this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024

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Does anyone understand the point of advertising a game doing something that, after downloading, it does not do? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

154 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It seems like if what you're showing is what you understand they find appealing and fun, then surely that's what should be in the game. You give them that.

But instead, you give them something else that is unrelated to what they've seen on the ad? A gem matching candy crush clone they've seen a thousand times?

How is that model working? How is that holding up as a marketing technique???

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (4 children)

You installed their app on your phone, giving them access to some kind of array of data points on you, up to and including information stored on your device/keylogging you.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (5 children)

One of the more interesting things about how these games are advertised (I don't play mobile games but I suspect a lot of people that do are kids) are that it always shows someone playing the game poorly. It's supposed to make you go "huh. Well that's looks easy. Wait wth is he doing? No! He could have gotten the powerup. Oh! Looks like he might get this one! What?! How do you mess that up?! I bet I could do that."

One thing that I've realized about this generation of kids and people who didn't grow up on tech but were forcibly introduced to it(millennials, gen x, boomers) is that they don't want the game to be challenging or to reward skill. They just need the game to be flashy and to pass the time. That's why these games are always made to look so easy and like the guy playing is a moron. A lot of people are attracted to games in a different way than "gamers" ... They are not attracted to the challenge or the mastery, they've attracted to the visuals and lack of difficulty.

I believe these types of games are akin to gambling. The last time I went to Dave and Busters, you wouldnt believe the amount of adults i saw playing games of chance (not skill) for tickets. Exactly like a casino.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

see also the find the lady game played in tourist traps around the world.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Does anyone understand the point of advertising a game doing something that, after downloading, it does not do?

They're called "lies."

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't know if the others are correct about the reasons, but here's what I felt to be a reason when I once installed such a scam. They do whatever they can to make you run the game and then try to hook you up by using every trick possible to increase engagement. Then they sell you worthless in-game resources for real money. The game I played didn't even have ads aside from ads of purchasing in-game stuff everywhere

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

While all these "tricks" and "engagement" chasing things are true, that's just mobile gaming in general these days. It has nothing to do with whether they ran "fake ads" or not. Most successful mobile games are stuffed full of loss aversion, fomo, "time saving", and "fake sale" monetization.

They're not making fake ads to get you into those systems. The games just do that and the ad you clicked was trying to see if you were interested in the game in the ad. Even if the game you were linked to doesn't match.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Yeah, once you've given the app permission to snoop out all your data, they have what they came for and don't need you to keep it any longer.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

iirc they actually started adding these as mini games after getting sued for false advertising

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I don't remember having seen any actually successful lawsuits about this. There have been a few about the fake sale price thing etc, but I haven't seen anything about these ads for games that don't exist. Happy to admit I'm wrong if anyone has any proof, but as far as I'm aware, that's never happened.

These games do end up adding mini games of the advertised game, but that's not because they're trying to cover their ass. It's because the ads are for games they're considering making, and if the ads do well, they know people will click to the store page. The next step is to build it as a mini game inside another game to get more data on engagement with the actual gameplay mechanics to see if people would actually play and keep playing the game. It's much cheaper and more efficient to do that as a smaller part inside an existing game instead of building a whole new stand alone game. If they mini game does well, they may move it standalone, but if not, it may just stay as a part of the larger one depending on how much it costs to maintain there.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

My wife got caught in a mobile ad game. After a thousand of them she finally said, "I'm bored why not" and got addicted for a few weeks.

When I saw the ad of the game she was playing, I was mocking her like, "Oh is that in the game?" And she showed me. Yeah, it totally is. Usually as a special event, or some "mini game" inside the game.

Well damn guess I was wrong.

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