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Are we ready for the “Netflix of gaming”?

The games industry is currently holding its breath. The start of the next gen battle is almost begun and we have some prices at last. The Xbox Series X and its smaller companion, the Xbox Series S, will cost $499 and $299 respectively (around £449 and £249). The PS5 is on an even playing field, with a cost of $499 for the standard edition and $399 for the digital edition (£449 and £359). But while we wait for the November releases, everyone is sort of just twiddling their thumbs.

To pass the time, some have turned to the wonders of Xbox’s Game Pass – a library of games you can peruse at your own pace for just pounds a month. And it isn’t the only such service out there. There’s also Uplay Plus, EA Play, PlayStation Now, and even Apple Arcade.

It’s the “Netflix-ification” of gaming and has gathered a lot of steam. This isn’t shaping up to be a flash-in-the-pan fad like motion controls; it has the potential to be what defines the next generation. Not consoles, but services. But is this a good future for gaming? Or will cracks begin to show?

The competition

So who are the big players shaking up to be? Xbox Game Pass might have the strongest library so far due to their heavy investment in third-party studios. Now those investments are starting to pay off. At their recent showcase, they revealed a flurry of games, all of which are headed to Game Pass day one. Recently purchased studio Obsidian released a preview build of Grounded and announced their new RPG, Avowed. Ninja Theory also showed off Hellblade 2. And we would be remiss to mention Rare’s Everwild. All in all, their library currently has over 100 games and will grow quickly.

But with Xbox’s All Access deal likely coming to the Series X, the prospect becomes harder to resist. For a $35 per month contract, players can get a Series X console plus access to Game Pass. It’s no different from a mobile phone contract and is an appealing option for anyone who can’t foot the upfront cost.

Their largest competitor, PlayStation, will struggle to match that. They have PlayStation Now, born from the ashes of OnLive (which PlayStation purchased), creating Sony’s own cloud gaming platform. Just like Game Pass, it features a collection of first- and third-party games, though we don’t see Sony pushing quite as hard as Microsoft does for Game Pass.

To complicate matters, EA and Ubisoft also have their own platforms where they serve up their games. EA Play and Uplay Plus both feature the studios’ biggest franchises. With games like FIFA and Assassin’s Creed, it’s certainly a big draw. Then, on mobile, we have Apple Arcade, which offers a more casual experience using the same model.

And while we’re here, we should mention both PS+ and the Epic Games Store. While they aren’t game subscription services per se (PS+ is an online access subscription and Epic Game Store is, well, a storefront), both give away free games to draw you into their service. Their intentions are the same as everyone above.

A utopian future?

On the surface, this all sounds fantastic. For a set price, you can access a library of games and play at your leisure. As games push over £50 and look to go even higher in the next generation, it’s an appealing prospect. Even more so if it’s something like Game Pass and you can access brand new games immediately. And with 10 million subscribers for that platform alone, you can’t argue it isn’t working.

You could say it’s more consumer friendly. We’re being given access to hundreds of games – mere pennies each. And the newest games too – Game Pass subscribers can play the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator. PS+ subscribers were given Fall Guys for free in August; a brand new third-party title at no cost. A more apt comparison might be Spotify, with the latest albums released day and date.

But that might not be where the similarities will end. Artists on Spotify don’t earn a lot of money from their streams – potentially as little as 0.006 cents. So 1 million streams would earn them a whopping… $6,000. Great if you’re a huge artist who can guarantee an army of loyal listeners; not so much if you have a smaller audience. If they can listen to you on Spotify, what compels them to buy your album?

The same can be said for games – why buy them if you can access them for cheaper? It might sound good if you’re a first-party developer with that insulation, but third-party developers stand to make less from actual sales.

And as pro-consumer as it is, nothing is permanent. Games can be taken off these services, potentially leaving you halfway through a game. If it’s a massive game you can pour hours into, that’s a lot of time lost.

In conclusion…

All of this is without even mentioning the competition presented by cloud streaming services such as Google Stadia. Its recent launch was solid and they have a strong foundation to build on. The benefit over the other options is you don’t need the hardware; theoretically, you’ll be able to play your games wherever on any device you please. Their Pro version offers a small selection of free games and, were that to grow, it could become a fierce competitor.

