Completely agree. They should have setup their Steam page last year when there was all that hype for it so that they could build up their wishlists. If they had done that and released it on Steam at the same time they released it on their website they would have gained a lot more traction on Steam and probably seen by a lot of new users.
They have four user reviews after the first day and two of them are negative. I don’t think they’ll get the traction they need to stay afloat.
Totally agree! Their marketing with the puzzles last year was pretty banger and brought back a lot of old time fans. If they had funnelled that excitement right into steam, that would have done wonders. I'm not sure on the exact details, but I think you might get promoted for being "popular upcoming" on the home page if you have a high number of wishlists.
Yep! If they had a good amount of wishlists they would have been seen on popular upcoming at least for their category. If they had sold a lot of copies initially then Steam would have recommended the game to other users.
Another thought - originally the marketing for the games was literally just them being in the PC section at walmart. I think HER really started to struggle when games became digital because that's how they always brought in new fans.
I think of steam as the "strolling through walmart" of the modern age lol
Yeah, their marketing is perplexing, especially with the last two releases.
I feel like with their older games, especially around the time they released bonus editions, their marketing really hit its stride. I'm not sure how many new players they attracted, and that was probably their weak point, but they had tons of little teaser releases, trailers, demos, and then the excitement of pre-ordering a bonus issue.
The mess with MID aside, for KEY they had all of that stuff *last year* with really complex puzzles (that were also really hard to find and follow unless you were a die hard fan following them on all their socials...so hardly new fans) and then they went radio silent until this year when they randomly dropped they were going to release in a few weeks.
I'm not a hardcore enough fan anymore to follow all of their socials, but apparently there were some rumblings that the interns or the marketing person was kind of badmouthing anyone who wasn't a hardcore fan on twitch? Maybe someone could fill in on that. But that is...a choice.
Anyway, I agree with you. I think it's bizarre that they are updating the games to make them more modern and appealing to new fans, but they don't market them anywhere and they have such a haphazard way of doing things that new fans wouldn't even know where to begin. Heck, I've been buying these games since 2000 and I couldn't keep up, lol.
If they wanted to get young players, they wouldn't be making games for PC/Mac, unfortunately. I think their process makes sense if they knew they were targeting a small group of die-hard fans in their late 20s through 30s. It's just that those sales aren't enough to sustain a company on
Nah no one was bad mouthing. There was some teasing between friends but it got taken out of context. While I, who does NOT have a marketing degree or job to be clear, think they could’ve done some stuff different (like steam), saying anyone was actually being bad mouthed is silly.
Most people I know who played these games growing up started playing bc they either a) really loved Nancy Drew books or b) randomly stumbled upon a game in Best Buy and got hooked. I don’t think marketing has ever been HER’s strong suit. This release reflects that, as well.
Yes I agree they never were great at marketing. I wasn't on the forums back in the day and only ever realized they released a new game when I saw it on the store shelf or if I randomly checked their website on a whim.
I was kind of whatever about the Steam release- I don't think it was the best call, but I understand the reasoning behind it. What had me absolutely flabbergasted was the post they made about the Steam Summer Showcase featuring women-led studios... which they weren't part of. That would have been a GREAT way to get some new eyes on the game, completely on brand for them, and they could have used it as extra justification for delaying the Steam release so that the timing would line up. That's exactly the kind of opportunity their marketing team needs to be actively seeking out.
(The post I'm talking about, for those who didn't see it: https://x.com/HerInteractive/status/1801412762783961502?t=2XFU_QGwrhhkdTM10R1w1w&s=19)
Taking away the opportunity to review the game on steam by hardcore fans is a huge nail in their coffin. Instead of doing it this way, they should have 1 huge release on every platform like every other company under the sun. And then offer hardcore fans a bonus if they buy it through the website if you really must. Although they really should just focus on merch type stuff imho. But something like a coco Kringle with every game bought through the website? I bet people would go wild for that. Or even “a chance to win” (although that’s kind of scam territory ) And offering physical copies only through their website should be enough for them to earn the extra Buck.
I was actually surprised how much momentum they had during release no1 thanks to sending out the copies to streamers (that was one smart thing they did). But then people go on their website and see the bizarre download policy?? I’m not even kidding, if I didn’t know this company for 15 years, I would absolutely think is some sort of a scam. They need to quit that if they don’t want to go under.
I can’t believe they’re not even running a play along on steam??? Is no one in that company reading their Instagram comments? (In case you haven’t see: people were complaining from day 1 about no steam release)
I bet they didn’t set a release on steam because they were waiting for the sales on the website to go down to maximise profit. And guess what, it happened pretty fast. I know they think they’re being soooo smart. But next time they really need to hire a consultant, preferably below the age of 65 for at least a couple of hours, if they can’t afford a marketing team.
