Don Bradman Cricket 17 Releases December 22nd

[5hitkicker]

Is it appropriate to ask what the sales were like for DBC14? How many copies were sold? What's the target for DBC17?

Just interested in numbers that's all.

 

[grkrama]

I wanted to inform a couple of friends on the DBC 17 release so thought I would grab some curated/official content from your social media channels. What I found was a borderline negligent approach towards social media. A few examples:

Big Ant Studios | Facebook

*Outdated bio that doesn't even reference the current gen (The Official Big Ant Studios Page - we develop games for PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii U, Microsoft Xbox360, and PC.)
*No posts confirming release date, front cover or previewing screenshots/videos
*No call to action for pre orders
*No posts since 21/9
*No mention of DBC 17 since 22/8

Big Ant Studios (@BigAntStudios) | Twitter

*Outdated bio that references a now defunct kickstarter (Get racing - back our Dirt Track Kickstarter)
*No posts confirming release date, front cover or previewing screenshots/videos
*No call to action for pre orders

Big Ant Studios | Great Games

*Literally no sign of DBC 17 anywhere on the front page.

We're less than one month away from release, at this stage I'm expecting DBC17 to be front and centre of all your media channels. Yet information on release dates, call to action on pre orders, screenshots are basically non existent. I understand that as an indie you have limited resources but some of this stuff is just basic. Social should be your low cost quick win and yet potential customers stumbling across your social media channels will have no idea that DBC 17 is fast approaching. So frustrating!

I agree the social media front of BA has always been poor, that said i dont believe their own accounts are of much importance unless they have means to pull traffic to their accounts other than the regular fans.

Of now you would be better off sharing the youtube career mode gameplay vids to impress friends than other official contents.


I also agree basic like pre-order places should be there so the hardcore fans can share links.


Personally i think they should do a good social media based campaign targeting yt channel owners, twitter , fb accounts with a good deal of followers. Make a list of who likely are to give a good coverage and give them some exclusive interview or in game detail etc.

I mean someone like @Robelinda i guess is a member on PC also has over 1.5 lakh cricket followers in his channel, maybe ask him if he would liek to share about this game in a quick 5 min vid etc a few guys like that, a few old retired cricketers with active twitter following like, Kaif, bishan singh bedi, younger ones like deepak hooda, sarfraz khan to give a shout.

put an an Ad in regional sites like thefulltoss, sportskeeda cricket columns wirtten by players like kaif etc

when they do stuff like this then their official accounts become important.

Also one of the things about having a successful as well as not break the bank social media campaign is to be involved directly no marketing company can run a campaign as good as when the individuals and company are involved directly and are willing to spend some time on it.



Also this depends on whether BA think they are already got the maximum sales they can without all these efforts last time.

 

[BigAntStudios]

To the above posters, yes we could do better, however, understand we are the developer and not the publisher - everything we say is to be signed off by the Don Bradman Foundation and the publisher - we cannot just do as we please.

Simply put, it's not our role and we are not meant to perform it.

 

[khanjoiya456]

But it is your product... your name is directly linked with it (*more than trublu)
(*and twitter and fb page is by YOUR name. You should try to make it better even its not your role.your followers should know about your product's current status by you. *just saying what i think).
Or Atleast you could ask/request them to update as time goes by.

 

[blockerdave]

let's say the big ant facebook did have a pre-order call to action, where would it go? big ant don't sell it directly through their website, so which retailer do they favour by sending pre-orders to them, and what might be the reaction of other retailers? how do they handle different clicks from different countries? (I don't think FB lets you have different calls to action for different territories, could be wrong.)

the BA social media could be stronger, but it's not as simple as to say there should be a pre-order.

 

[mattk]

Tru Blu is where all angst about DBC's social media presence should be directed. Not Big Ant.

 

[grkrama]

let's say the big ant facebook did have a pre-order call to action, where would it go? big ant don't sell it directly through their website, so which retailer do they favour by sending pre-orders to them, and what might be the reaction of other retailers? how do they handle different clicks from different countries? (I don't think FB lets you have different calls to action for different territories, could be wrong.)

the BA social media could be stronger, but it's not as simple as to say there should be a pre-order.

not really even games like sniper elite 4 have great pre order page.

