Turbine Nation
Where is the AC Franchise going? Upwards...we're steadily growing our population again.
We all know that the game was in a population downswing since soon after release. This was due to the many bugs on release...a release that was too early, forced (in my opinion) by Microsoft's marketing strategy more than technical readiness. Even when things began to get better early last year, the usual churn (turnover of players) that occurs in every MMORPG as time goes by was not offset by the steady flow of incoming players most games see.
I believe that this was due to Microsoft's attraction to something marketing people call "Viral Marketing". Most of us call it "Word of Mouth". When someone enjoys something, they tell their friends...and some of those friends will join. And then those who stay will tell their other friends.
It is an attractive notion, especially for the folks with an eye on the budget, because it doesn't require any marketing investment after an initial splash to seed the market. Unfortunately, this marketing falls down rapidly if there isn't an immediate love for the product.
We are all aware that AC2 was flawed at release. Too many bugs, too few features and the monumentally flawed GUN chat system. Ever since, Turbine has been playing catch up while trying to also produce the kind of content each month that we players expect from a game in the AC Franchise. Since release, they have done the equivalent in content of probably 6 expansion packs (Counting Hero System/Arramora as 1 and Crafting as another, the rest from monthly content). While doing this, they have also replaced the chat system and fixed thousands of bugs and (I know, some of you hate this...) rebalanced the entire advancement system and character classes.
Unfortunately, this game, nearly entirely different in many fundamental ways from release, is still working hard to overcome the poor word of mouth from those who tried it then and haven't been back since.
The challenge now for Turbine is to conquer that. Their first strike has been made with the same kind of banner advertising for the free trial that aided Anarchy Online in recovering from a similar failed launch. Of course, expectations were not quite as high for AO, since it was the company's first game, so they had less to overcome.
Jeff Anderson, CEO of Turbine, seemed rather frustrated by Microsoft's failure to market the game when it owned the franchise. Obviously he was fine with their initial push on release, but it was clear from him calling the new ads a "novel idea" that "hadn't been tried" since then for the game, that he wanted more. He, as well as all the folks at Turbine, consider AC/AC2 as the Foundation of the company and make a point of letting us know that they are a labor of love for everyone there.
Jeff and Jessica Mulligan made a point of praising the work of Bob Ferrari, leader of their slowly developing marketing team. There is more on the way for both games in terms of both advertising and, eventually, taking back shelf space in stores with new retail releases. As with all things in business, though, they will need to find a partner to manufacture and distribute the game for them. They are working tirelessly on it, though.
In addition, Jessica made clear that there will be more and expanded marketing programs coming rapidly. While I'm sure that AC1's will be tied in with the release of the new Throne of Destiny expansion set, AC2 will go right into a sustained cycle of news and marketing designed to grow and sustain an established game.
Now, I'm sure you are wondering at this point whether that first wave of advertising has actually been successful. I'm pleased to announce that Jessica has confirmed that it has. There have been literally "Tens of thousands" of downloads for the free trial. In addition, the paid account population has been increasing. Due to the natural staggering of playtimes, this doesn't always reflect itself dramatically in the numbers we see as players, but Turbine sees it and is sure that the increased marketing activity already planned will result in even more.
We as players can help, too. If you want to see more players on the servers, recruit them! Help those newbies that are showing up now and make their 15-day trial a good experience. Tell people about the game, let them know how good it is now. Help to create a large enough body of pleased players that Microsoft's original Viral Marketing plan becomes a successful component of Turbines more rounded plan.
AC2 is going to be here a long time. So will I. So will you, right? And those 20-30 friends you bring to play? :)