What remains to be seen is how sustainable the idea is. Right now, it seems like a dream. With these services, what excels aren’t the big franchises we all know, but the smaller ones who stand to gain a whole new audience.

But we need to be careful and ensure developers who need the support find the funds they need. We have no doubt that the likes of Microsoft and Sony have this in mind, and their pursuit to bring more studios into their fold is part of that.

In the end, their goal is to create an ecosystem where people stay within their loop. That’s what services like PS+ and the Epic Games Store are hoping to achieve in particular. They want to drive traffic to their stores and online services and use these sweet treats as bait. It’s a fantastic tactic and one people won’t complain about as long as they get to watch their library grow.

The future of gaming might not necessarily be a war of platforms, but a war of services. The industry is no stranger to operating at a loss to bring in numbers, and this could be an extension of that. The mark of a winner may not be the amount of consoles sold but the number of subscribers you have. How that plays out who knows; we’ll have to wait and see.

At REALTIME, we’re ready for the future of gaming. And with our clients, we’re working on bringing it to the gaming community. If you’re looking for a creative partner for your next project, get in touch with me at [email protected].

Four ways to boost your trailer visibility with performance marketing

Our friends over at attract mode have written up some hints and tips on how to boost the number of eyeballs you can get on your video game trailers with performance marketing.

Stefan Wehler has been working in video game marketing for over 15 years and has supported all sorts of game developers, from Independent to AAA including Riot Games, Funcom, Remote Control Productions, Astragon, Zeuz and more.

Take it away Stefan!

You have pushed that publish-button and dropped your trailer like it’s hot. Sure, you know your way around video SEO and have used all the little growth hacks to get it discovered by your desired audience. You named it with a keyword-heavy title, tagged it with the most relevant search terms, and distributed it across all your social consumer touchpoints. You asked your team, friends, and partners to engage and share the video to the max.

But what if you are still not getting the number of eyeballs you have been looking to achieve? I’m not surprised! In May 2019, 500 hours of video content was being uploaded to Youtube every minute. That’s a lot of content to consume, and a year later I’m sure this number is even higher. The good news is that one-third of the global internet population view more than 1 billion hours of video each day on YouTube (source YouTube). The bad news is you have to find your relevant audience amongst these billions of eyes.

The is where Performance Marketing is here to help!.. Let’s have a look at your options on YouTube first. You have 2 choices on Google’s video platform.

TrueView Instream ads

When it comes to length, many people have the misconception that you are limited to tv commercial like ad formats
with YouTube PreRolls. To be honest, indeed, short-form videos perform quite well. But assuming your trailer is of top quality, the actual time limit is 3 minutes. Viewers will be able to skip after 5 seconds, which is why especially movie or tv trailers have been putting a micro- teaser for the full trailer in the first 5 seconds for quite some time now. Its ultimate goal is viewer rentation for the full length of the video.

But even if users opt to skip your video, it’s no drama as you will not get charged for the impression. The charge applies either if a user watches at least 30 seconds or engages with your TrueView ad, for example, by liking it or clicking on the link.

You can have these ads run on either YouTube exclusively or expand to partner sites on the Google Display Network with the whole wealth of targeting options coming with advertising on the Google Ads ecosystem. Go broad with an affinity audience and topics or niche with in-market audiences, custom audiences, or even single keywords and creator videos where you would like to see your trailer running.

TrueView Video Discovery ads

The Video Discovery Ads are a different breed of video advertising compared to instream ads. If you have ever done search engine marketing, you know that it takes a heroic effort to set it up, manage the campaign, and keep costs under control. But don’t forget: YouTube is considered to be the 2nd largest search engine on the internet, processing 3 billion searches a month. And it’s much more accessible and even more relevant when your target audiences are millennials, Gen Z or younger.

To place your video in the search results is much easier to achieve and cost effective with TrueView Video discovery ads compared to classic SEM with a video creative. Where In-Stream Ads play in front of other videos, Discovery Ads show up on the YouTube search result page, on the right-hand side-bar of the YouTube watch page, and YouTube’s mobile app homepage. Most importantly, these ads require excellent copywriting as you only have 25 characters for a catchy headline and two lines of 35 characters for the description. Your video thumbnail needs to be eye-catching as well to attract searchers to click on your ad. Motion only happens if users hover over the thumbnail, which will give them a short glimpse of the video content. The other big difference to In-Stream Ads is how you get charged. No matter how long users watch your video, you only pay per click. Sound expensive? It’s not!

