A Look at BioShock Marketing

Hollywood Reporter’s Paul Hyman is taking a closer look at the marketing of BioShock, drawing similes from the film industry.

“You know, it’s not uncommon for our industry to borrow a lot from movie marketing; we do many nods to that industry,” he says. “Here we decided to start the program two years prior to the release date, then build the hardcore fan base, and then fan out to the mass market with everything leading up to that one big launch day.”
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“As with, say, science fiction movies or other genres that are considered ‘cool,’ fans tend to look at marketers as ‘clueless suits’ who hype everything,” says Bass. “We knew we needed to be careful to do things in a way that was cool … not to build hype but to build buzz. Especially when we started marketing the game two years before it was finished. I mean, how do you go out on the E3 floor and say you’ve got one of the greatest games ever made when there’s nothing for anyone to see or play?”

Rather than label “BioShock” as “the next big thing,” Bass decided to create a Web site into which he could keep releasing assets to show — not to tell — how good the game would be.
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Levine wasn’t the only one thrilled with the reaction. Sensing it had a potential hit on its hands, 2K Games approached Levine and asked him what he could do if they upped his production budget.

“I gave them a laundry list of improvements and they told me to hop to it, ” he recalls. “So we hired more people, we lengthened the production schedule, and, frankly, we ended up with a much better game. It had been a good game early on, but it hadn’t been a great one.”

Spotted on Fallout 3: A post nuclear blog.