Fan-created videos about the recently-launched game “Evolve” have been viewed more than 118 million times, according to our research at Octoly.
“Evolve” was one of the first new games to be released this year, not including sequels, reboots and remakes. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by 2K Games, and came out in February for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows.
Here’s an example of Evolve, a sci-fi, co-operative, first-person shooter. This video is almost an hour long, and shows some five-on-five Electronic Sports League play on the Kekkeri YouTube channel. While Kekkeri is a modest-size channel with only 1,000 subscribers — they might reasonably only expect 200 or so views per video — the video was a hit, relatively speaking, getting viewed more than 8,000 times, eight-fold the subscribers.
First 4 Months Are Key
According to a Google study, 82% percent of console game sales occur in the first four months after launch. Because of this fact, game marketers know they need to sell as many units as possible in a small window of time. And to decide whether they’ll want to buy a given game, many potential customers check out videos on YouTube first to see if they want to buy the game.
As we’ve shown in our in-depth Octoly study “YouTube and Video Games”, the vast majority of these views come from videos created by fans rather than those created by game publishers or developers, at a rate of 19 to 1. This is because customers know that YouTubers will give them an authentic perspective of the pros and cons of an individual game.
Beta Keys Rule
The folks at Turtle Rock hosted a number of play sessions at various gaming conventions in the year leading up to the release of Evolve. They also offered fans extended pre-launch alpha and beta sessions. Some of these beta keys led to YouTube videos about the game, which built pre-launch buzz. Once the game was released, YouTubers who bought the game created additional videos, further increasing its profile.
So what kind of response have we seen in the first three months? Using Octoly’s influencer engagement and campaign management software, we’re tracking 2,132 independent creators worldwide (including 707 in the U.S.) who have made at least one video about the game since Feb. 1. There have been 131 million total video views about Evolve on YouTube, with 90% of those (118 million) coming from influencer videos. Over time, most successful games will see roughly 95% of overall views come from fan videos, but as a new game, Evolve’s numbers are looking pretty solid from a YouTube perspective.
YouTube Stars Are Overburdened
The number of YouTube views a game gets is a very good indicator of its popularity, as we’ve shown in our monthly Octoly/Newzoo Top 20 Game Franchises on YouTube ranking. But while it’s key for game publishers to engage YouTube influencers to make sure they have as much information as possible about the games, there’s a problem. Everyone knows that influencers are key to game launches, thus famous YouTube stars are bombarded by requests. Unfortunately, PewDiePie can’t talk about every game.
Mid-Tier and Long-Tail YouTubers
But there’s another approach. Using a data-driven approach like the Octoly SaaS platform, game publishers can find the hundreds or thousands of creators who are already talking about games like theirs (or their competitors). Many of these might not be huge YouTube stars, but they have loyal niche audiences. Using a big data software strategy, brands can go directly to these mid-tier and long-tail creators who may only have a few thousand subscribers, but approach them in greater numbers at scale.
And games can use Octoly to “evolve” their relationship with influencers and their communities even further. On YouTube, video isn’t about one-to-many broadcasting, it’s about many-to-many conversation. And sometimes the community finds something they aren’t happy about with a product. With Evolve, there was a downloadable content controversy. But that’s just one example — with social video there can be any type of challenges that can bubble up quickly. With social media, including social media based on video like YouTube, brands can’t manage the message — they can only communicate more clearly. By employing a “YouTube listening” strategy as brands do with other social media platforms, those in charge of influencer outreach can find and address problems before they exacerbate, even crafting new campaigns that communicate directly with targeted influencers to share information about something like prices and core services. And these superfans can offer both a megaphone to core users and a valuable feedback loop that can improve the overall product or launch.
Find Out For Yourself
Mid-tier and long-tail YouTubers are key groups for game publishers because these channels have loyal audiences who come back again and again. But until now, it was difficult to engage with creators at scale. That’s why we created Octoly — to help brands connect with creators accounting for the vast majority of views about games on YouTube.
Do you need to develop strong relationships with creators at scale? We can help.
