Marketing for KSP 2

[Vl3d]

Decent number of wishlists on Steam, but consider that the game was announced ~4 years ago.

[Snafu225]

7 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

Those are low numbers.

You do realise the "spheres" and the relatively small range such a game still has?

Juno the most comparable game just released and it tops at about 500 concurrent players.
KSP 1 sits at about 4-5000 concurrent players.

668k average views is a ton and 140k wishlists is even more impressive.

Source: https://steamcharts.com/cmp/870200,220200#7d

Edited February 2, 2023 by Snafu225

[Stephensan]

5 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

Those are low numbers.

i mean war thunder a update per X amount of months, 140k active users almost non stop with some dips here and there, with there teasers (its marketing)

they get around the same numbers, with some peaking near 1 million aswell as ksp 2.

 

like, they don't need marketing like what the "AAA" titles have done, this is KSP, not micro transaction, horrble buggy mess on release, 70+ dollars with the higher tiers giving you FOMO items etc etc

 

this is kerbal space program 2

 

 

[Vl3d]

6 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

They need the marketing and they are seriously marketing it. The videos are marketing and the number of views shows it's pretty successful.

1 screenshot with the graphics turned down every 2 days is not marketing.

2 minutes ago, Snafu225 said:

KSP 1 sits at about 4-5000 concurrent players.
668k average views is a ton and 140k wishlists is even more impressive.

That's just the existing player base, that's not marketing.

[Stephensan]

Just now, Vl3d said:

1 screenshot with the graphics turned down every 2 days is not marketing.

i mean, it is

 

like we are literally talking about it, its literally generating hype and discussion about the game..

 

it is literally marketing

[Snafu225]

3 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

(snip)

Decent number of wishlists on Steam, but consider that the game was announced ~4 years ago.

Using your argument here and compare it: Hogwarts legacy was leaked 5 years ago and announced 3 years ago. Yes it has double the amount but in the end we talk about one of the most popular fantasy franchises which exists since 1997. 

[GoldForest]

3 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

 

Decent number of wishlists on Steam, but consider that the game was announced ~4 years ago.

Yeah, 4 years ago and the wishlisting has been steadily going up ever since, still goes up to this day.  Those aren't descent, those are good, great even! It shows interest is still  going up and hasn't leveled off, or even gone down. 

Heck, it got a boost with the EA announcement. A big boost at that. 

[tstein]

1 minute ago, Vl3d said:

1 screenshot with the graphics turned down every 2 days is not marketing.

I think your definition of marketing is very strict and  that it may not match their business model for the current moment.  Remember that no you cannot   go full adds allt he time during the EA up to the end.. they do not hav emoney for that very likely.  To chose the best moment is as relevant as to chose the right content.

[Snafu225]

5 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

That's just the existing player base, that's not marketing.

Never said that those are "marketing". Those numbers are used to give you an indication on how small the community and the niche is.

Heck, yesterday 25k community members on discord have been celebrated. "Only" 25k, the aforementioned numbers are huge

Edited February 2, 2023 by Snafu225

[Kerbart]

Just now, Vl3d said:

1 screenshot with the graphics turned down every 2 days is not marketing.

I doubt those screenshots are coming from devs acting on their own. Who releases them, when, where, what? All marketing. And likely using a plan. Attention, at any level, is a precious commodity, that you don't want to waste. Release videos and images like confetti now, and they won't be getting attention in four weeks. Every image rleased is being devoured by the community. People are claiming hey're using non-standard video editing software with RYB color models based on some pixels that might or might not be anti-alias artifacts. Do you think that kind of attention will be given when there's a dozen images per hour being released? Not only is it not about quantity, it's very much about not overdoing it.

I'd say the marketing (with a limited budget) is done very right, and seems to be a lot more focused than it ever was with Squad.

[Vl3d]

7 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

I doubt those screenshots are coming from devs acting on their own. Who releases them, when, where, what? All marketing. And likely using a plan. Attention, at any level, is a precious commodity, that you don't want to waste. Release videos and images like confetti now, and they won't be getting attention in four weeks. Every image rleased is being devoured by the community. People are claiming hey're using non-standard video editing software with RYB color models based on some pixels that might or might not be anti-alias artifacts. Do you think that kind of attention will be given when there's a dozen images per hour being released? Not only is it not about quantity, it's very much about not overdoing it.

