The Antidote to 'Tunnel Vision': Your Public Relations Department

Electronic Gaming Business, Dec 17, 2003

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of bad games. You know the ones I'm talking about: they hold so much promise on paper, and as they develop, features peel off, demos disappoint, and we're faced with bringing them to an editorial community who is even more frustrated with than we are.

There is a way to stop bad product decisions at their root - and it lies in an unexpected place: your public relations department. They are on the front lines of your product's reception in the market.

PR and the Green Light Process

I have long held that a communications executive belongs in the boardroom throughout the "green light" process. Like the head of sales, we are on the front lines of public opinion. Many times, a PR professional will know what kind of coverage you can expect from a potential title, and what the editors now consider hackneyed.

Many times, publishers come to me with dreams of covers, not understanding that their chance, even with a stellar game, is low. Jeff Green, editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World says, only one in 50 cover pitches becomes a cover story for their magazine.

So just as your sales department can offer you a forecast, your public relations department can provide a coverage "forecast," including your odds of a cover - and can ground your product publicity dreams in reality before you sign on the dotted line.

The Pre-Review Phenomenon

"Is this weird driving game a good idea?"

A client asked me this question before investing more money in an unusual new game. The product looked problematic, but I needed to explain my concerns in detail before recommending that they kill the project. With permission from the company, I placed three editors under NDA and provided them with short questionnaires.

They felt the game was "confusing," and would be a "tough sell." Specifically, they mentioned that the positioning will be "murder."

This is why none of you have heard of this game today.

The big surprise for many games executives I speak with is that top journalists are willing to do this.

Through their PR department, publishers can informally "test market" their game with the media. The feedback can save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and save the market from yet another failed game concept.

The process can be an informal solicitation of information from a trusted editor, or sometimes, a formal paid document from a professional who knows how to spot a lemon from a mile away.

"At first glance, pre-reviews may sound like a 'luxury,' but they make sense," said Paul Hyman, who has done them for companies such as Electronic Arts and Westwood Studios, Vivendi, and DreamCatcher. "It's a lot cheaper to make the relatively inexpensive investment upfront and reap the benefits later on."

A pre-reviewing specialist, Hyman works from an alpha or beta version of a game, and provides a confidential report regarding the strengths and weakness of it.

Aren't We the Experts?

Many publishers are resistant to the idea that their experienced internal staff is incapable of realistically evaluating a game.

"They get tunnel vision," says Steve Bauman, editor-in-chief of Computer Games Magazine, explains and "lose contact with the outside world." In contrast, it is a journalist's job to stay in touch with every product and trend on the market. "We're used to coming up with quick opinions," he says.

O'Connor agrees that editors share the ability to quickly "sort the wheat from the chaff." However, he notes, usually by the time he sees a game, "the wheels are already in motion and it's too late to kill a project." This is frustrating to them, as they can't stop what they see as an inevitable disaster from heading to store shelves.

Dan Morris, executive editor of PC Gamer, feels strongly about this: "The enthusiast press must be tireless champions of quality products, relentless punishers of low quality products, and misty-eyed heralds of the very best products. It is not enough to assume a pose of jaded or cynical detachment --such an outlook is of no use to people who are wildly passionate and hopeful about new games."

Please remember, however, that it is not a journalist's job to provide this service.

Bauman cautions that the pre-review process is "ethically dubious," so therefore publishers should limit their requests.

This process is most valuable when a publisher is venturing into new territory, and may not have the internal expertise to judge value.

For example, "if THQ wants to do a strategy game - they never do strategy games - they should look for outside opinions," Bauman says.

Morris says that a PR professional's role is simple: "To provide their clients with accurate reconnaissance and 'the bitter truth' about the reception the game is getting from the press. But that intelligence is for the publisher to consider. They gain nothing by blaming bad notices on their PR corps."

As long as they have executives willing to listen, PR people can make a significant difference in the games production process. By actively participating in the green light process and soliciting media opinion at the right time, a conscientious professional can prevent bad games from reaching the market, degrading a publisher's image, and pulling down the industry as a whole.