People tend to think that both YouTube formats must be quite expensive. But in reality, you can run campaigns on a cost per view of 0.05 € or even lower. So as your trailer is top-notch, you shouldn’t have problems running on a 30% view rate. A quick calculation backward shows that a 10k € spend would give you 200,.000 views and around 6.6 M Impressions. That’s what I consider quite a return for your money.

Facebook Video discovery

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, you will have distributed your trailer via social. The Facebook ecosystem holds another opportunity to boost your video performance. As context, you have to be aware that video has become a focus for Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg kept mentioning this in earnings calls over recent years. The agreement between Microsoft’s sunset streaming platform Mixer and Facebook live is only the latest sign of how much effort Facebook has been putting into upping their game when it comes to video on the core feed as well as on Instagram.

Boosting video views is baked in to the Ads Manager as one of the 11 campaign types delivering to both platforms. By default, the video view ad type will focus on pushing ThruPlays, which equals a watch time of 15 seconds minimum. Right after, you will be given a choice if you want to be charged by impression or ThruPlay.

To inform your campaign setup, take a look at Creator Studio first. The insights tab of Creator Studio is your go-to place to explore the organic performance of your videos. What is the average time people spend watching your video, how many 1-minute views did you achieve, and most importantly, which audiences have engaged with your video. Before you set up any targeting and budget make sure that you check these stats thoroughly and use it to your advantage on the hunt for more eyeballs.

Twitch Trailer blasts

In 2020, I cannot leave out Twitch for boosting your trailer’s visibility. You think the live streaming platform is only for gamers showing off their game skills? Think again, the number of monthly visitors has risen 88% between November 2019 and April 2020 (Source: Twitch), and the viewers come for more than games, not just since COVID. Music has gained popularity, sports as well and just lately Twitch has introduced watch parties where the users can enjoy the latest tv shows together.

On Twitch you can opt for classic pre-rolls, but, in my opinion, what works even better is getting your trailer delivered right to the community by their favorite influencers. Enter Bounty Board, Twitch’s platform to connect with millions of micro-influencers. It works on a Cost per engaged view (CPEV) basis, which means viewers will have to watch your trailer for at least two continuous minutes before you get charged. Once set up, your campaign is posted as a bounty to the connected streamers. The creators who see it and see that it lines up with their community can accept the bounty and start distributing your video. As micro-influencers typically have a highly engaged fanbase, the CPEV makes total sense as you can expect some good engagement numbers. Handpicking them would be tedious to impossible (read this blog if you want to dive deeper into the influencer funnel topic), but Bounty Board facilitates it for you at scale.

Hopefully the above has given you a good overview of some things you can start exploring yourself to improve the performance of your marketing campaigns. Ideally, you can even leverage a mix of them if you have the budget to do so. It will pay off!

Creating a AAA game trailer in lockdown

2020 has been an unprecedented year. The country went into lockdown as the world dealt with this continuous pandemic. Our way of life shifted dramatically, changing how we all work and live. For us, our entire operation was briefly flipped on its head and we were left wondering how we would deliver.

But we were able to slip into a very natural routine that had a minimal effect on productivity. In the end, we put a video game trailer together in the midst of a lockdown, testing our artistic, communication, and management skills.

The final product has exceeded our own expectations and looks to be a massive hit, with plenty of positive feedback and YouTube views, especially on the art direction, style, and music. So how did we pull together a trailer like this under such circumstances? With insight from Art Director Stu Bayley and Head of Production Jane Forsyth, let’s look at the challenges faced and lessons learnt along the way.

The lockdown

From the start, this was an electrifying project for the REALTIME team. Having worked with the client previously, we were excited to work together on their latest title. Of utmost importance was making sure the game’s beautiful art style translated well in the trailer, and audiences could see how much of a visual marvel the game is. Thankfully, we have some impressive artistic talent at our disposal, along with the fantastic artists from the client.

As if staying faithful to their visionary art style wasn’t enough of a challenge, then came the lockdown. Suddenly, our art team – so used to working in proximity and bouncing off of each other – was scattered. It’s a familiar feeling to many of you, we’re sure.

