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PixelJunk director: Games marketing "narrowly focused" at "the people who read NeoGAF"

marketing

PixelJunk Racers and Monsters director Rhod Broadbent has spoken out against current promotion methods, saying the norm is to aim at accruing sales from "the people who read NeoGAF".

The exec, speaking to VG247 at the developer's Kyoto offices, warned that not enough games are being pushed to audiences beyond the core.

"What I see in the world of gaming is that it’s very narrowly focused," he said. "And it’s marketing to the same people that are gonna buy games over and over again. And there are very few companies that are pushing beyond those limits – trying to actually get outside the people who read NeoGAF."

The exceptions prove the rule, obviously.

"I mean, you can do it sometimes; Modern Warfare does it very well, and Halo does it very well. They’re huge games with a lot of money behind them. But still, I think a similar type of person is buying those games," Broadbent added.

The developer went on to say that "every gamer" wants the "cool things, the little things, to be huge and successful".

PixelJunk Shooter director Shouichi Tominaga added that "it’s a mistake for developers in general to trust marketing."

He said: "Marketing defines the boundaries for what’s 'good,' and then tells the developer to make that. So don’t trust marketing too much with that side of it."

Q-Games' PixelJunk series is self-published in Japan, while Sony handles promotion for the acclaimed games elsewhere.

The company's latest from the property, Pixeljunk Shooter, released in December for PS3.

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Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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