Last year Overkill Software ran an impressive marketing event called Crimefest for their hit game Payday 2. The event featured months of lead up where players could influence the rewards they would get for free based on how many people signed up to the Payday 2 Steam group which culminated in an entire week of free updates to the game.
This year they are running the hype train event with the promise of the same system. However this time the event has become hated by the fans and at this point, it may not come anywhere near reaching all the rewards. The difference in marketing strategy is our subject today and why one promotion succeeded and the other is failing for Overkill.
Crime Celebration:
Let’s start with Crimefest as that set the stage for the hype train event. The rules for Crimefest were simple, every member in the Payday 2 Steam group would be counted and at certain thresholds of numbers, rewards for the game were unlocked. These rewards ranged from new masks, heists and even a free character pack including fan favorite Hoxton making a return.
The Payday 2 Steam group is used by Overkill to promote updates and news and anyone a part of it would also get free community upgrades which the crimefest bonuses were a part of. There were reports that people were making free Steam accounts with the sole purpose to join the group to inflate the numbers which Overkill didn’t mind. By the end of the event there were over 2 million subscribers and the game received a second life with a lot of people playing again and interest renewed.
Now Overkill is trying a second go at this with the Hype Train but we’re not seeing the same interest and enthusiasm by the fan base.
Derailing Train:
The Hype Train event works like this, anyone who buys DLC between the 5th of February and the 12th of March will unlock hype fuel which gets added to the counter and once it hits the different points, the community as a whole will be rewarded when the event begins March 13th. Two special pieces of DLC were added with the start of the event with one giving new weapons and the other one costing the most at $20 giving special masks and a secret reward. Those two DLCs give more hype fuel than the regular DLC and it appears that it only counts DLC bought during the event.
The Overkill and Completely Overkill DLC packs are what Overkill is hoping people will buy to fuel the hype train event.
The event has a bunch of rewards including another new character, two heists and the final reward is to have an official PaydayCon where people can get together and meet.
But despite these rewards, the community is not taking to the event with many of them calling Overkill out for being way too greedy and misusing the community.
The Crash Site:
While both events are similar in practice, there are a few differences that are causing the fan base to be annoyed with Overkill. First is the fact that only DLC bought during the event counts towards hype fuel. Like many fans, I bought most of the DLC when it was released with the exception of the recent ones and by not counting all that DLC, Overkill is punishing their fans that supported them day one.
Speaking of supporting, like Crimefest this event has no barring at all on people playing Payday 2 which is weird considering that this is supposed to be a celebration. The Crimefest event was okay because people contributed very easily to it but the Hype Train only counts money being spent and is viewed by critics as a cash grab. I personally think that any of these events should have some kind of in game contribution to them so that people can support the game they like by PLAYING THE ACTUAL GAME.
The $20 DLC is also questionable. Overkill says that it’s meant to be a way for fans to “show their support” but again this is showing support for a game that has nothing to do with playing the game. Another problem is with the secret reward, because this is the most expensive DLC that Overkill has released, this secret reward has to be something big but at the same time not groundbreaking as to upset the people who couldn’t or didn’t buy it. But I can’t think of anything that amazing that fits those criteria that I would want to spend $20 on.
Many fans have criticized Overkill for the amount of DLC compared to actual growth of the gameplay over the last two years.
The rewards themselves seem fine except for the fact that three rewards make no sense. Previewing an upcoming heist, flying 10 players out and the PaydayCon are examples of poor rewards.
The preview is something that offers no long term value and once the heist is out it will be a wasted reward (unless the developers say that it will be free from this hype train event which they haven’t as of this time.)
Flying players out and the convention are rewards with limited appeal. Fans that are in other countries won’t be able to easily get here and again these are rewards with no long term appeal or growth to the game.
In fact the most exciting piece of news from Overkill after the event started had nothing to do with the event but with Infamy updates (the game’s veterancy system) are finally coming March 5th.
The fan base is also still annoyed that several rewards from Crimefest have still not been added to the game — FBI files and a new enemy and many people wonder what rewards this time will be delayed during the hype train event.
Three Strikes:
The problem that Overkill is having is that the original Crimefest’s use of the Steam group was a onetime thing and it wouldn’t be feasible to keep using it for more events as at this point everyone who is the least bit interested has signed up. The use of DLC as a sign of support doesn’t work as it implies that playing and enjoying the game means less than just giving Overkill money and they’ve had a tough time selling their DLC structure to their fanbase for months now.
The recent collaboration between Hotline Miami 2 and the Hype Train should help boost things.
Here’s what I would have done, keep the DLC as the main way to gain hype fuel but introduce random barrels possibly appearing during play that would also contribute for the duration of the event. And that way people can still support the event by playing and enjoying the game while giving a second avenue to get those rewards.
And with the rewards, all the rewards should provide some long time support to the game so that anyone in the community will see those benefits. A part of me is still wondering just what the future holds for the game and series as Overkill should be shifting into working on The Walking Dead game and while they did get another studio to start working on content, finding out just how long support of the series will go on for is a big question.
At the time of this post, there is still time left for things to turn around and personally I think the big factor is going to be what’s in the new infamy update March 5th. Massive marketing events are a great way to renew interest in your game while hopefully getting new fans but it’s important to understand that both old and new supporters should be able to contribute.
A great case in point would be the Steam Summer events where players could unlock special achievements and rewards for playing specific games while having the usual tickets and such for people who spent money. Just like with anything relating to DLC and content, players will either value time or money over the other and it’s important to have both options available whenever you want your fans to support your title.
(Addendum: After this post went up, Overkill announced the Hotline Miami 2 tie in which is that anyone who buys the game will contribute hype fuel to Payday 2. At this moment, that has caused a huge increase in the event and may be what will push things over.
I don’t know if Overkill planned this from the start or not but it’s a clever way of getting around the negative reception of the hype train and guaranteeing more goals will be met simply by virtue of Hotline Miami 2’s fan base)