With 3 weeks left before launch, this is the time to overdo it. Push push push the game, create hype. I can't believe we're so close to release and the main focus of discussion is if there's anti-aliasing and that the clouds look meh. Really, T2 and PD are big companies.. it's a successful franchise with 5+ mil. sales of the first game, they had collabs with NASA and ESA and Boeing. They have the adorable KERBALS! There's so much value.. and all we get is a few screenshots and no real details about gameplay and features. There was way more marketing done for the 2020 release strategy.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Vl3d

[tstein]

Just now, Vl3d said:

With 3 weeks left before launch, this is the time to overdo it. Push push push the game, create hype. I can't believe we're so close to release and the main focus of discussion is if there's anti-aliasing and that the clouds look meh. Really, T2 and PD are big companies.. it's a successful franchise with 5+ mil. sales of the first game, they had collabs with NASA and ESA and Boeing. They have the adorable KERBALS! There's so much value.. and all we get is a few screenshots and no real details about gameplay and features. There was way more marketing done for the 2020 release strategy.

No it is not, not when they might feel their  current EA  is  very short of features and drawing attention   now might do more harm to their reputation than good.  I burned a lot of opportunities in my company  by advertising hard when the  product was not  in the needed condition. Nowadays I do not do that mistake anymore.  The studio clearly  has a plan and they care for the  long run success . Howmuch they sell on the first month is not relevant. How much they sell during the lifetime of the game is what matters for them.

[GoldForest]

2 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

With 3 weeks left before launch, this is the time to overdo it. Push push push the game, create hype. I can't believe we're so close to release and the main focus of discussion is if there's anti-aliasing and that the clouds look meh. Really, T2 and PD are big companies.. it's a successful franchise with 5+ mil. sales of the first game, they had collabs with NASA and ESA and Boeing. They have the adorable KERBALS! There's so much value.. and all we get is a few screenshots and no real details about gameplay and features. There was way more marketing done for the 2020 release strategy.

Are you going to give them a million dollars for marketing? Hmmm? No? 

One rumor on why they are pushing EA is because they're out of money, or running out, because Take Two is upset with Intercept and their delays. No money, means no marketing. 

Considering that this rumor may, and that's a big may, hold some tiny amount of water, the type of marketing they are doing is just right. Cheap and free. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by GoldForest

[Vl3d]

Just now, GoldForest said:

Are you going to give them a million dollars for marketing? Hmmm? No? 

One rumor on why they are pushing EA is because they're out of money, or running out, because Take Two is upset with Intercept and their delays. No money, means no marketing. 

Considering that this rumor may, and that's a big may, hold some tiny amount of water, the type of marketing they are doing is just right. Cheap and free. 

Finally a more clearheaded business opinion.

2 minutes ago, tstein said:

Howmuch they sell on the first month is not relevant. How much they sell during the lifetime of the game is what matters for them.

And why not maximize launch sales?

[tstein]

Just now, Vl3d said:

Finally a more clearheaded business opinion.

And why not maximize launch sales?

 early exposure of  an unready product to a segment of its potential costumer base that is  not fully willing to accept its  unready state is detrimental to the long term image of the product... i learned that lesson the hard way.

[GoldForest]

2 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

 

And why not maximize launch sales?

Early buggy product = bad = no heavy marketing

Non-buggy release 1.0 product = good = heavy marketing. 

[Stephensan]

Just now, Vl3d said:

Finally a more clearheaded business opinion.

And why not maximize launch sales?

who know how long this game has been out in dev, and they said months ago it isn't ready, but you CAN buy now at a cheaper cost, to help the game become its best form, thats why we have a road map.

 

money, they aren't gonna take a risk that's putting tons of money into marketing (you have almost no idea how much it really costs to push a video game into large scale advertisements) we are talking six figures to get into just the large enough for at least someone to notice. 