With some foundation work done prior to this, thankfully, everything else could be completed from our homes. In principle. But in this situation, you have to change how you approach work. Many people were and are still dealing with other external pressures like homeschooling and supporting a partner who was still working as a key worker. Everyone needed to restructure their days to accommodate this. For us, that meant entire working days were spent in meetings; it presented a new communication challenge.

Our homes became our workspaces and our families became our colleagues. And that was just as true for our client. Working with people across the globe and with everyone working around their families, we had to be readily available at all times. A colossal number of hours went into this project to get it over the line, requiring a level of motivation you wouldn’t think possible in the midst of a pandemic. But we got it done.

The challenges

With such a distinctive art style, one of the key challenges was always going to be making sure it shone through in the trailer. Everything had to be perfect, so we worked collaboratively with the client.

They valued any input we brought to the table and we each pushed the other to do our greatest, reaching new heights of fidelity. Character animations were on a whole other level. In all, we took 60 passes at this project to achieve the vision we were after, a far cry from the 10 or so times it might usually take us in a non lockdown situation. It truly is pixel perfect.

Working out of the office was a challenge, too. No matter if you went the VPN or remote desktop route (as we did with Splashtop), you were still at the mercy of the internet connection. But, for us, working from home went a lot smoother than we ever anticipated. It seemed so daunting, but everything came together in the end. And it showed us a new flexible way of working that will surely change how we all work forever.

The communication

One thing that had to change for all of us is how we communicate. Our colleagues aren’t just a desk away anymore. But, bizarrely, this project might have made us closer than we were before. The key is to find a communication platform that works for your situation. For us, Microsoft Teams was a godsend. And we had only recently switched to it before the lockdown!

It’s how we communicated with one another and with the client. When you both use the same platform, it just makes the whole communication process that much easier. We were always on it and so too were the client. It made the back and forth simpler, and changes can come about quicker.

But do you lose something by not being in proximity to one another? Stu couldn’t look at what one of our team was doing and give guidance before it went too far down the wrong road, hence why there was a need for so many meetings. It was harder to keep on top of things that you would normally have an eye on while walking through the studio. Errors will still happen – such is the creative process – but when you aren’t in that usual environment, you need to be even more attuned to the day to day in an effort to reduce their frequency. Finding ways to communicate effortlessly was a necessity.

Communication plays a much more important role beyond this. It’s about making sure everyone is feeling their best. Everyone needs support, whether they live alone or have their family with them. It’s why we made sure to talk to everyone as much as possible. Not just about work, but also about life outside of it. As they say, humour is the best medicine.

The side effect of this is our interpersonal relationships have never been better. They’re stronger because of the constant communication. This carried across departments, with different teams excited to share what they’ve been working on. It makes for a better work-life balance, a better team, and a better working environment.

The lessons

So what can we take away from this? What will we keep with us to make REALTIME a stronger business going forward? The importance of communication might just be the biggest lesson. Not just on the usual level you might have in the studio; it’s more than that. You need to communicate more and in a more genuine way, both in and out of work. It encourages teamwork, creating a sense of unity that brings everyone together.

It proved that we can pull off such a project and, with some tweaks, could easily be a new way of working. The studio will always have its place, but we have learnt so much about working across distance, making any future collaboration that much smoother. The flexibility can’t be underappreciated; being around family more can only be beneficial.

Something else to take away is the importance of giving yourself the breathing space. Jane knew when she needed 5 minutes away to run around the room and do anything that wasn’t work and Stu found solace in oat milk, of all things. But we all need to let off steam, and that’s a message we brought to our staff. We made sure to add some levity to proceedings to keep it lighthearted and spirits high. After all, we’re in this together as a team. Sometimes what you need is for someone to post a silly gif or just talk about their interest outside of work. It’s a coping mechanism that’s always appreciated.

Above all, we learnt we can adapt to any situation and still deliver an amazing end product. We can still collaborate effectively and work well with our clients. We can pull together as a team and deliver on our client’s artistic vision. And we can communicate better than ever.

The client appreciated all the time we put into the project to make it a reality and we are appreciative of the space they gave us to stretch our creative limbs. We know this lockdown won’t stop us and we can still create a AAA game trailer no matter what the situation.

