This year the StarCraft II rumour mill has been spinning out of control. The latest news from Blizzard was that an undisclosed product would indeed be announced on the 19th of May and hinting strongly towards a StarCraft related game. I have tried to analyse the benefit of the rumour culture, the effect Blizzard’s partial confirmation will have on it and what possible motive they had for this.
There are several large companies who, because they have released products that are respected by the consumers, receive a cult following. This is seen within the Apple and Nintendo worlds; fans from both have created numerous rumour websites that have significant member activity. Their larger rumours have a tendency to appear on social news front pages as well.
If companies intentionally try and create this secretive aura about themselves or not can be heavily debated; it is often highly beneficial for the company to do especially due to the afore mentioned social news sites that have the potential to drastically increase the web traffic to the rumour sites and thus the exposure.
The iPhone's rumours prolonged for months and received international television attention. Image source: apple.com
It is free advertising. Rumours for actual products from these companies usually continue to surface over a long period of time prior to the official announcement. They can easily get picked up by newspapers or even television stations. This potentially gives millions of consumers exposure to a product that is not even announced. As long as the unannounced “These companies often utilize controlled leaks to increase hype, get a reaction or even mislead audiences to increase the actual surprise ”product is not going to totally disappoint those who are longing for it, this exposure is only a good thing. The exposure the company gets, equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising, is for free. Furthermore the exposure they get is not from advertisements that most people find annoying, but from consumers that want to buy their product; the most effective advertising medium.
Now regarding Blizzard and StarCraft. As far as I am aware, there is no website dedicated towards blizzard rumours. However the respect that consumers have for Blizzard is similar to that of Nintendo and Apple; there is a cult following and they long for new products. This leads to large speculation of the future products and high anticipation before dates when announcements could be made.
These companies often utilize controlled leaks to increase hype, get a reaction or even mislead audiences to increase the actual surprise on the announcement day. Furthermore if rumours are unfounded and create too much hype, the company often steps in and makes announcement against them.
StarCraft II is circulating the rumour mills at the moment. The recent StarCraft II rumour here on GosuGamers received a record amount of hits. As the 19th May draws closer more rumours and counter rumours would have emerged: some well founded, some inaccurate, some just crazy. It would have however increased the overall hype advertisement for an unannounced product. Blizzard put a stop to it though.
StarCraft II is getting mainstream attention on social news websites
Blizzard made a move I did not expect and confirmed that they would announce a product on the 19th May. This makes everyone automatically think it is StarCraft II after they released this announcement following the highly popular StarCraft II rumours. This will significantly decrease the rumour build up prior to 19th May.
What could be their reasoning for this? There is only one that is plausible that I can think of. There is a lot of money involved in the “it seems highly plausible that Blizzard will have heavily considered the Korean market when designing and marketting this game.”StarCraft industry in Korea. Unfounded rumours of StarCraft II will have the potential of damaging the scene, especially in regards to advertisement money; whereas well founded near certain rumours have a large possibility of increasing the advertisement investment for the StarCraft franchise. The health of the pro gaming industry in Korea may have been an overwhelming factor to slow down the speculation that may have damaged the industry. The announcement on the 19th of May is in Korea, so it seems highly plausible that Blizzard will have heavily considered the Korean market when designing and marketing this game.
Confirming that a secret product will be released takes away the fun a bit. It seems highly possible that a new StarCraft related product will be released in May. If a product is to be secret until release Blizzard should not release any partial confirmation of a product without good reason. If Blizzard wishes to play the rumour game, and get the free advertising equivalent to the other rumour loved companies, they should not have given this hint.
Do not forget that we may have been mislead by the hints and rumours towards StarCraft; it could be Diablo III.
Links
GosuGamers - Blizzard confirmation of a new product at WWI
GosuGamers - The rumour of StarCraft II at WWI