 

it cheaper to pay two people 60k a year doing advertisement with photos and videos, than doing a huge large scale short term not long term with tons of advertisements, two people at full time even is cheaper than mass marketing scale for a few days/weeks at most

 

i really just don't want to see a battlefield 2042 or whatever type of release (even though its a beta not a launch) types of bugs, and literally killing the game due to how bad it is/boring it is

[Vl3d]

3 minutes ago, tstein said:

 early exposure of  an unready product to a segment of its potential costumer base that is  not fully willing to accept its  unready state is detrimental to the long term image of the product... i learned that lesson the hard way.

The base game should be ready and HQ. That was the whole point of EA and the delays, not for us to go bug-hunting.

[Snafu225]

1 minute ago, Vl3d said:

And why not maximize launch sales?

You quoted the answer.

6 minutes ago, tstein said:

 Howmuch they sell on the first month is not relevant. How much they sell during the lifetime of the game is what matters for them.

KSP sold 5mil copies (according to you, didn't check that) yes, they sold it over the course of 12 years. 

They are not playing the short game, they are planning for the long game/strategy.
If you'd stop ignoring any reason and solid argument the community gives you to try and show you that the numbers KSP2 is pulling are indeed huge, that would be a big step forward.
 

Just now, Stephensan said:

i really just don't want to see a battlefield 2042 or whatever type of release (even though its a beta not a launch) types of bugs, and literally killing the game due to how bad it is/boring it is

Because that what happens when they'd play the short game. Advertise it, dump it, release a new game in 2 or 3 years.
 

[GoldForest]

2 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

The base game should be ready and HQ. That was the whole point of EA and the delays, not for us to go bug-hunting.

No. THat's EXACTLY the reason for Early Access, to bug hunt. 

[Stephensan]

Just now, GoldForest said:

No. THat's EXACTLY the reason for Early Access, to bug hunt. 

my man stole what i was writing, there is a reason its going to EA, they need help finding/fixing bugs ALL the way to release so they won't have a huge fail.

[Snafu225]

14 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

The base game should be ready and HQ. That was the whole point of EA and the delays, not for us to go bug-hunting.

@Vl3d Please, be so kind and watch the very first 40 seconds of that.

Also, what @Stephensan and @GoldForest said.

And after you watched that clip take a look at your picture again.

 

I want you to look at for example Atomic Heart (110k), Starfield (180k), The Last of Us (66k), Ark 2 (84k) and Company of Heroes (102k). Those are all very big games, from big companies and big budgets with popular franchises and genres and KSP2 (140k) sticks with them in terms of numbers or even outperforms them.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Snafu225

[Stephensan]

6 minutes ago, Snafu225 said:

@Vl3d Please, be so kind and watch the very first 40 seconds of that.

Also, what @Stephensan and @GoldForest said.

And after you watched that clip take a look at your picture again.

 

I want you to look at for example Atomic Heart (110k), Starfield (180k), The Last of Us (66k), Ark 2 (84k) and Company of Heroes (102k). Those are all very big games, from big companies and big budgets with popular franchises and genres and KSP2 (140k) sticks with them in terms of numbers or even outperforms them.

right

[Alexoff]

48 minutes ago, Snafu225 said:

Those are all very big games, from big companies and big budgets with popular franchises and genres and KSP2 (140k) sticks with them in terms of numbers or even outperforms them.

Do you really think that KSP2 and Starfield will buy about the same number of players? I don't believe less than a million people will buy Starfield in a week. After all, they will be reminded of his exit from each toaster, players do not need a reminder in steam. But in the absence of marketing KSP2, its release may occur unnoticed.

[Snafu225]

1 minute ago, Alexoff said:

Do you really think that KSP2 and Starfield will buy about the same number of players? I don't believe less than a million people will buy Starfield in a week. After all, they will be reminded of his exit from each toaster, players do not need a reminder in steam. But in the absence of marketing KSP2, its release may occur unnoticed.

No, I don't think that. Starfield will probably be a full release at launch and apart from some updates a done deal. So the approach is vastly different and hard to compare.

The point I'm making is, as we're trying to gauge the success of the marketing, is that those wishlist numbers are probably the closest corelation to how interested people are in the game, as we don't get any further indications or anything similar to compare stuff like that. 
Even news articles refer to those, as they don't have more insight, and according to them KSP 2 is looking good for launch in terms of numbers.