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Since Asia and the United States are already key players in the field of video gaming, this comprehensive write-up will explore a more “unheard of” territory for game developers—Europe. This part of the world is endowed with overflowing potential as it hosts the annual GamesCom, the world’s biggest video game expo by the number of attendees. Not to mention that it’s also home to some of the biggest video game influencers who can help you reach the right audience by simply giving your game a shoutout.

The best thing about European influencers, besides their solid reach, is the fact that they’re locals, which means marketers can target a very specific demographic by partnering with these creators. Recruiting regional influencers for your campaign will introduce your game to a niche local market.

In this article, we’re shining the light on the basics of video game localization and the specifics of advertising your game to the European audience with the help of influencer marketing.

Europe’s gaming capital

For a business that’s still growing by about 10% a year, the gaming industry is indeed a pretty exciting market for video game developers. In the United States where about a third of the global video game market resides, the US gaming population is not as big as in China which is home for almost 41% of the world’s gamers. According to the same study, Japan and Korea occupy the rest of the Top 4 but what’s surprising is the fact that three European territories namely Germany, the United Kingdom, and France made it to the Top 10, claiming the 5th, 6th, and 7th places respectively.

Image Source: https://financesonline.com/number-of-gamers-worldwide/

Germany is the European capital of gaming as there aremore than 34 million people in this country that play games on smartphones and tablets—48% of them are women.

This data opens big potential for American or Asian game developers to penetrate Europe’s booming gaming community, especially the German players.

Video games have become more experience-oriented than product-centered

According to a survey, gamers spend an average of 16 hours a week playing, 8 hours a week watching or participating in game streams, and 6 hours a week interacting in game forums and communities. Unlike before, video games now have a unique power to connect players through both personal and shared experiences.

Gone are the days when video gaming was restricted to only one or two players. Today, gamers can go head-to-head with a complete stranger or even play against millions—making their experience more competitive and fun at the same time.

This tendency opens up a massive need for storytelling for a specific game concept to penetrate a global audience. And this is where gaming influencers come into play.

How game developers work with European influencers

Influencer marketing is now an established form of digital marketing. It has been a buzzword for a while now, and the mainstream media regularly refers to it. It’s basically a type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers–individuals who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niche.

Influencers create their own content, usually without a dedicated production team, and still manage to attract crowds of fans. Influencers are passionate about a certain topic, they know what they’re talking about and people follow and like them for that. Because of their expertise, they’re trusted by their many followers giving them the power to affect their purchasing decisions.

As we all know, success in marketing doesn’t come overnight. In the case of influencer marketing, the winning formula usually starts with research (identifying the right influencers for your campaign goals), choosing a platform (Twitch, Facebook Gaming, YouTube, etc), and selecting a form of promotion that best suits your game. For this part, you have various options. It can be a simple minute-long gameplay clip as part of a larger YouTube video, or a ‘Let’s Play’ livestream.

Darkfire Heroes success story

Finnish Rovio Entertainment has acquired Danish free-to-play mobile game developer Darkfire Games studio (formerly Wargaming Denmark) to strengthen its genre mastery in RPGs and expand the games portfolio to new areas.

Their new title named Darkfire Heroes was globally released on Android and iOS devices in April 2021. Leveraging influencer marketing, Cloutboost helped Rovio Copenhagen build anticipation for the game in the U.S. and Canada. The game was earlier soft-launched in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Israel, Philippines, and Thailand.

Lost in translation, saved by localization

On the downside, some influencers, especially those living in Europe, are not usually capable of reviewing games that aren’t in their language. That’s why there’s a good number of promising games that aren’t localized well enough causing the two parties to be lost in translation.

The solution is video games localization. It’s the process of adapting a game so that players in different locations all feel as though the game was made for their particular region. So if you’re targeting the German audience, for example, you have to make sure that the game is specifically tailored to the German market to provide local gamers with an immersive gameplay experience.

Once you decide to localize your game, European influencers from your desired target area will feel more confident in recommending the game to their fans and followers.

Conclusion

Many game developers have gained massively with the help of influencer marketing, and consequently, its adoption has exploded. More and more publishers in the gaming industry are turning to this method to better connect with their audiences. Despite this, there are still some unique ins and out of working with influencers in different regions.

Cloutboost video game marketing agency successfully helps our clients run global and local influencer campaigns. Interested in introducing your game to a certain market? Contact us today to discuss the strategy for your game marketing campaign.