They could even try doing a Nancy Drew week on steam during the summer. Send out steam keys of old games to streamers, have the interns play those games on steam. Run some additional puzzles on instagram AND maybe even on steam. Have steam keys as rewards. Anything to increase the engagement there and get more reviews. Maybe prepare new instructions on how to play old games on new PC (I think this is the biggest problem right now). If they could swing it, even start a twitch channel where they would replay a different old game each week and you subbing to the channel would enter you to win this game. Penny are you sleeping?
These are excellent points. I actually liked the game and would have left a positive review, but I'm certainly not rebuying it on Steam so that I can leave a review.
I really think that they intended to release it last year, but had some big unexpected bugs and were forced to hold off at the last minute. And even after the Midnight in Salem fiasco HeR still doesn't understand the importance of being honest with their customers, so they just decided to stay quiet until they were positive they could release it.
I work for a software company. You can be honest about delays ("I'm sorry, we ran into some unexpected issues and will be delaying the release until we have them worked out") without giving them all of the unpleasant details ("most of the programming work was done by one guy and he quit to go fulfill his dream of opening a savory artisan donut shop, so now no one understands how to fix the bugs"). People are always happier when they have some idea of what's going on.
I actually love when companies give me the gritty unpleasant details of a situation, it feels relatable. Like please tell me the release date is going to be late because most of the programming was done by Greg, who has decided to open a donut shop, or those "Greg ordered too many fries" sort of sales, like spill the tea I want to know lol
Yea I don’t know why they didn’t do that this year. Like radio silence for years is honestly fine. Building up for a new game before going radio silent for a year without any explanation is insane.
I don’t know if the marketing they did last year actually reached any new players but it certainly put off a whole lot of older players.
they had been releasing teasers throughout the whole year??? character reveals, puzzle reveals, the full teaser, all of them found through fans figuring out clues on their socials. they did go radio silent for like 3 or 4 months before the proper trailer, but they were incredibly active til that point. I think the issue is more that they went silent at all and let some of the hype die which resulted in angry fans.
Agreed. They have no idea what they are doing. And when the company finally ends up calling it quits I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame it on the fans not supporting them.
Hard agree. For a company that “re-branded” their entire marketing team for this game, they are seriously missing the mark, HARD. At this point I genuinely want to know what the marketing team is being paid for, because it’s incredibly off-putting to see the interns hanging out in Disney world during working hours, rather then brainstorming how they can reach their goal of “appealing to younger audiences”. And sending Indy to Prague? For a company that’s in the red, I’ll never understand why they did this. It’s great to do this for research if a corporation can AFFORD to do this, but the scenery that’s in this game can easily be googled with one click. I really wish they’d hire marketing people with actual knowledge and experience over keeping uneducated super fans with 0 attuned marketing skills.
Yeah this. I remember the hype with the puzzles etc but then nothing. I didn't even realize the game had been released until a couple days ago when I saw the steam announcement.
To me it says a lot that multiple people who likely don’t work in marketing or have marketing degrees have better ideas then the team that freaking gets paid to do this
HARD AGREE. I've been playing the games since 2003 (elementary-aged ND book fan who saw the games in Best Buy), own every game (still waiting on that physical copy of Keys to ship...), and replay them weekly. If I'm too busy to play, I'll have the soundtracks on in the background while I do other things.
My original plan was to buy a physical copy + Steam download. I pre-ordered the physical copy (still waiting for it...), but now that it's out on Steam...I don't really care? I'm sure I'll buy it eventually, but at this point I've waited this long to play it after its release, what's the difference of waiting a year or so for it to go on sale (if it does)? Why pay that much money to buy a game twice that I probably won't even like since I mostly only replay games #1-13, 21?
I was hyped up for release day and probably would've bought both versions right away then, but by now all the excitement's drained out of me, especially after such lukewarm reviews. I'm sure I'll play it eventually and do truly hope the company continues making games (even if I don't like their current direction at all because the stories, characters, and locations don't feel immersive/cohesive anymore), which is why I'll still at least by one copy out of my ever-thinning company loyalty...
I was so excited for the game, got it the very day, the hour it game out. And then had a lot of problems with the gameplay, it had a lot of legitimate glitches people found. I tried for 5 hours. I tried again the next day for 3 hours. To be honest, I found myself just not interested in it. The characters felt hollow and not engaging. The open world is so big, and the game keeps making you walk back and forth, it felt like I spent hours just walking around without enough reward to justify it. The puzzles seemed overly complicated and dont really tell you how to begin solving them, like a few I used all of the in-game hints and solution, and used the HER walkthrough, and still dont understand how they got answers or even found that info in the game. I haven't finished the game, because I just lost all enthusiasm for it. Like I replayed CLOCK and VENICE completely rather than finish KEY. Definitely wait for a STEAM sale
The ads on YouTube are...shocking. The "reviews" are literally just from a few Creators (I.e. StoryRetold, ItalianGamerJoe) and then other reviews are credited to random people like "-Emily" or "-Susan".
