Namco Bandai readies £1m Dark Souls II campaign

Namco Bandai is spending big to make Dark Souls II the next big RPG blockbuster.

The publisher is splashing £1m on marketing the RPG, which is Namco’s biggest ever campaign. The title launches March 14th on PS3 and 360.

[DeletedAcc]

Just preordered

[djplonker]

Use that 1 million towards the development of demon souls 2
if your game is good (of course this will be) it only needs word of mouth and to get that all you need to do it make the game interesting and fun!

Bioshock was the worst for this: http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

100 million to make the game and 100 million to market it!

SHOCKING!!!

[LAWSON72]

Not possible that money is Namco Bandais not Froms and only SOny could fund the game unless of course they put that money to first buying the IP

[Hugodastrevas]

It would be epic if Sony funded and gave control to From Software of the Demon's Souls brand as long as it was an exclusive franchise... I would buy a PS4 instantly!

[admiralvic]

" it only needs word of mouth and to get that all you need to do it make the game interesting and fun! "

Word of mouth doesn't always work, nor is it very reliable. Take anything Platinum Games makes.

They don't have much in way of marketing, so their games, which are awesome, rely on word of mouth. However, no matter how many times someone posts Bayonetta / Vanquish are awesome, their games still don't sell terribly well.

Persona
SMT
Yakuza
Disgaea
etc

^ These are all games you hear a lot of good things about, but still don't sell unbelievably well. I mean, word of mouth is a phenomenon that works in small doses, but very rarely does it single handedly pull off what happened for Demon Souls.

[Tontus]

Word of mouth does always work though if a games good enough with enough mainstream appeal, it's just that the games made by Platinum only appeal to a very small demographic and aren't as accessible to casuals.

Also notice how all the games you posted are Japanese? I guess most Western gamers just don't appreciate Japanese games like they don't western. Also since the western market is far larger than Japans word of mouth simply reaches more people and so western games have a better chance at doing well over time.

[admiralvic]

@ Tontus

"Word of mouth does always work though if a games good enough with enough mainstream appeal, it's just that the games made by Platinum only appeal to a very small demographic and aren't as accessible to casuals. "

Isn't the WHOLE ****ING APPEAL of Demon / Dark Souls is that it is NOT accessible? People want a game that doesn't hold your hand and deeply punishes you for screwing up, which are not typically associated with mainstream success. If you want to make a case against Platinum Games, at least make it a stance that can't be applied to the game you're defending.

"Also notice how all the games you posted are Japanese?"

So is From Software and Demon / Dark Souls, but do you really want to argue semantics? They were just games that people routinely speak highly of, but still get low sales. I could just as easily say Tearaway (EU), Enslaved (EU), Rayman Origins / Legends (EU) and a number of other titles.

" I guess most Western gamers just don't appreciate Japanese games like they don't western."

Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Demon / Dark Souls, pretty much anything from Nintendo and more are all huge games in the West and come from the East. It isn't like every game released by a Western developer is a smash hit (people actually prefer Capcom keeps their games with Japanese developers and not Western developers) and every Eastern game is a failure.

I can't explain why this happens, but it is most likely due to a lack of awareness. A lot of games, like Persona, never get the marketing push you see for games games that sell extremely well. Again, marketing doesn't guarantee success, but word of mouth is not so powerful it can make up for no marketing.

"Also since the western market is far larger than Japans word of mouth simply reaches more people and so western games have a better chance at doing well over time."

This is only true if they're talking about western games. A lot of people talk about CoD, BF, and Halo and a lot of people talk about MGS, FF and other Japanese games. Ultimately, word of mouth is not dependent on region, but simply what the people play and enjoy.

[jegheist2014]

bioshock was my game of year last year so money spent on it was well worth it

[Hugodastrevas]

We need more people to come and play Dark Souls 2 so we get more and better Souls games! I hope this sells really well and shows the CoD and Scrolls crowd that not only shooters and hand-holding games own the video games market. From Software deserves all our support!

[LAWSON72]

Skyrim does not hold your hand, sure it is simple and easy to play, but the game never really holds your hand. It is easily one of the most non linear game you can play, so if it held your hand your sweaty eager palm can easily break free to do whatever you like. Can Skyrim be a casual game everyone can enjoy? sure, but a more core gamer can tackle much more if they desire. It does what it does well, just like Dark Souls. They both try to deliver different experiences to a different set of gamers.

[xfear2diex]

just preordered the black Armour edition
just to be safe is it 60$ because i ordered it for that price and the manger said it is the BA edition but for 60$ really?

[Hugodastrevas]

Were did you preordered it from? The BA edition is the one without the figure is that the one you want?

[xfear2diex]

yeah it is.
without the figure and come with the collector box and og soundtrack

[LAWSON72]

I really hope my Dark Souls Black Armour PC edition from the UK does not take 10 days to get to my house. My luck I would get it same day as FFX or Titanfall.

[NewAgeisHere]

Only thing I wanna know is how fast this will come to PS4?Hate playing it on PC with all the hackers. This game is actually meant to be played on a console, better yet next-gen console.