At REALTIME, we’re always ready to step up to the plate and challenge ourselves. We focus on open communication and collaboration to deliver exactly what you’re looking for and more. If you would like to discuss your upcoming project and how you plan on handling it in this situation, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

Does Sony’s investment in Epic Games shape the future of next-gen console success?

The UE5 tech demo that I spoke about in last month’s blog has set the internet on fire. With the demo launching on PS5, Sony managed to secure something of a major coup for their new console which finally launches this autumn alongside the new XBOX console. Sony’s subsequent investment of $250m USD to secure a minority stake in Epic Games, developer of Unreal, which powers so many of the games industry’s biggest titles, has certainly raised eyebrows. So, what does this mean for other consoles, specifically the that will fight for dominance in the coming months and years?

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Unreal has seemingly scotched any suggestion that the deal might somehow favour the PS5 and disadvantage to Microsoft’s hopes for its own new console XBOX Series X. ‘There’s no secret deal’ Tim Sweeney tweeted last week, further stating that ‘Serious investment discussions followed from the Unreal Engine 5 demo we showed on PlayStation 5. I guess they liked it!’.

SONY’S MINORITY STAKE IN EPIC GAMES

Any notion that this represents some kind of ‘golden handcuffs’ deal that might tie Unreal exclusively to the future of PS5 should be viewed with some scepticism. Such a strategy would be foolish for Epic who have much broader ambitions outside of the games Industry. Indeed, Epic have already confirmed that the deal will still allow them to publish to other platforms. In the grand scheme of things, Sony’s investment gives them only a relatively small minority stake compared to other investments the developer has received from games developers in recent years. Although an enormous sum of money, $250m USD currently represents only a 1.4% stake in Epic Games. By comparison, Tencent still retain a 40% stake in the developer following an investment that it made in 2012, which it acquired at the time for ‘only’ $330m USD. With Epic now valued at a whopping $17.86 billion USD, Tencent’s investment has proved to be an extremely savvy one that not only underpins the value of Epic’s Unreal engine to the games industry but hints at the Unreal’s broader potential to other sectors.

EPIC’S RISING STOCK

The rise in Epic’s stock value is a reflection of their growing ambitions (and success) for Unreal’s application outside of the games industry. With Sony’s own portfolio of entertainment assets extending to Music, Film and TV it makes perfect sense for Sony to make this investment now. As Tim Sweeney mentioned when the announcement was made “Sony and Epic have both built businesses at the intersection of creativity and technology, and we share a vision of real-time 3D social experiences leading to a convergence of gaming, film, and music.

It’s the last sentence that is most interesting. Historically, console developers have always been fiercely protective of their tech, taking a ‘walled garden’ approach to their platforms, usually resisting any form of cross-play compatibility with other hardware. Epic’s own success with the juggernaut that is ‘Fortnite’ has enabled it to push for its belief in more open platforms, paving the way for cross-play functionality between competing consoles. Indeed, Fortnite was one of the first games to allow players on a PS4 to compete with their friends experiencing the same game on an XBOX One. With 350 million registered players and still one of the biggest games on the planet nearly three years after its launch, Fortnite’s success has given Epic a huge say in how games should be played in the future. Thanks to this, other games including ‘Dauntless’, ‘Paladins’ and ‘Smite’ can also now be played as cross-platform experiences.

Sony’s investment in Epic shouldn’t be viewed as anything that will give them an immediate advantage in the upcoming ‘console wars’ that the launch of the next-gen consoles will inevitably bring. Epic’s push for cross-play should be viewed as evidence of this. Technologically agnostic, Unreal continues to be at the centre of many leading XBOX exclusive games including ‘Sea of Thieves’, ‘Everwild’ and other forthcoming games that the REALTIME team have used the games engine to create Cinematics and VFX for.

UNREAL’S LONG TERM PLANS

Instead, the investment should be viewed as a mark of the level of confidence that Sony has in shaping the future of entertainment outside the remit of games alone. With Fortnite recently hosting a ‘virtual concert’ by travis Scott that reached 27 million viewers, it’s easy to see how such an experience might positively impact its music business. Similarly, with Unreal being used more and more as a VFX tool for Film & TV, this will also be of huge interest to their Sony Pictures division. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Asides from its ground breaking graphical capability, the tech could be used as the building blocks for a metaverse, Tim Sweeney’s dream for a shared digital space where we ‘live, work and play’ that may well turn Sweeney into a real-life James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS in Ernest Cline’s ‘Ready Player One’.

