Thread by @squidlord

And just so we're clear, pitching a game to a potential player isn't that much different from pitching a script, pitching a book, or pitching a story. #marketing #gamedev #trailers #pitching

Figure out who you're talking to. 1/24

It should be someone you imagine having some sort of personal connection to. Someone you're excited to talk to.

How would you tell them about this cool new thing that you want them to share with you? You want them to play it with you? You want them to watch it with you? 2/24

Now you're in a car with them on the way to the local fast food joint. You don't have a lot of time. You're driving, but you can talk. They have your cell phone and can flip through your script/footage as you go.

The radio is on or not, as you please. 3/24

Remember, there are a lot of distractions going on around them.

What would you tell your buddy to get them into this thing that you are excited about? What would you tell your friend to look at in terms of footage on your phone between your house and the local Wendy's? 4/24

You don't need to stick to some formula and it's probably better if you don't. 5/24

How do you convince someone you already like that this thing you want to play with them or read with them or watch with them is cool? That it's worth their time. That it's worth stepping away from their distractions. 6/24

That's how to make a good trailer. 7/24

Then if you want to get fancy, start thinking about how you pitch to people in different environments with different time pressures. 8/24

You're in an elevator with a coworker whom you hang out with occasionally, and you're headed up to the office. You've got 30 seconds. What do you think that you would show them which would encourage them to text you later and say… 9/24

"Hey, that thing in the elevator you were showing the earlier. Is there more of that stuff?" 10/24

Or you're catching the subway headed downtown for a game with a couple of your buddies. It's not too crowded and you have something like 15 minutes to tell them about this cool new game that you want to play with them. 11/24

How do you legitimately talk to your friends on the subway headed down to the game about how cool this is? What would you tell them to get them on board? 12/24

You don't need a formula for this. Truthfully, you don't need training for this. Both of those things are probably going to hurt you more than they help you because you need your own voice. 13/24

Would you share this zoom in and talk about the cool stuff that you did in the last session, really tight on the action, and then pull back to talk about how it fit into the bigger world?

Do that. 14/24

Are your buddies more into world building and epic scenery? Well then, show off some of those cool art pieces that you had commissioned for the backgrounds and talk about how sweeping the countryside is before you talk about what you do. 15/24

Do you think the little fiddly mechanics that the computer takes care of for you are awesome? Open with that! Talk about what they allow you to do has been really annoying in other games or places and what you can do with the cool stuff now.

A trailer is not the game. 16/24

A trailer is not the movie. For exactly the same reasons.

You can look at the artistic failure of modern movie trailers and see a bit of what is wrong with a lot of modern game trailers.

It's the formula. The audience knows the beats before they even hit the screen. 17/24

Same with most of the trailers you've seen for most AAA games over the last decade. 18/24

I'm going to let you in on a little bit of a secret:

The Let's Play movement in streamers has made 100 times more impact on the marketing of any game than any trailer. If you really care about your marketing, start streaming your game. 19/24

Yes you, developer, someone in the studio, someone in-house, start streaming your game. Play the game in public.

Let your game sell itself.

At this point, trailers are just a minor pitch. They are, at best, a pinky in the door. (They may or may not also have a Brain.) 20/24

But – that won't keep people from telling you that you need to do them, and do them their way, and that they will be happy to take money to teach you how to do them their way.

I trust you, though. I think you know best how to talk about your game, your experience. 21/24

I think you have friends that you've already talked to and found they got interested.

I think you have interesting things to say about your game, and you should. 22/24

Get a friend in an elevator, or a quick run up to get some fast food, or go downtown for a game – and pay attention to how you talk about the stuff you're into that you want to share with them.

Then come home and do that. 23/24

I look forward to seeing you all at my next TED talk. 24/24