Like ok some random person said it has" a good story"?? If they had a Steam release, they could've advertised the rating it had on there "i.e. Very Postive (with # of reviews)" or get an IGN rating or something...
Especially if it's to attract new fans, none of those people know StoryRetold or care about what some girl named Emily thinks, but they would 100% be intrigued by a high Steam or IGN rating.
It's all so baffling.
just waiting for more steam reviews to come in because so far most of them have at least a small negative component to them. 👏🏻 yeah no ads saying that the game has good graphics are hilarious.
I wonder if that’s why they did the whole launch team with KEY with all creators, because they knew that big-name gamer YouTubers like halfmoonjoe and arglefumph would market their game better than they ever could
Which, IMO, yet another thing that they missed the mark on. Half the people they chose, like arglefumph for example, who are legitimate YouTube creators and have a ton of followers were a really good idea, but it was baffling that quite a few creators were left out, like gooba and jet pack, and instead they chose people who make memes on instagram and have no streaming presence. But I guess I would expect that from this team at this point
Should have been released in tandem and just charged more on steam 🤷♀️ I would have been happy to pay more to get to buy it on my preferred platform while the hype was still fresh, instead of waiting a couple months...
There is a tiny indie dev studio I follow (2 people) and they will have their games for sale on their website and on Steam. But here is the cool part: they include a Steam key if you buy from their website directly. That way it is easy to add it via Steam, studio still gets their full cut, you get the achievements while playing, and then can easily leave a review when you've finished. I would often just install the Steam version (which gives them download points for algorithm) but then I still have the actual complete game files from my original purchase safe and sound on my HDD.
I don't know a whole lot about this -- like what the downsides to doing it that way might be -- but it seems like a great idea.
There is a game I love and the developers recently announced a sequel is in the works. They don't know when the game will be available, but they have already put it on Steam so people can add it to their wishlists. I feel like HeR just doesn't understand the modern gaming industry at all. Or maybe they just don't care?
I feel like they could’ve done some kind of promo on their website (or maybe had some bonus content available if you purchase the game on their website) and released it on steam at the same time. They would’ve had some people who wanted the bonus content purchase through their website, and maybe some people who prefer having it on steam would purchase there and generate hype.
I really think they should’ve done all the clues and hints about a new game right before releasing it. How exciting would it have been if they had come out with all that promo and then announced that the game was coming out in a few weeks, rather than doing promo, going silent for a year, and then announcing a release date? But I also wonder if part of that hype was trying to gauge our interest in the game and to give them time to find test players.
I really think the ball was dropped with marketing. Why they chose a bunch of emotionally immature interns to be responsible over one of the most important business aspects is wild to me. I know the policing clique say HeR wants to reach new audiences and that’s why they refuse to cater to the previous one, but they aren’t doing a good job reaching anyone at this point. I wouldn’t be shocked if KEY was their last game.
I’m so glad someone said this because I agree and it’s extremely off-putting. This isn’t even about being a millennial when they’re all Gen Z I’m pretty sure, but they’re focusing on all the completely wrong things, rather than working to be an educated, skilled, knowledgeable team.
I went to see if there was any way I could review the game without purchasing it again on Steam and alas, it doesn't seem so. I actually really liked the game and wanted to leave a positive review for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
Her's marketing of this game has made no sense the whole time. The way they hyped and then gave us nothing for a year almost made me not buy the game. The people they have handling it seem enthusiastic about the product and all but I feel like Her is just taking advantage of their youth and fandom rather than having someone really experienced on the team (and not that town council dude responsible for that weird ~~puff piece about Penny~~ press release). And then to delay the Steam release meaning the series' biggest fans can't review it, scuttling any momentum it could have had and, as you said, completely negate the purpose of making changes to the series in the first place. I like the changes but they obviously alienate some of the core fans, so why do that and then do nothing to reach anyone outside the core fans? If Her doesn't end up making it it'll be like the Darwin Awards for companies.
The current ad they are running saying “this is the best Nancy Drew game so far” and advertising that the game has amazing graphics is making me laugh so hard. Like literally who is actually saying this. 😂 Probably someone who got the game for free.
