is not a real issue. Many C's become B's, while many of them skip straight to A. Now, you have a new model for profit: X(A+B+C) - 3,000,000X.
I can guarantee you, 1/2 X(A+B) < X(A+B+C) - 3,000,000X. The advertising may cost a lot; a WHOLE lot. You will win far more loyal customers with a building sized ad than with 1-2 USD off the price tag.
@Noctis:
What about the obvious fact that SC2 is a trilogy and the sequels won't cost NEARLY as much? Consider how much the sequels will cost to produce, and bring in through sales, and then average it out. That's your total...
Also, the genre isn't the issue here. There's more than that. Unlike Uncharted and God Of War, Starcraft is a highly competitive game designed for esports. It's a game concept which will provide long term returns... not a one-time solo game liks chrysis that'll only produce sales for 6 months and then fade out from the top sales lists (even if people are still playing it, they won't be sending in any more money).
huge ad, but it doesn't beat the airplanes though!
Blizzard should put a bigger ad on the Empire State Building! That would show those Koreans!
Im liking blizzards methods of advertising. First the planes and now this!