Contests as a Source of Public Relations
I am going to have to promise here that I'll never do another two of my current formats for analysis or writing one after another. I know better than anyone that that kind of writing can get awfully boring for any sort of audience, no matter the case. I profusely apologize and hope that anyone expecting a proper analysis isn't upset by this double-up on my own thoughts in the Public Relations industry.
Contests are never not a bad thing. Most everyone loves them; there's no risk to the entrants, the rewards can be any sort of brilliant merchandise or cash and best of all, it's likely to be free/cheap. That being said, how can this apply to the world of video games? In short, brilliantly.
Contests that employ in-game mechanics to award players or have players engage in some sort of connected secondary content in order to win are some of the best ways to retain customers. Not only does the action of contest creation pump up customers already playing to keep playing, but it can also bring back old ones that may have stopped for some time. People want free things no matter what and will do whatever they can to get them.
Beyond this positive tongue-lashing, I'd just like to go over a creative way that I've seen contests performed to help the growth of two games. Blizzard, through their BattleNet Blizzard Launcher often create contests and promotions through one game that affect other games that they own/develop for. Most stunning of all this, however, is the fact that because of Hearthstone (2014), their reach for this system has skyrocketed.
Hearthstone is the only game available from Blizzard that is playable on mobile and it shows. It's grown very fast in the three years it has been around and draws a great crowd for all of its tournaments. These contests from but a simple phone game sow seeds of potential interest in all other games.
I don't want to think of how many mounts have been bestowed to players trying out World of Warcraft (2004) from trying Hearthstone and how many have ran off to try Blizzard's most famous timesink, but it is far greater than it out to be.
Contests are never not a bad thing. Most everyone loves them; there's no risk to the entrants, the rewards can be any sort of brilliant merchandise or cash and best of all, it's likely to be free/cheap. That being said, how can this apply to the world of video games? In short, brilliantly.
Contests that employ in-game mechanics to award players or have players engage in some sort of connected secondary content in order to win are some of the best ways to retain customers. Not only does the action of contest creation pump up customers already playing to keep playing, but it can also bring back old ones that may have stopped for some time. People want free things no matter what and will do whatever they can to get them.Beyond this positive tongue-lashing, I'd just like to go over a creative way that I've seen contests performed to help the growth of two games. Blizzard, through their BattleNet Blizzard Launcher often create contests and promotions through one game that affect other games that they own/develop for. Most stunning of all this, however, is the fact that because of Hearthstone (2014), their reach for this system has skyrocketed.
Hearthstone is the only game available from Blizzard that is playable on mobile and it shows. It's grown very fast in the three years it has been around and draws a great crowd for all of its tournaments. These contests from but a simple phone game sow seeds of potential interest in all other games.
I don't want to think of how many mounts have been bestowed to players trying out World of Warcraft (2004) from trying Hearthstone and how many have ran off to try Blizzard's most famous timesink, but it is far greater than it out to be.
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