Gaming is one of the most competitive spaces for new companies to enter. According to SuperData Research, gaming raked in almost $160 billion globally in revenue back in 2020. That same year, filmmaking failed to make over $20 billion. This marked a huge shift in global interests, as millions upon millions of ‘casual’ gamers emerged.
Today, gaming developers and marketing teams must work round the clock to release an innovative project that catches the public’s attention. Obviously, developing a fantastic game is the easiest way to do that. But there are a few other marketing tricks that gaming companies are leaning on.
The most important is the marketing bundle. These bundles connect players to multiple bonuses, which helps companies acquire new and loyal players. Let’s explore some of the most common and successful offers on the market.
Free Spins (Casino/iGaming)
Before traditional video games took off globally, casino gaming was the premier market. Worldwide, casino gamers have been using online platforms to play games like slots, blackjack, and roulette remotely. Slots are the most popular game worldwide. As such, one of the most common offers for casinos is free spins.
Let’s take a look at an offer from PokerStars Casino, one of the world’s largest providers. The company offers free spins for newcomers who register with the website. This allows them to immediately start playing at the casino, trying out eligible slots while they get to know the website and explore their interests.
Subscription Passes (Console, Handheld, PC, Mobile)
Free spins are a straightforward way to onboard new players, but traditional video games are a bit tougher to sell. To build on the success of streaming services, dozens of gaming companies have started to offer subscription passes. These allow players to access a roster of games by paying a monthly fee. The most well-known is Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass.
But passes cover the gambit, including console, handheld, PC, and mobile game passes. For example, Apple Arcade covers the most popular games for iPhones, while the Google Play Pass provides the same for Android users. But then there’s GameClub, too, which offers retro mobile games for users, including hits like Toki Tori.
A growing trend in the subscription passes arena is cloud gaming. Rather than download games via a subscription pass, this type of cloud-based bundle lets gamers stream titles straight to their device. Amazon’s Stadia was one of the biggest cloud gaming pursuits, though it has since folded.
Indie Bundles (Consoles/PCs/Handhelds)
The idea of a subscription pass is similar to free spins at casinos—to get players registered and get them active on a platform. But an indie bundle takes a new direction. These bundles are all about AAA creators, or indie developers that aren’t partnered with fully-fledged game studios. Compared to legacy developers, indie games tend to be more affordable and creative.
The Humble Bundle is one of the best offers available to players. This is a monthly bundle in which players can make an offer for certain gaming bundles. From there, the money is distributed to the game’s creators, along with a charity of the player’s choice. This makes it one of the more unique and memorable bundles—in indie gaming and beyond.
Platform-Specific Deals (All Forms)
Lastly, let’s cover one of the most common and varied gaming deals on the market: platform offers. A platform is simply a piece of hardware, such as an Xbox or Nintendo Switch, that allows you to game. Most pieces of hardware are associated with developers. Nintendo, for example, releases video games and hardware, including the award-winning Wii and the recent Nintendo Switch.
Unsurprisingly, platform-specific deals connect players to deals that are specific to their hardware. This means that players without the right tech don’t have access. Nintendo is the most well-known for offering platform-specific deals and for preventing some of its games from being ported to other platforms. However, even the free spins offer mentioned above could be clumped under this umbrella, as it's specific to the platform that offered it.