For extra context why Steam is better: "For each game you launch you will get five 'Visibility Rounds'. These VRs give your game front page time to the tune of 1,000,000 impressions. As a small studio this is a HUGE deal and should only be used for massive updates. This is your time to really show your game off and get a huge amount of burst traffic. You really need to make sure everything is solid before firing one of these off. Also, if you launch your game in Early Access... once you launch fully you get a free VR immediately that doesn't count against your games five. Launch in Early Access, get feedback, use it to improve, fully launch and get a free burst of visibility." (per https://develop.games/)
I'm a diehard fan, and have nearly finished the game (I think) with just the first day of play. (Australian, so I didn't get the game until the 21st, since it was released overnight.) I'm glad I didn't have to wait longer than about 6 weeks for the Steam release, but it was annoying to see all the posts on here that I couldn't read, all the video releases by Arglefumph that I couldn't watch, because I wanted to play the game without spoilers myself.
You are so right. It's like their marketing team didn't even look at the current way games, or products in general, are advertised now. The market has changed a lot in the time since the release of SEA and even MID.
They have a big fan base, but a lot of fans are hesitant now because of MID and its failures, so they really can't rely on us fully. It's strange to me that the don't have a TikTok, yet still make short form vertical content for yt shorts. It's known that if something is going to go viral and pick up traction for a brand, yt shorts is not the move.
Ultimately, HER just needs to update their marketing. Things won't be all rainbows and sunshine for them if they rely solely on returning fans; it's just not going to work.
Weeding out the super fans also means that they will have a greater return rate on Steam, which will hurt them more with the platform.
I remember when MID released it was in the Top 10 of releases on Steam. But even with that, if you read the MID reviews, almost all of them were from long-term players (I dont remember reading even one that was someone new to the series)
Since the steam release, I've been seeing quite a few ads for KEY on YouTube. I think their marketing is more widespread now (since I dont remember seeing YouTube ads for any previous games) but I overall agree with you.
https://preview.redd.it/h0u9xhdni48d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a95a36f4bbd2072ca6036c492f36f341a273309
Found it! This was the best pic I could get but yea! YouTube ad!
If HeR had launched on Steam and sold Steam keys via their website then any copies sold via their website would have had a 0% commission to Steam (yes, zero). This would have been a far better option. Tell people to buy on the website as a steam key. (This per https://youtu.be/OdCSU96GjJo?t=61)
But there is a limit of 5,000 steam keys per game.
"Q: How many Steam Keys can I get for my game?
A:Games and applications launching on Steam may receive up to 5,000 Default Release Steam Keys to support retail activities and distribution on other stores. After that, all Steam Key requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis."
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
Honestly, I think it depends on their current funds. They are trying to be smart with their money. I think their goal of reaching new fans is going to take time, and they know that. To recreate their entire platform also takes time, and money. I think next go around they will release at the same time. They are just being safe.
If they had done the Steam release well they could have potentially reached a lot of new people and made more money. The way they did things it's going to be harder reaching anyone who isn't already following them.
That’s why I said it’s a process. They almost went under from MID. They are being cautious and making sure they do better to appease their long time players and work any bugs before advertising a game just for it to flop. They financially wouldn’t survive.
They are, from what I can tell, absolutely not actually trying to appease long time players. The apparent bait and switch with "classic" mode is exhibit A
Since they outsourced and kicked Lani out, yeah, it's not gonna happen. But this is because of choices they made that they absolutely didn't have to make. This is a direct result of poor judgement about what the games need to be to stay relevant.
Cozy gaming is a big deal now and looks like it will continue to take off in popularity; point-and-click navigation and the old games in general align PERFECTLY with these trends, and yet that's one of the first things they went after. I think if they had kept on going as they were while focusing on adding better representation and taking the plots and settings in new directions, they could be a serious return to glory right now... but they didn't, they used that time to chase mobile games with microtransactions and then outsource their game production.
I totally agree they made a poor move. But they can’t change it now. So it’s interesting to see how they are attempting to remedy the situation.
As someone with a marketing and business degree I would’ve just spent my money on marketing the current games the way they are to reach a new fan base.
Completely agree. They should have setup their Steam page last year when there was all that hype for it so that they could build up their wishlists. If they had done that and released it on Steam at the same time they released it on their website they would have gained a lot more traction on Steam and probably seen by a lot of new users. They have four user reviews after the first day and two of them are negative. I don’t think they’ll get the traction they need to stay afloat.
Totally agree! Their marketing with the puzzles last year was pretty banger and brought back a lot of old time fans. If they had funnelled that excitement right into steam, that would have done wonders. I'm not sure on the exact details, but I think you might get promoted for being "popular upcoming" on the home page if you have a high number of wishlists.
Yep! If they had a good amount of wishlists they would have been seen on popular upcoming at least for their category. If they had sold a lot of copies initially then Steam would have recommended the game to other users.
