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LA Times: How Kate Upton's curves sold a mobile video game (Game of War makes 1M/Day)

V

Verger

Banned
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-...s=10153288191987164&fb_action_types=og.shares

More than 9,000 times since November, commercials featuring the swimsuit model have aired nationally on male-oriented programs: March Madness, NFL football, "South Park" and the like.

The ads entice boys and men to download the free-to-play smartphone game "Game of War: Fire Age." There are several versions: Upton relaxes in a candlelit bathtub. She rides a horse and leads medieval troops to battle dragons. She approaches the camera and slyly invites the viewer to "come play with me."

The boys and men have done so, beyond the wildest dreams of Machine Zone, the game developer behind "Game of War." Sales of in-app digital goods and paid "boosts" to speed up empire-building have doubled since the ads began, according to data from Think Gaming; the game now takes in about $1 million a day.

The ads worked so well that in February "Game of War" briefly sneaked past the immensely popular "Clash of Clans" as the top mobile game, ranked by revenue.

...

The ad spots aren't cheap. Palo Alto-based Machine Zone has dropped about $80 million for airtime in the U.S., according to ad and social media tracking firm ISpot.tv.

Until recently, almost nobody in the industry thought a TV ad campaign for a mobile game would be worth the cost. Only a tiny segment of a broad TV audience would download a mobile game, much less spend their money on in-app purchases. The initial success of "Game of War" and others is changing minds.

That's because of the unusual way mobile apps can be lifted from obscurity to mega-popularity. A big burst of downloads following, say, a TV ad campaign causes the app to rise to the top of the charts in app stores on Android and Apple phones. That makes it highly visible to millions of shoppers who wouldn't have noticed it before. That means even more downloads, pushing it further up the charts.

...

Mobile game apps brought in $25 billion in 2014 with an annual growth rate near 25%, research company Newzoo estimates. Developers want to make sure they're getting their share, and then some: TV ads from Machine Zone, King Digital Entertainment and Supercell Oy have helped games once dismissed as short-lived moneymakers remain huge profit engines for years on end. Other game publishers are following their lead, from giants such as Electronic Arts to Beverly Hills start-up SGN.
Click to expand...

Main point of the article is to stress that Mobile-game marketing and advertising is only just beginning and that lots more is coming. Doesn't touch upon the marketing campaign itself. But it seems the results are telling, sex sells overwhelmingly yet again.

It is sad though for those of us who see these games making money hand-over-fist which are some pretty crappy games (Sorry, Game of War is bad and boring) where as traditional gaming is struggling to meet ends meat.

I guess I'll never understand the mentality that drives clearly a huge consumer base to drop hundreds if not thousands on in-app purchases rather than fully-developed game experiences in total.
 
G

Guevara

Member
The weirdest thing is GoW ain't even a new game. It came out in 2011. This is just a new marketing push.
 
S

sometimes i game

Member
This commercial is so terrible, it looks like it was shot on a Samsung Galaxy S 1 in a park with costumes by Party City and random mini CGI characters by their nephew who just started 3d rendering class.

But hooray for freemium mobile games I suppose.
 
A

antitrop

Member
Game of War even makes Clash of Clans look like Super Mario Bros.

It's the very definition of mobile garbage. It's a game about nothing.... unfortunately not a Seinfeld game, though, because that would be awesome.
 
TriniTrin

TriniTrin

war of titties grampa
My grandpa was talking about a game out with tits. He kept saying " do you play the war of titties game?" I had no idea what he was talking about until he showed me the ad for this game. LOL, works on old dudes apparently lol!
 
F

FriedConsole

Banned
Got a relative that tells me video games are a waste of time. He plays games on his iPad for hours. Some people rationalize that phone games are not video games so they feel better about playing them.
 
Y

yatesl

Member
Sex sells. It's baffling, but it's marketing 101.

Verger said:
making money hand-over-fist
Click to expand...

mWj5JbF.png
 
A

antitrop

Member
Tron#1 said:
Funny I have seen the commercial so many times and not even ONCE contemplating downloading the game.
Click to expand...

I gave it a fair shot. Played it a few minutes a day for about a week.

It's absolute, complete, and total garbage. It has absolutely no redeeming qualities. The Athena character in the game barely even looks like Kate Upton, so there's that.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
sometimes i game said:
This commercial is so terrible, it looks like it was shot on a Samsung Galaxy S 1 in a park with costumes by Party City and random mini CGI characters by their nephew who just started 3d rendering class.
Click to expand...

You know... I didnt notice that stuff. Would watch again.

Not going try the game, tho.
 
S

Salsa

Member
Bold One said:
Holy shit...that really works?

do fellas think that if they buy the game Kate Upton will go down on them?
Click to expand...

that's not how advertisement works

it's weird that so many people think "oh they put ladies in this deodorant ad so guys buy it cause logically they're aware and think it'll get them those girls!"

it works much more in the back of your mind
 
R

RMI

Banned
good for them? I'm considering paying $10 just so I can stop having to sit through their advertisements between my words with friends moves.
 
H

Hyrule Warrior

Member
This thread just made me feel like searching for Kate Upton on google image search...god dammit, I just can't handle. I think I can understand why this worked.
 
S

...Scatter...

Banned
I don't think its wanting to be her savior like some suggest. It just that a hot girl catches your attention and then you're like, hey wait, what is this product?

It just makes you pay attention.
 
B

border

Member
Imagine how well a game could do if it actually contained tits & ass, rather than merely using them to trick you into playing fortress defense game!
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
This is like the Western equivalent of Senran Kagura, Crimical Girls, and all those games. At least Kate Upton exists.
 
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