The glory of Halo 4 has been unleashed upon the world. It is without a doubt the most anticipated game of the year, and going into the holiday season there’s no question it’s going be a blockbuster of epic proportions.
While the gaming industry has endured a lot of ups and downs, this season should be huge for games. Last year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 made a billion in sixteen days, beating out Avatar.
Halo 4 is of course not the only game hitting store shelves before the end of the year, and where there’s millions and billions of dollars at stake, there’s competition among other games and companies. So how tough is the competition going to be before the end of the year?
Well, Advertising Age has dubed the troika of Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Assassin’s Creed III the “murder’s row” of gaming. What’s most exciting about all three of these games hitting now it what it will do for the industry. Clearly, the gaming business has suffered a lot of ups and downs throughout history, it took a major hit during the recession, like everything else did, but things look very promising for years end.
We know that 343 Industries has gone all out to promoting Halo 4, even to the point where they took over a small country, and hired Hollywood veteran David Fincher to direct a preview trailer. We’ve seen other game commercials with major celebrities in them, like Black Ops II, as well as game companies buying time on the NBA finals and Monday Night Football, like the major studios would for an upcoming blockbuster.
YouTube viral marketing is also crucial, with the goal being get as many views as possible. One Assassin’s Creed video got over ten million views, with the target goal being 25 million views.
And Ad Age confirms that Ubisoft will be doubling its advertising for Assassin’s Creed III, with a Ubisoft exec saying, “Our goal is to be one of the top two games [this holiday season].” It’s clear who #1 is gonna be, and at this level you don’t want to be #3 either.”
