Metacritic "all but obsolete" - Double Fine
COO Justin Bailey says studio hasn't seen review aggregator or traditional gaming press impact sales
Metacritic has been a contentious subject in the industry, from those who say the review aggregator has too much influence, to those who use it to make hiring decisions. But in a session at the Montreal International Game Summit today, Double Fine Productions COO Justin Bailey suggested the site doesn't actually matter all that much.
In his presentation, Bailey ran down a list of things that, in Double Fine's own experience, have and haven't made an impact on the sales of their games. On the "what works" list were Let's Play videos, Steam free weekends, and friendly informal cross-promotion with other indie developers. On the list of what doesn't work were free-app-of-the-day promotions, trade shows, and Metacritic.
"There's no need to obsess over Metacritic," Bailey said. "We've basically seen Metacritic all but become obsolete right now... We get obsessed with it. Other developers get obsessed with it. The press gets obsessed with it. But it doesn't really matter, as far as the sales of the game."
Similarly unimportant when it comes to moving the needle on sales was the traditional gaming press. Bailey said when he first arrived at Double Fine, one of his big misconceptions was that the press would have a huge impact on sales. Even with the company's Double Fine Presents publishing service, Bailey had expected that simply including these other games in Double Fine's press list would help them get a lot more traction and exposure, but that didn't pan out.
"I think who's looking at the gaming press are for the most part other developers," Bailey said. "And so it seems important to other developers. I'm just not certain how many gamers are going to the press. It seems they're being siphoned off into Let's Play and other avenues. They're going to review sites as the gateway to find their reviews."
Bailey pointed to the Disney acquisition of Maker Studios and Amazon's purchase of Twitch as evidence that larger companies have already established tremendous value for alternatives to the traditional press. Bailey said the media isn't completely useless from a financial perspective, however. When Double Fine was Kickstarting Broken Age, Bailey said the non-gaming press--particularly outlets like USA Today and Forbes--was especially helpful.
Rounding out the lists of what works and what doesn't were bundles, which appeared on both sides of the equation. Bailey said that bundles can provide liquidity in the short-term, but cautioned against their long-term impacts, suggesting developers wait until games have been out for two years or so before including them in a bundle promotion.
"I'm worried about the effect bundles will have because of the consumer expectations that I shouldn't pay more than $2," Bailey said.
So a simple number won't say much about whether I will like the game, or whether my family member will like the game. Different people are entertained by different things.
So it's my opinion that the centerpiece of a review is really the description, where the reviewer describes the game and how it plays. It's my opinion that Metacritic gives undue weight to the idea of using a scoring system.
Edited 2 times. Last edit by James Brightman on 11th November 2014 9:35pm
Good marketing ensures that I know the game exists, and also trailers and other promotions can build up hype. The deal-breaker is gameplay footage for me though. It's very rare I'll go for pre-order bonuses and I'm quite happy to wait a few days to see how consumer feedback forms around the game, and most crucially to start seeing consumers playing the games. With this approach I don't feel like I've made a bad purchase in a long time. Reviews (both official and unofficial) will have a place for a time in terms in helping sway a decision that's on the fence, but numbers have never been less relevant to me.
I wonder if GamesIndustry.biz does not apply in this situation, as it doesn't do reviews.
For PC, Steam being the most effective and most efficient platform for selling PC games, provides most of the information to general gamers to make a informed purchase. There are trailers, gameplay videos, user reviews, comments, etc. It effectively replaced metacritic.
For Mobile, the app stores do the exact same thing. However, I would note there seems to be more emphasis on the "star rating" system. So I actually would disagree that there is a reduced emphasis on numbers. At the end of the day, your mobile gamer (who is inherently more casual than your PC gamer) relies on star ratings to be persuaded to try your game. The Star Rating is in essence no difference than a % score or a grade.
For Console, metacritic is still relevant as it aggregates and consolidates the main source of review and rating information. Prior to internet, console players relied on gaming mags to get reviews and scores. Back then scores mattered greatly. They still do now to these players. The only difference, mags turned into websites (i.e. gamespot, ign), and now it is even quicker with metacritic ( I can see every mag's score at one go). Developers would be naive to believe that scores don't matter. Scores may not affect sales in some cases (i.e. over hyped existing franchises) but they still do matter when trying to make an informed purchase.
Regardless of the objectivity of the source of those scores (i.e. other users in mobile, gaming journalists for console, etc), scores matter. They matter just like awards do - silly thing if you ask me, but the edition that says "game of the year 20xx" pushes sales too. I agree, there may be less reliance on scores for indie, but I also wonder if that is because indies in general are not marketed to the masses - as masses rely on scores to quickly quantify justification for purchasing a game.
I think the most recent changes to the Steam store is showing us the future of how tail sales should be handled: Players express an interest in certain game types, and based on those interests, the store shows players games similar to their interests. This could easily include older "classic" games, extending the life of those games, and allowing players more access to games they love, both new and old.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Gary LaRochelle on 13th November 2014 2:28pm
On a serious note, I can't remember the last time I took a Metacritic score seriously or to heart but I'm guessing we're talking years and years ago now. Though unlike others, if people do use it, that's great but I would rather go with word of mouth, generally from friends.
I don't support them, don''t use their format, don't allow their format on any publication I am involved with and will not even put their name in a title or tag to give them the click bait view
Maybe if they actually DID something that would change, but merely saying " everybody pay attention to me because I made a group of everyone else work " is not praise worthy and certainly not deserving of the attention
( in my humble opinion, of course )
Edited 2 times. Last edit by Jamie Knight on 19th November 2014 6:31pm