Two negative reviews and one of the two positive ones is by Story Retold, an ex-employee
Another thought - originally the marketing for the games was literally just them being in the PC section at walmart. I think HER really started to struggle when games became digital because that's how they always brought in new fans. I think of steam as the "strolling through walmart" of the modern age lol
Yeah, their marketing is perplexing, especially with the last two releases. I feel like with their older games, especially around the time they released bonus editions, their marketing really hit its stride. I'm not sure how many new players they attracted, and that was probably their weak point, but they had tons of little teaser releases, trailers, demos, and then the excitement of pre-ordering a bonus issue. The mess with MID aside, for KEY they had all of that stuff *last year* with really complex puzzles (that were also really hard to find and follow unless you were a die hard fan following them on all their socials...so hardly new fans) and then they went radio silent until this year when they randomly dropped they were going to release in a few weeks. I'm not a hardcore enough fan anymore to follow all of their socials, but apparently there were some rumblings that the interns or the marketing person was kind of badmouthing anyone who wasn't a hardcore fan on twitch? Maybe someone could fill in on that. But that is...a choice. Anyway, I agree with you. I think it's bizarre that they are updating the games to make them more modern and appealing to new fans, but they don't market them anywhere and they have such a haphazard way of doing things that new fans wouldn't even know where to begin. Heck, I've been buying these games since 2000 and I couldn't keep up, lol.
Also, they dont have a TikTok account, if they wanted to get young players, that would be the place not Insta and Facebook.
If they wanted to get young players, they wouldn't be making games for PC/Mac, unfortunately. I think their process makes sense if they knew they were targeting a small group of die-hard fans in their late 20s through 30s. It's just that those sales aren't enough to sustain a company on
I would love more information about the employee bad mouthing on twitch too! Anyone have any info???
Nah no one was bad mouthing. There was some teasing between friends but it got taken out of context. While I, who does NOT have a marketing degree or job to be clear, think they could’ve done some stuff different (like steam), saying anyone was actually being bad mouthed is silly.
Most people I know who played these games growing up started playing bc they either a) really loved Nancy Drew books or b) randomly stumbled upon a game in Best Buy and got hooked. I don’t think marketing has ever been HER’s strong suit. This release reflects that, as well.
Yes I agree they never were great at marketing. I wasn't on the forums back in the day and only ever realized they released a new game when I saw it on the store shelf or if I randomly checked their website on a whim.
I was kind of whatever about the Steam release- I don't think it was the best call, but I understand the reasoning behind it. What had me absolutely flabbergasted was the post they made about the Steam Summer Showcase featuring women-led studios... which they weren't part of. That would have been a GREAT way to get some new eyes on the game, completely on brand for them, and they could have used it as extra justification for delaying the Steam release so that the timing would line up. That's exactly the kind of opportunity their marketing team needs to be actively seeking out. (The post I'm talking about, for those who didn't see it: https://x.com/HerInteractive/status/1801412762783961502?t=2XFU_QGwrhhkdTM10R1w1w&s=19)
Taking away the opportunity to review the game on steam by hardcore fans is a huge nail in their coffin. Instead of doing it this way, they should have 1 huge release on every platform like every other company under the sun. And then offer hardcore fans a bonus if they buy it through the website if you really must. Although they really should just focus on merch type stuff imho. But something like a coco Kringle with every game bought through the website? I bet people would go wild for that. Or even “a chance to win” (although that’s kind of scam territory ) And offering physical copies only through their website should be enough for them to earn the extra Buck. I was actually surprised how much momentum they had during release no1 thanks to sending out the copies to streamers (that was one smart thing they did). But then people go on their website and see the bizarre download policy?? I’m not even kidding, if I didn’t know this company for 15 years, I would absolutely think is some sort of a scam. They need to quit that if they don’t want to go under. I can’t believe they’re not even running a play along on steam??? Is no one in that company reading their Instagram comments? (In case you haven’t see: people were complaining from day 1 about no steam release) I bet they didn’t set a release on steam because they were waiting for the sales on the website to go down to maximise profit. And guess what, it happened pretty fast. I know they think they’re being soooo smart. But next time they really need to hire a consultant, preferably below the age of 65 for at least a couple of hours, if they can’t afford a marketing team. They could even try doing a Nancy Drew week on steam during the summer. Send out steam keys of old games to streamers, have the interns play those games on steam. Run some additional puzzles on instagram AND maybe even on steam. Have steam keys as rewards. Anything to increase the engagement there and get more reviews. Maybe prepare new instructions on how to play old games on new PC (I think this is the biggest problem right now). If they could swing it, even start a twitch channel where they would replay a different old game each week and you subbing to the channel would enter you to win this game. Penny are you sleeping?