Sony’s investment probably won’t shape the outcome of who will likely succeed in the next generation of consoles, but it might well be an indication of new experiences to come.

REALTIME have experience in working with the Unreal Engine in all areas of our studio including TV VFX and Automotive. So, if you’re looking for an experienced partner who specialises in creative solutions give me a shout on [email protected]

How video game technology is breaking into other industries

Video games are one of the most-loved pastimes. To get an idea of just how popular it is, look no further than the PS5’s reveal which has – as of writing – garnered more than 23 million views on YouTube. It’s fair to say everyone’s a bit excited.

But for some, the most exciting aspect of gaming isn’t the new releases or the shiny new hardware. Its uses extend far beyond that. There are people out there who use gaming technology without even touching a video game. For them, it has revolutionised the way they work, learn, or even interact with the world.

Gaming has given us a lot of great moments but we’re here today to talk about the alternative uses you might not know about. Here are three gaming innovations that have found a place outside of our living rooms.

Engines

Epic Games has long touted its popular Unreal Engine as a resource for use outside of gaming. That will no doubt still be the case with its recently revealed fifth iteration. And plenty of people have taken them up on that offer.

It’s popular in industries where you need to render a 3D model for one reason or another. The automotive industry will use it to create hyper-realistic recreations of their cars for a configurator. Or the TV and film industry might use it to create pre-vis assets to give the production team an idea of how the finished product might look.

One drug development company has even used it to develop medicines. It came from a need to make the initial discovery and development stage simpler. It’s reasons like this why Epic created their “Enterprise” team, whose job it is to bring the technology to new mediums. Who knows, maybe it’ll play an integral role in creating the next groundbreaking medicine.

Motion controls

Opinions on motion controls will vary depending on who you ask. There’s a tendency to view it as “gimmicky” or a “flash in the pan”. And maybe that’s the case; Kinect is hardly in everyone’s living rooms, as Microsoft hoped it might be. But it has found a home elsewhere.

When Microsoft released the SDK for the peripheral, it opened the door for many other industries who could make use of its frankly amazing motion-tracking technology. Here’s a video of it being used to interpret sign language, which could break down barriers in communication.

There were even stories of it being used in surgery. Beyond that, it could be used for mixed reality purposes, such as digitally trying on clothes at a store, capturing high-quality 3D scans, or even in stroke recovery.

Virtual reality

VR is slowly gathering pace in the video game world, with games like Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx pushing it further into the mainstream. But such a strong piece of tech was always bound to find a home outside of video games.

In healthcare, it’s become a useful tool for training surgeons, with some using it to hone their skills for complicated procedures, such as brain surgery. You also have the military using it to train soldiers. And you can see museums adopting the technology to deliver a more immersive, educational experience.

Back to the automotive industry, where Toyota is using VR to teach people about the dangers of distracted driving. It could also be used during car production to let people look inside the car in great detail (thanks to a high-quality render) even when they aren’t at the manufacturing facility.

And more!

This one is a throwback; remember when the US Air Force made the 33rd largest supercomputer using PS3s? 1,760 of them, to be precise. Not only was it big, but it was fast, too. At the time, it was actually the fastest interactive computer in the entire US Defense Department.

But we’re still seeing more and more examples of how we can use games for good to this day. CCP Games have even integrated scientific research into their massively popular game EVE Online. As part of what they call “Project Discovery” players can take part in a minigame that can help scientists fight COVID-19. By marking groups of cell populations present in blood, they can help scientists understand how different cell populations are altered through infection.

And this list is far from exhaustive! There are hundreds of other uses for video game tech I wish we could talk about but no one wants to read me go on for 10,000 words. It’s great to see video games have an influence on even more lives and show how it can be a force for greater good. With the impending release of new consoles and technology, we can’t wait to see what it’s used for next.

At REALTIME, we’re always looking for ways to improve what we do, across all aspects of our operations not only the video game trailers. We live and breathe this technology and if you need an experienced body for your next project, our team is the perfect pick. Get in touch with me at [email protected].