The head of the Baldur’s Gate III publishing team – about marketing, dismissal and benefits of Steam Leave a comment

Current Larian spreads its games on its own, so it has an internal publishing wing. The head of this wing – Michael Daus (Michael Douse). And he, apparently, is not at all enthusiastic about how other large companies are engaged in gaming business – for example, he believes that it is time for traditional marketing in the cemetery.

Daus I talked with the journalist Stephen Totilo (Stephen Totilo). The most interesting theses of the employee Larian come down to the following:

Traditional marketing dies because people want a dialogue with developers and complicity in production, and traditional marketing does not give this.

Mass dismissals in the industry were not inevitable, but large companies are too slow and can only exist in predictability.

Steam has become the best site for innovation and offers developers much more opportunities than console shops – they are stuck in the past.

Now more details:

About marketing

One of the main topics of the conversation is mass abbreviations. Daus does not think that the industry is moving towards the collapse, but I am sure that traditional marketing is dying.

The usual promotion methods become less important: for example, fewer companies buy shows in advertising blocks of social networks.

According to Daus, Now, in order for the game to cause resonance in online discovers, marketing must be built not just on reporting, but on the dialogue. “People want only dialogs. They do not want to be passive observers. They want to participate ".

For Baldur’s Gate III, they did not do much marketing. Like, many say that the scene with the bear was a large marketing course, but Daus So does not think and calls it part of communication with the audience: Larian I wanted to show the extreme to which novels in Baldur’s Gate III, and create a contrast with a relatively ordinary romantic dinner with Karlah.

About dismissal

It is incorrect to think that only incredibly smart people run by huge companies who have everything they need to do the right thing. They are more like school buses with very, very, very large rotary arches. Or oil barges. They turn with great difficulty. In this industry, it becomes more important to act and respond very quickly if you want to grab the opportunity and succeed. These companies do not have this advantage.

I remember, I spoke to someone about this very important nuance: predictability is the only reason due to which large companies can exist. Everything is planned. Everything is predicted. Very smart people work within the framework of permissible errors.

As notes Daus, Do not hold on https://labcasino.co.uk to each employee – this is normal. Dismissions happen. But mass contractions are "about*b, which can be avoided". Contractions become massive because companies look at each other and reason in the key: “Oh, finally. Now we can. We wanted to do this already a lot of time. And now they do it all. Why not do it like that?"

Daus repeatedly repeats that the inevitability of large abbreviations is a myth. Yes, there are many difficult points (for example, changing the value of money), but not one of the companies faces bankruptcy:

There was only a risk of angry shareholders. And this is normal. This is how these companies work. The task of the company that is traded on the public exchange is to generate growth for its shareholders. Here is such a task. Not to create happy conditions for employees.

Daus Can’t say if it will become Larian go out to the exchange – the decision is not to him, but the head of the studio Sven Vinka (SWEN VINCKE). But how much Daus He knows Vinka, He will not want this: access to the exchange will give a fresh flow of money, but he will not make the game better and put it before Larian Additional restrictions on deadlines.

Great advantage Larian Just that it is flexible and dexterous-the studio can adapt on the go and does not plan any publishing moves for years in advance. But at the same time Larian nevertheless creates reserves and thinks out spare options just in case, clarifies Daus.

However, in a conversation about dismissal Daus It is optimistic: in his opinion, the industry now gives many opportunities, so the dismissed will be able to find a new place for themselves. The main thing is to create a strong gameplay basis and competently use tools to search for your audience.

About Steam

Be flexible Larian Steam helps – Daus He calls this store “the most important platform in terms of innovation” and says that if you make a very, very good game, then there will be a chance to succeed.

It used to be wrong. When companies made games for retail, they did not make games for players. They made games for store shelves. The requirements were different. It was not necessary to make a good game. It was only necessary to have infrastructure to sell a game that may not be very good.

And now (though it’s easier to say than to make) the best option is to try to create a very good game. And there is already an audience that will buy it.

The consoles still reigns a “retail production chain, which is based on software from 1999,” says Daus. Like, consoles are still relying on retail theories and have employees in their stores trying to predict the value of each game. And in Steam, despite all the problems with visibility, they only give you tools and do not force you to communicate with Valve – Say, do what you consider necessary.

Daus calls early access to a critically important element in the promotion of games: it allows you to achieve the very dialogue with the audience, which then creates a resonance in discussions.

I think our next game, whatever it may be, will also come out in early access. Thus, you can also remove many forced predictions. When you release AAA-Uni without early access, you have to make a risky bet that the game is good and people will like it. And in early access, you will learn about whether the game is good, much faster. And it helps you to cut your huge ship.

According to Daus, Large companies rarely bind to early access, because it is scary: you need to turn into a kind of service service service staff, constantly "feed the car". But Larian It acts differently and warns the players in advance that he is not going to add more plot or content in early access and thereby sets the correct expectations.

During the conversation, they remembered about Pokher-Rogalik Balatro – He hugged at the Steam demo festival and became a giant commercial hit on the release. Daus Comments it like this:

This perfectly emphasizes the main idea: the success of the game is determined by how much it resonates in society. It will not work to achieve anything when one person tries to determine which game will become successful. And it’s great. It’s just oh*!

Finally, Daus very warmly spoke about colleagues from Larian:

We definitely need to find some serum to Sven Vinka remained to exist forever. He is probably the best person I have met in my life. Many c Larian They think the same. Great honor to work with him.

We have a very good team. She looks like a punk rock band. Type, in the ass system. Sven Vinka Today said speech. Yes, those guys screwed up. We do not want to get hooked. We work hard so as not to screw up. I like it in us.

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Baldur’s Gate III

The best comments

Wow, is it really Steam more than just a store with the issuance of keys, and deserves its 30% profit?

Did Timmy lied to us all this time?

It is incorrect to think that only incredibly smart people run by huge companies who have everything they need to do the right thing. They are more like school buses with very, very, very large rotary arches. Or oil barges. They turn with great difficulty. In this industry, it becomes more important to act and respond very quickly if you want to grab the opportunity and succeed. These companies do not have this advantage.

I remember, I spoke to someone about this very important nuance: predictability is the only reason due to which large companies can exist. Everything is planned. Everything is predicted. Very smart people work within the framework of permissible errors.

When I wrote about the same in the comments under the news about dismissal that the modern market economy degenerated the game industry into something ugly and ineffective, and the industry needs a shame, some inadequate almost in the communists and adepts of the planned economy recorded me.

No, no, no, this happens only because this is the same economic model and everything was planned as it was also assured me. Although I remain with my opinion – if you fire a bunch of people, then nafig was to recruit Darmoes in fat times? And if they are not darmoeders, but valuable workers – all the more nafig to fire them into hungry?