Valve Software said Monday that it is supporting the upcoming zombie-fest Left 4 Dead 2 with a $25 million ad campaign, substantially more than the $10 million ad campaign behind last year's original Left 4 Dead.
"Based on the strength of pre-orders, Left 4 Dead 2 will be the fastest-selling product in Valve's history," said Valve president Gabe Newell. "Left 4 Dead 2 has consistently run at 300 percent of Left 4 Dead's numbers."
Valve launched the original IP Left 4 Dead in November last year, and as of September this year has sold almost 3 million units worldwide, according to Valve. The sequel is slated to arrive this November on PC and Xbox 360.
"Left 4 Dead 2 has already set the record for greatest number of pre-orders in our company's history, and we're still over a month out from shipping," said Valve marketing boss Doug Lombardi.
Valve said that in the U.S., the new ad campaign will include Monday Night Football and UFC television broadcasts, roadside billboards, and "popular lifestyle and gaming sites." In Europe, Valve said it plans a "more aggressive" campaign than last year's, placing TV ads during sports and lifestyle programming, online and print, and outdoor ads.
Electronic Arts is publishing Left 4 Dead 2 through its EA Partners program. Like its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2's gameplay is based around cooperative multiplayer gameplay that has players fending off waves of zombies.
Not to denigrate this game or anything (it looks great), but I wonder if they are being overly optimistic with the sales predictions. I'm just thinking that perhaps most of the people who are into this sort of game already bought the first one, and might not be excited enough by the prospect of a sequel.
Even so, 25 million? Why not 10 million again? 10 million will get you a lot, and at the end of the day, you have an extra 15 million to put in your next game's budget. You know, so you can pay your staff...
@Bob Kreut: As valve said, it is going to be a "more aggressive" advertising campaign. I only saw a few ads for the original L4D, most of which were at bus stops. Noone knew what it was, noone knew what it was meant for. I for one thought it was a movie poster. I imagine their ad campaign this time around is going to try to appeal to more than your "average" gamer.
Sorry for the double post, but did Gabe end up flying out to see the L4D2 Boycott headquarters in Australia? I heard it was offered but never found out if he did.
Valve will probably be paying for the majority of it, if not all I'd think - I have no doubts that they've got it that sort of money, they'll clearly make it back.
Erm... they're spending an extra $15m on advertising because they predict it will generate an extra $50m (or whatever) in sales, not because they hate money.
I have to admit I don't remember any advertising around the first L4D. If I hadn't seen screen shots somewhere or other I might not have heard of the game prior to the release. I made sure to spread the word though, who doesn't like zombies in video games?
I can't wait to play the sequel, but I'll have to, bah.
More power to them.
Valve will probably be paying for the majority of it, if not all I'd think - I have no doubts that they've got it that sort of money, they'll clearly make it back.
Erm... they're spending an extra $15m on advertising because they predict it will generate an extra $50m (or whatever) in sales, not because they hate money.
Afaik Gabe and Eric will fly this week to Australia, a report of the trip will be posted on L4D.com.
@Ryan
L4D2 Boycott headquarters in Australia? I think they are flying to meet some guy in Australia who has created a L4D mod that Valve is "boycotting"...
I can't wait to play the sequel, but I'll have to, bah.