Sniper Elite 4

or simple like this

I totally respect @Ross's answer and understand its not in their control. I would guess it rests with tru blu to do this, we will probably have to put a long form mail to them.

 

[Fissionmailed]

I'd rather have money spent on making and testing the game over money spent on a social media manager.

I haven't seen anyone say that the game comes out the week the BBL starts, people here will be hot for cricket, and everyone seems to have forgotten about what the big man said about TV.

 

[Vamsi2k99]

@Matt ,just wanted to when the trailer would come out
I know u will delete this comment too.
Please give info about the trailer.
Eagerly waiting for the trailer so that i can show off the game to my friends.
Thankyou.
Sorry for bugging you guys so much...

 

[BigAntStudios]

@Fissionmailed is on it.

This BBL and WBBL season is going to be absolutely huge here and also in India, it will also be huge for us.

 

[BRAB]

@Matt ,just wanted to when the trailer would come out
I know u will delete this comment too.
Please give info about the trailer.
Eagerly waiting for the trailer so that i can show off the game to my friends.
Thankyou.
Sorry for bugging you guys so much...

What did you want again?

 

[plodder]

To the above posters, yes we could do better, however, understand we are the developer and not the publisher - everything we say is to be signed off by the Don Bradman Foundation and the publisher - we cannot just do as we please.

Simply put, it's not our role and we are not meant to perform it.

Whilst it may not be your primary (or even secondary) role, I think with such a niche title the onus is on all parties to take a co-ordinated approach. As @khanjoiya456 rightly points out, it is your product and you are more closely associated with it than HES/TruBlu/Alternative Software.

With a future pipeline of games that potentially includes further sequels to DBC and forays into other areas (ie Tennis) its in your interests to cultivate relationships with the community that transcend any one particular iteration of a title.

Bringing this back to DBC 17:

*I assume keeping social media bio's up to date and posting links to press releases is within your power.

* @grkrama posted a great example of a powerful landing page. It gives you an overview of the game, reviews and link for pre orders. Taking @blockerdave point onboard, you could post multiple links on the page from Steam/Digital stores to the main location specific retailers. I appreciate some content may need coordination with other parties but surely effective promotion of the game is mutually beneficial for all involved?

*Example of basic social media engagement: Give away a free copy of the game for retweets and follows - 'Fancy a free copy of DBC17? Simply RT and follow @BigAnt for your chance to win'.

*Football Manager have been running a social media campaign [HASHTAG]#knowthegame[/HASHTAG] where they write short blogs about basic roles within a football team. This kind of content isn't resource heavy and perfect for a niche sport like cricket. Short, branded blog posts eg 'The Pinch Hitter', 'The Allrounder', 'The Part Time Spinner' would be a great way of engaging casual fans. A Football Manager example is HERE

*There are 3 major international series' ongoing at the moment so there is a lot of chatter on social media which you could easily get involved with and drive the conversation towards DBC17.

My overriding point, which others have also previously mentioned is that there are some basics here which are being neglected by all interested parties. With niche titles and limited resources, a joined up approach towards marketing is essential. We are all rooting for the long term prosperity of Big Ant!

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Have been doing my part whatever I could wherever I could share and spread the info of the game..Have been posting any info that comes up regarding the game from the start and all the academy releases and questions regarding the game based on the info I know...Also posting in FB DBC groups to spread the message too, mainly for people to know the depth and the amount of effort put into creating something which gets all the official stuff made through user and the way they have thought about it to make it possible across the platforms as well...People have been positive about the info given and spread around...Mixed reactions are something that is expected but am sure things will turn overwhelmingly positive after the game's release on console and when people get to see the gameplay videos as I am sure people will straight away jump into it and also think some might land up with a copy early as well..

My point is its better for every individual being part of this brilliant journey and being a part of making it a user input game with BA taking our request and implementing it in the game , I feel its our duty to spread the info as a payback for the hard work they have put into this amazing creation...

 

[SibiNaayagam]

BigAnt really deserves a better publisher. In the future, hopefully.

 

[cricket_online]

Is it appropriate to ask what the sales were like for DBC14? How many copies were sold? What's the target for DBC17?

Just interested in numbers that's all.

Here you go as per vgchartz...
Game Database, Best Selling Video Games, Game Sales, Million Sellers, Top Selling - VGChartz