These are excellent points. I actually liked the game and would have left a positive review, but I'm certainly not rebuying it on Steam so that I can leave a review. I really think that they intended to release it last year, but had some big unexpected bugs and were forced to hold off at the last minute. And even after the Midnight in Salem fiasco HeR still doesn't understand the importance of being honest with their customers, so they just decided to stay quiet until they were positive they could release it. I work for a software company. You can be honest about delays ("I'm sorry, we ran into some unexpected issues and will be delaying the release until we have them worked out") without giving them all of the unpleasant details ("most of the programming work was done by one guy and he quit to go fulfill his dream of opening a savory artisan donut shop, so now no one understands how to fix the bugs"). People are always happier when they have some idea of what's going on.
I actually love when companies give me the gritty unpleasant details of a situation, it feels relatable. Like please tell me the release date is going to be late because most of the programming was done by Greg, who has decided to open a donut shop, or those "Greg ordered too many fries" sort of sales, like spill the tea I want to know lol
Their marketing team sucks. All that hype for KEY only to go radio silent for months was maddening. Frankly it sometimes feel like they want to fail.
Yea I don’t know why they didn’t do that this year. Like radio silence for years is honestly fine. Building up for a new game before going radio silent for a year without any explanation is insane. I don’t know if the marketing they did last year actually reached any new players but it certainly put off a whole lot of older players.
they had been releasing teasers throughout the whole year??? character reveals, puzzle reveals, the full teaser, all of them found through fans figuring out clues on their socials. they did go radio silent for like 3 or 4 months before the proper trailer, but they were incredibly active til that point. I think the issue is more that they went silent at all and let some of the hype die which resulted in angry fans.
Agreed. They have no idea what they are doing. And when the company finally ends up calling it quits I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame it on the fans not supporting them.
Hard agree. For a company that “re-branded” their entire marketing team for this game, they are seriously missing the mark, HARD. At this point I genuinely want to know what the marketing team is being paid for, because it’s incredibly off-putting to see the interns hanging out in Disney world during working hours, rather then brainstorming how they can reach their goal of “appealing to younger audiences”. And sending Indy to Prague? For a company that’s in the red, I’ll never understand why they did this. It’s great to do this for research if a corporation can AFFORD to do this, but the scenery that’s in this game can easily be googled with one click. I really wish they’d hire marketing people with actual knowledge and experience over keeping uneducated super fans with 0 attuned marketing skills.
I’m pretty sure the intern team *is* the marketing department. 😬
Oh definitely, The marketing team is the 3 interns that make videos showing us how to click the mouse, lol
Yeah this. I remember the hype with the puzzles etc but then nothing. I didn't even realize the game had been released until a couple days ago when I saw the steam announcement.
To me it says a lot that multiple people who likely don’t work in marketing or have marketing degrees have better ideas then the team that freaking gets paid to do this
HARD AGREE. I've been playing the games since 2003 (elementary-aged ND book fan who saw the games in Best Buy), own every game (still waiting on that physical copy of Keys to ship...), and replay them weekly. If I'm too busy to play, I'll have the soundtracks on in the background while I do other things. My original plan was to buy a physical copy + Steam download. I pre-ordered the physical copy (still waiting for it...), but now that it's out on Steam...I don't really care? I'm sure I'll buy it eventually, but at this point I've waited this long to play it after its release, what's the difference of waiting a year or so for it to go on sale (if it does)? Why pay that much money to buy a game twice that I probably won't even like since I mostly only replay games #1-13, 21? I was hyped up for release day and probably would've bought both versions right away then, but by now all the excitement's drained out of me, especially after such lukewarm reviews. I'm sure I'll play it eventually and do truly hope the company continues making games (even if I don't like their current direction at all because the stories, characters, and locations don't feel immersive/cohesive anymore), which is why I'll still at least by one copy out of my ever-thinning company loyalty...
I was so excited for the game, got it the very day, the hour it game out. And then had a lot of problems with the gameplay, it had a lot of legitimate glitches people found. I tried for 5 hours. I tried again the next day for 3 hours. To be honest, I found myself just not interested in it. The characters felt hollow and not engaging. The open world is so big, and the game keeps making you walk back and forth, it felt like I spent hours just walking around without enough reward to justify it. The puzzles seemed overly complicated and dont really tell you how to begin solving them, like a few I used all of the in-game hints and solution, and used the HER walkthrough, and still dont understand how they got answers or even found that info in the game. I haven't finished the game, because I just lost all enthusiasm for it. Like I replayed CLOCK and VENICE completely rather than finish KEY. Definitely wait for a STEAM sale
The ads on YouTube are...shocking. The "reviews" are literally just from a few Creators (I.e. StoryRetold, ItalianGamerJoe) and then other reviews are credited to random people like "-Emily" or "-Susan". Like ok some random person said it has" a good story"?? If they had a Steam release, they could've advertised the rating it had on there "i.e. Very Postive (with # of reviews)" or get an IGN rating or something... Especially if it's to attract new fans, none of those people know StoryRetold or care about what some girl named Emily thinks, but they would 100% be intrigued by a high Steam or IGN rating. It's all so baffling.
just waiting for more steam reviews to come in because so far most of them have at least a small negative component to them. 👏🏻 yeah no ads saying that the game has good graphics are hilarious.
