Posts Tagged ‘matt gorman’

BioShock is both blessing and curse for BioShock 2

Matt Gorman and Tom Bass of 2K Games recently discussed the marketing strategy of the new BioShock 2 while speaking with the[a]listdaily.

We all know that the original BioShock was 2007’s one of the best games. Tom Bass saw the legacy of the original as a blessing as well as a curse for BioShock 2.

According to him, in the marketing strategy, the challenge was twofold. He said that 2K is going to sell this new sequel to those fans even who “weren’t convinced that they needed a sequel”. It is also a challenge because the newcomers might not have been familiar with the original BioShock.

However, it is lately seen that the new sequel has been given much attention from retailers and this is just because of the success the original BioShock.

Bass said, “With the second one, retail was super stoked for it and just the level of presence we were given was amazing.” He also added further that the community built around it predecessor helped to “evangelize” the sequel.

Matt Gorman on the other hand said that the team was happy with the reception of the new sequel. He said, “There were few times you could turn around and not see BioShock 2 during February.”

The challenges of BioShock2

Recently the MI6 game marketing conference was held in San Francisco. The executives from the 2K Games’ marketing team was also presented in the conference. The made a small presentation upon the plan to sell BioShock 2.

Tom Bass, the marketing director, and Matt Gorman, the marketing VP, had given the presentation. They started it with a frank admission. Gorman said that the fans were not looking forward to BioShock 2, but “they held it as a very special experience, and a lot of the focus test research we did afterward, people said they didn’t want any more BioShock.”

The team also identified 3 groups who they wanted to market the game. Those are, the fans of the original, hardcore gamers who skipped it, and also the casual console gamers who might wait for the God of War III or the Mass Effect 2 instead of buying BioShock 2.

Gorman said, “The first thing that came to our mind was, everything we did with BioShock we had to throw away” when it came to the marketing plan.”

He added further, “We didn’t even open the marketing plan,” said Bass. The plan for BioShock 2 was to “focus on the newness, focus on the Big Sister.” The problem was that after the initial push, gamers said, “That’s great. What’s next?”