How Licensed Games Appeal to an Audience
Our most recent guest speaker in class, Olivia Easley spoke about her work in public relations since graduation at Appalachian. One subject in this field she placed great emphasis on was the act of appealing to one’s audience; and while this process might seem obvious in some respects, it can be crucial to think like the consumer and try to imagine what strategies might affect them in even the subtlest of ways. As I thought about this, a particular type of video game came to mind that may incorporate this struggle more than any other: licensed games, or in other words, games based off a pre-existing intellectual property such as a movie or television show.
The challenge that licensed games must frequently try to overcome is managing to appeal to fans of property; one might say that those fans likely fall into one of two groups. The first group would consist of the fans who are more casual video game players, typically taking interest in a very limited number of games (if any at all). These fans will likely take an interest in a licensed game if it seems to appeal to more casual play and if it “does the property justice” (for example, how well it captures a story’s tone or a character’s personality). The other group would consist of the fans of this property who also happen to be big into gaming – a more hardcore crowd in this field. While these fans also look for a licensed game that represents its property well, they also tend to want a game with a high level of polish and gameplay mechanics with depth. It’s these different values in game design that can make it difficult for a licensed game to appeal to a large amount of a property’s fan base. Many game studios opt out of trying to tread the line between the two sides entirely, and instead try to appeal to one specific group.
Creating a successful licensed game requires deep research and understanding of a property’s audience. It’s a difficult process and it doesn’t always put out favorable results, as evidenced by the countless poorly reviewed movie or television show tie-in games that have released over the years. But with careful planning and development, these games can thoroughly satisfy fans of property and occasionally even bring in new ones.
Images Courtesy of:
Pandemic Studios
Savage Entertainment
