Fallout 4 was a huge success in 2015 and 2016, and one former franchise developer, Chris Avellone, told SugarBombed that he believes it all comes down to Bethesda’s marketing prowess dictated by Pete Hines. Recollecting his time spent on the Prey remake and New Vegas, he shared kind words about the publisher.
Fallout 4 was famously revealed just six months ahead of its release and many analysts believe that short promotion cycle ultimately multiplied the hype surrounding the product. When asked to comment further, Avellone agreed.
“Bethesda is one of the few companies that do marketing right,” he said, noting that Hines is a huge part of it. “If you see him in the trenches at E3, he takes his job seriously and isn't f--king away on his mobile phone while journalists ask the developers s--tty questions that PR should be listening to.” He also mentioned that Hines is often one of the first to step in and demo a product if a developer cannot. ”Other PR folks I've worked with in the past wouldn't dare do or want to,” the coder qualified.
Merchandising fosters brand awareness in Avellone’s eyes too. He noted that “Bethesda made Fallout 4 visible to the public” through merch in Target and other retailers. That kind of prime placement is regarded as “no small feat” for a game.
Scheduling of reveals was said to be equally meticulous and well executed. “Bethesda is clear about messaging, they time and focus information releases [and] schedule demo dates properly” without unexpectedly derailing projects for months, Avellone further explained. It’s worth noting that Dishonored 2, Fallout 4 and even Doom didn’t experience any serious delays once hardcore development had been solidified. For most other teams, revising release dates is all too common.
This careful rollout for Fallout 4 has continued throughout the year with a bevy of season pass expansions, console mod support and signs of something more to come in the future. Mods were briefly held up due to intervention from Sony, but the feature was basically fit to release before it had to be reworked.
Fallout 4 is available to buy on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Do you think the success of Fallout 4 is aided by publisher marketing? Does its popularity stem purely from gameplay? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.
