This is something every game developer that has their game hyped to even near the extent Spore has been hyped should be worried about:
Speaking to Game Informer, the designer, who also developed franchises such as SimCity and The Sims, has stated that he is worried that his new life simulation game will disappoint fans after its long awaited release.
He told Game Informer: "I think it’s too much hype. About a year ago, we were realising how much hype we were getting and we decided we should start to say that it’s going to suck just to de-hype it. That is a certain amount of pressure.
"We’ve gotten to that point any additional hype isn’t serving us well. It’s a concern."
He added that gamers tend to fill in the blanks themselves when they imagine a new game and the concern is that Spore may disappoint gamers as it is not the way they imagined it to be.
He’s absolutely right. I know people that are already sure Spore is going to be the most awesome game ever, sight unseen (beyond the character creator). They go on and on about it, make and release multiple characters on the internet, and they played all of the concept games EA released for Spore. So what happens if Spore is just a good game and not the end all be all? We’re going to see Molyneux levels of backlash when the game arrives. Unless it really is the bestest game ever (since TF2 already has sewn that up, Spore is already d00med!), there are going to be gamers that would have otherwise really liked Spore had they not followed the years of hype by both Wright and EA (all done at EA’s behest? I haven’t seen Wright hype games this much in the past…).
Many games have had this problem. Look at Too Human. If Dyack hadn’t been a dumbass promoting his game as the second coming of games, he wouldn’t have gotten half the flack he did with Too Human. It may even turn out to be a decent game, but no game can live up to the hype that Dyack and company put into Too Human. Lets not even get started on Black and White.
To be fair, it’s not always an easy thing to know how much to hype a game. You’re trying to generate interest in the game, sometimes years before it’s even released. You have to decide how much information to release. I hate to use the darlings of the industry as an example, but check out Valve and Blizzard. They often talk about their games years in advance of release. At the same time, they don’t talk too much. They release a screenshot, or a gameplay video, talk about some features and then…well, that’s it. From time to time they will update us, just to let us know the project is still alive and going. They have it really easy at this point though. Most PC gamers are paying attention to what they do. Most gaming sites are paying attention to what they do. They don’t need to hype their games much because gamers are going to do it for them.
For everyone else, they need to find a healthy balance. You need to pimp your game a bit in advance, but if you aren’t an established player already, or still pretty new, what do you do? Well, as I’ve said, you shouldn’t over hype. But more importantly, you shouldn’t promise things you can’t do or don’t know if you can do or don’t know if they will change. If you game is based around a feature or three that is different than other big players in your genre, talk about those, but don’t be specific unless you’re six months from release and already have it already nailed down. Promising things that you don’t deliver on is a big no no for earning the trust of the serial PC gamer. So you don’t hype to early and don’t hype to often. But, you have to pimp it some, or no one will know it’s even coming out. You have to try to find that healthy balance between Warrior Kings (ever heard of it? Great RTS that hardly anyone played) and Molyneux land. It’s not always easy, but if you find yourself talking about it’s the most innovative game ever or it’s doing things that the big players in your genre have never considered, be REAL sure you’re not over playing your hand.
There is no sure fire bullet, but as a game publisher/developer, you need to be aware of how much people know about your product and if they are getting over hyped or burnt out or whatever. Really, as any type of publisher, not just games, you need to find that happy medium. Or try to anyway and be aware that you can have too much press and too much junk said about your game.
What Would Matt Do: If it were me, I’d keep the game pretty quiet until I had some real stuff to show. If I’m nearing done and have my super cool features done and locked in, say six to nine from your supposed release date, then it’s time to start talking and showint it off a bit. But if I’m just starting, I wouldn’t do more than a press release and maybe some generic talk here there.