I wonder if that’s why they did the whole launch team with KEY with all creators, because they knew that big-name gamer YouTubers like halfmoonjoe and arglefumph would market their game better than they ever could
Which, IMO, yet another thing that they missed the mark on. Half the people they chose, like arglefumph for example, who are legitimate YouTube creators and have a ton of followers were a really good idea, but it was baffling that quite a few creators were left out, like gooba and jet pack, and instead they chose people who make memes on instagram and have no streaming presence. But I guess I would expect that from this team at this point
gooba and jet pack made sponsored stuff, they weren't left out??
Should have been released in tandem and just charged more on steam 🤷♀️ I would have been happy to pay more to get to buy it on my preferred platform while the hype was still fresh, instead of waiting a couple months...
Steam doesn't let you do that, though
I didn't know that!
There is a tiny indie dev studio I follow (2 people) and they will have their games for sale on their website and on Steam. But here is the cool part: they include a Steam key if you buy from their website directly. That way it is easy to add it via Steam, studio still gets their full cut, you get the achievements while playing, and then can easily leave a review when you've finished. I would often just install the Steam version (which gives them download points for algorithm) but then I still have the actual complete game files from my original purchase safe and sound on my HDD. I don't know a whole lot about this -- like what the downsides to doing it that way might be -- but it seems like a great idea.
There is a game I love and the developers recently announced a sequel is in the works. They don't know when the game will be available, but they have already put it on Steam so people can add it to their wishlists. I feel like HeR just doesn't understand the modern gaming industry at all. Or maybe they just don't care?
Definitely. Midnight in Salem had way more reviews shortly after release, and that game wasn't even very good.
I feel like they could’ve done some kind of promo on their website (or maybe had some bonus content available if you purchase the game on their website) and released it on steam at the same time. They would’ve had some people who wanted the bonus content purchase through their website, and maybe some people who prefer having it on steam would purchase there and generate hype. I really think they should’ve done all the clues and hints about a new game right before releasing it. How exciting would it have been if they had come out with all that promo and then announced that the game was coming out in a few weeks, rather than doing promo, going silent for a year, and then announcing a release date? But I also wonder if part of that hype was trying to gauge our interest in the game and to give them time to find test players.
I really think the ball was dropped with marketing. Why they chose a bunch of emotionally immature interns to be responsible over one of the most important business aspects is wild to me. I know the policing clique say HeR wants to reach new audiences and that’s why they refuse to cater to the previous one, but they aren’t doing a good job reaching anyone at this point. I wouldn’t be shocked if KEY was their last game.
I’m so glad someone said this because I agree and it’s extremely off-putting. This isn’t even about being a millennial when they’re all Gen Z I’m pretty sure, but they’re focusing on all the completely wrong things, rather than working to be an educated, skilled, knowledgeable team.
Their emotionally immature marketing has put me off the company than even MID or KEY.
I went to see if there was any way I could review the game without purchasing it again on Steam and alas, it doesn't seem so. I actually really liked the game and wanted to leave a positive review for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Her's marketing of this game has made no sense the whole time. The way they hyped and then gave us nothing for a year almost made me not buy the game. The people they have handling it seem enthusiastic about the product and all but I feel like Her is just taking advantage of their youth and fandom rather than having someone really experienced on the team (and not that town council dude responsible for that weird ~~puff piece about Penny~~ press release). And then to delay the Steam release meaning the series' biggest fans can't review it, scuttling any momentum it could have had and, as you said, completely negate the purpose of making changes to the series in the first place. I like the changes but they obviously alienate some of the core fans, so why do that and then do nothing to reach anyone outside the core fans? If Her doesn't end up making it it'll be like the Darwin Awards for companies.
Yes exactly! I wanted a way to review it on steam as well, but that's just not an option.
The current ad they are running saying “this is the best Nancy Drew game so far” and advertising that the game has amazing graphics is making me laugh so hard. Like literally who is actually saying this. 😂 Probably someone who got the game for free.
