jchastain
Posts: 2164
Joined: 8/8/2003
From: Marietta, GA
Status: offline
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Coming back to the original point… First, let's accept that Matrix is successful and generally does a pretty good job. That said, the most successful businesses tend to be those that understand that they are not perfect businesses and that therefore always look to improve.
Next, let's all understand that we are a rather narrow genre that they serve. We're lucky to have them because thinking gamers who prefer deep strategy over flashy graphics are definitely in the minority. Most of the developers here do it part time. They can't feed themselves by making games for us. They do it more as a labor of love for a little extra cash on the side.
The majority of publicity Matrix generates seems to be through reviewers. I suspect they promote reviews of their games and I'm no expert but that seems like a reasonably cost effective way of generating interest. Advertising would be silly. It would be fairly expensive and most of the customers reached would not fall into the niche of people that would potentially be interested. Another thing they did that I think was pretty bright was the retail release of GGWaW. By going that route it introduced this website to those who might be interested in wargaming but were primarily retail shoppers. I think most Matrix games wouldn't do well in the mass market, but doing an occasional push likely has benefits beyond that specific title.
I agree that they should have better screen shots available and that it would be nice to get them posted. I furthermore agree that it would be nice to use the "Coming Soon" section more regularly (or get rid of it). But I don't think that doing so would amount to any significant change in sales volumes so I understand why that's not a priority. More than anything, I think it might accelerate a few purchases as people would have more visibility into releases that are extremely close. If the game gets poor reviews or negative comments on the boards, some of those delayed sales might be lost. But generally speaking, I suspect most core customers of the genre come back and visit the matrix site from time to time and look around. Again, they serve a pretty well defined audience that likely are repeat customers. I think it is reasonable to assume that matrix knows the average number of titles per customer. And I think it is further safe to assume it isn't 1. I bet that average is above 2. If that is the case as I suspect, then most people are coming back occasionally and are looking at additional titles and the timing of when they buy is less of an issue.
From a business perspective, you also must give them credit for their pricing policy. While most games have a very limited shelf life and quickly fall to the bargain bin, Matrix is able to hold their pricing fairly stable - sometimes for years. Because these games don't tend to have as much flashiness and instead depend on design, they age much better. Because they aren't in the retail channel where stores must move product and clear shelf space, there is no pressure to depress prices. This is one of the reasons why timing isn't nearly as big of an issue. To address affordability and allow them to draw sales from less affluent customers, they have an annual christmas sale. That allows them to set a price point that will draw some additional sales without losing the additional revenue from more impulsive and affluent buyers throughout the year. All-in-all, I have to say that their pricing model seems pretty solid to me.
I also have to give them credit on their recent strategy of buying old titles and republishing them. That seems like a pretty solid business move for a couple of reasons. First, operating system changes often times impact old titles and there is a hard-core group of fans that will repurchase the title. Second, there are at least some younger gamers who might be introduced to the title for the first time. But beyond that, again they are creating buzz and traffic for the site. People who love these old titles fit within their target genre and if you can get them to visit the site to discuss or buy their favorite old title, they might find a few others they like as well. Basically, this is a very inexpensive way of expanding the catalog with titles that already have a fan base of customers that may have interest in other products. Even if these products don't make significant money, they serve a purpose. But I suspect the prices of out of print titles are dirt cheap and that there is some profit to be made in addition to the additional benefits.
As for building hype around individual titles through things such as pre-release AARs, that is clearly left to the individual developers. Again, this is not a corporate monolith we're dealing with but rather a collection of independent part-timers. I suspect and would hope that "lessons learned" are shared between groups and that Matrix has told other developers about the apparent success of the FoF AAR as a marketing tool. But I also suspect with a smaller company like Matrix that such lessons are passed informally and that they do not have a book titled "effective release marketing" that they hand out to each new developer. I agree that they can do better in this regard, though the word of mouth on the boards will generally emerge with some type of consensus so we're really talking about timing more than anything and the pricing strategy again somewhat negates the importance of timing.
All-in-all, I understand what you are saying but I see why the specific items you mention are not high priorities. They key marketing and publishing challenge in my mind is how they get people who enjoy this genre of games to visit their site. I see them doing a lot of smart things to accomplish just that. And so from my vantage point, it appears they are doing far more right than they are doing wrong. That's my two cents worth anyway.
EDIT: Edited to clean up some typos.
< Message edited by jchastain -- 5/28/2007 7:16:04 PM >
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RE: Come on Matrix...Promote your games - 
and by far I would prefer you drive the tractor...
. I was hoping an offer of a long fully paid vacation, accomedations in your barn.
RE: Come on Matrix...Promote your games - 
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