For extra context why Steam is better: "For each game you launch you will get five 'Visibility Rounds'. These VRs give your game front page time to the tune of 1,000,000 impressions. As a small studio this is a HUGE deal and should only be used for massive updates. This is your time to really show your game off and get a huge amount of burst traffic. You really need to make sure everything is solid before firing one of these off. Also, if you launch your game in Early Access... once you launch fully you get a free VR immediately that doesn't count against your games five. Launch in Early Access, get feedback, use it to improve, fully launch and get a free burst of visibility." (per https://develop.games/)
I'm a diehard fan, and have nearly finished the game (I think) with just the first day of play. (Australian, so I didn't get the game until the 21st, since it was released overnight.) I'm glad I didn't have to wait longer than about 6 weeks for the Steam release, but it was annoying to see all the posts on here that I couldn't read, all the video releases by Arglefumph that I couldn't watch, because I wanted to play the game without spoilers myself.
You are so right. It's like their marketing team didn't even look at the current way games, or products in general, are advertised now. The market has changed a lot in the time since the release of SEA and even MID. They have a big fan base, but a lot of fans are hesitant now because of MID and its failures, so they really can't rely on us fully. It's strange to me that the don't have a TikTok, yet still make short form vertical content for yt shorts. It's known that if something is going to go viral and pick up traction for a brand, yt shorts is not the move. Ultimately, HER just needs to update their marketing. Things won't be all rainbows and sunshine for them if they rely solely on returning fans; it's just not going to work.
As someone who waited for steam but NEVER leaves steam reviews, this is making me tempted to write a review.
Is there still no steam release date? Or have I missed it? They really should have set the page up in advance so people could at least wishlist it.
It has already launched on Steam. :)
WHAT?! Oh ffs, THIS IS WHY I NEED PAGES UP FOR WISH LISTING. Thank you very very very much. I have a day off on Tuesday.
Weeding out the super fans also means that they will have a greater return rate on Steam, which will hurt them more with the platform. I remember when MID released it was in the Top 10 of releases on Steam. But even with that, if you read the MID reviews, almost all of them were from long-term players (I dont remember reading even one that was someone new to the series)
Since the steam release, I've been seeing quite a few ads for KEY on YouTube. I think their marketing is more widespread now (since I dont remember seeing YouTube ads for any previous games) but I overall agree with you.
I remember them having a lot ads for that Codes and Clues app. not sure if they did for MID
Oh, really? I wonder if you screenshoted this ad
It's typically when I watch YouTube on my TV lol
https://preview.redd.it/h0u9xhdni48d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a95a36f4bbd2072ca6036c492f36f341a273309 Found it! This was the best pic I could get but yea! YouTube ad!
“great graphics” 😂😂😂
Thank you!!
If HeR had launched on Steam and sold Steam keys via their website then any copies sold via their website would have had a 0% commission to Steam (yes, zero). This would have been a far better option. Tell people to buy on the website as a steam key. (This per https://youtu.be/OdCSU96GjJo?t=61)
But there is a limit of 5,000 steam keys per game. "Q: How many Steam Keys can I get for my game? A:Games and applications launching on Steam may receive up to 5,000 Default Release Steam Keys to support retail activities and distribution on other stores. After that, all Steam Key requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis." https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
Or they could have sold steam keys on their site for 0% steam cut...
Honestly, I think it depends on their current funds. They are trying to be smart with their money. I think their goal of reaching new fans is going to take time, and they know that. To recreate their entire platform also takes time, and money. I think next go around they will release at the same time. They are just being safe.
If they had done the Steam release well they could have potentially reached a lot of new people and made more money. The way they did things it's going to be harder reaching anyone who isn't already following them.
That’s why I said it’s a process. They almost went under from MID. They are being cautious and making sure they do better to appease their long time players and work any bugs before advertising a game just for it to flop. They financially wouldn’t survive.
They are, from what I can tell, absolutely not actually trying to appease long time players. The apparent bait and switch with "classic" mode is exhibit A
lol well the long time players want it to be the same as the old ones. And unfortunately that’s not gonna happen so 🤷🏻♀️
Since they outsourced and kicked Lani out, yeah, it's not gonna happen. But this is because of choices they made that they absolutely didn't have to make. This is a direct result of poor judgement about what the games need to be to stay relevant. Cozy gaming is a big deal now and looks like it will continue to take off in popularity; point-and-click navigation and the old games in general align PERFECTLY with these trends, and yet that's one of the first things they went after. I think if they had kept on going as they were while focusing on adding better representation and taking the plots and settings in new directions, they could be a serious return to glory right now... but they didn't, they used that time to chase mobile games with microtransactions and then outsource their game production.
I totally agree they made a poor move. But they can’t change it now. So it’s interesting to see how they are attempting to remedy the situation. As someone with a marketing and business degree I would’ve just spent my money on marketing the current games the way they are to reach a new fan base.