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That #GamerGirl FMV game trailer was SUPER tasteless, sure. But I don't think - or at least don't know for sure - that the dev team behind it was/is ill-intended. And that raises a question we faced with @BMMLgame too: how do you talk about games like that?
It's one of the tough things about reality-inspired games. Most of them will tackle sensitive topics (like most documentary films or "realistic" TV shows) because they think it might get more audience interest (this claim could be challenged but.), but then two questions arise.
Question 1: what is your methodology. How did you approach the topic, how much did you document/educate yourself on it, who did you consult or (better) work with, what is your ultimate goal, what is the form you opted for and do those two things work well together.
In the case of the Gamer Girl FMV, I don't think we have enough information to answer this question 1. One thing worth noting is, if we believe the note the team published, their intent was to raise awareness about online harassment, and it's worth commending.
Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. They don't seem to have just wanted to make an "edgy cash grab". As a former journalist, I'm curious to learn more about how they approached the topic, but I want to be clear: for me, there's nothing games inherently can't be about.
I find it a bit problematic when I read arguments such as "this is no game, those are our life experiences", because it entails there are life experiences games as a medium are unworthy of telling. I don't believe it's true, but I get why one might believe otherwise.
A part of the argument is specifically valid: when you make a game (or a movie or a comic or...) about real-life situations, you have to be sure to be respectful and true to the people who actually experience them. And there's only one way to do that: work with those people.
In a nutshell, it's not a question of "if" a game could/should be about something, it's a question of "how" it's made. Denying the possibility of such games to exist implicitly suggests games are a weaker art form. It's part of the reason why games are where they are now.
Now, question 2: how to promote such games. And that's a tough one. Because you can't just apply the usual marketing hooks you would use for any other game. You can't aim for "sexy" or "mysterious" or "delightfully creepy". You have an extra thing to take into account: reality.
That's the biggest mistake behind this "gamer girl" campaign: not understanding how tone deaf a teaser like that would feel in a world where women experience harassment and death threats online on a daily basis. Or, understanding it but failing to convey this aknowledgment.
And yet I understand - or I hope I understand - what they tried to do. "Let's make a trailer that's sexy and mysterious so people would be drawn in, then we'll hit them on the head with our message". Once again, it's not a bad intent. But it's very, very hard to do right.
I know only of a very few studios that landed it. @AccidentalQ's @normallostphone's trailer had a sense of mystery that worked really well marketing wise and wasn't in complete contadiciton with the game's purpose. But it's very rare.
I can't list all the marketing ideas we had for @BMMLgame that we finally just discarded because they woudl have conveyed the wrong message about the game. I can't recall all the PR opportunities we passed on for the same reason.
When you're making a game about the plight of Syrian migrants, promoting it with a contest, or posting funny gifs on your twitter feed, or having a funky Discord server setup for community building, or a suspenseful trailer... all this feels shallow and tasteless.
Even the game's title, "Bury me, my Love", is a symbol of this conflict. We picked it because it's a Syrian saying that means "take care of yourself". It's poetic, and beautiful, and it *makes sense*. But marketing wise, it sucks. It frigtened a lot of potential players away.
Then again, it's problematic, because I really think reality-inspired games are useful to video games in general. They explore our relationship to the world around us, open us up to others, and maybe even make us better human beings (if only a little).
But they won't be able to do any of that if no one plays them. And not a lot of people will play them without a reasonable dose of "sexyness" in the marketing campaign that is there to sell them. I should know, I have BMML's sales figures to back that claim.
So yeah, the trailer for Gamer Girl sucked HUGE time. They should have been way more carefull in how they were presenting their project - if their intent ACTUALLY is to raise awereness, that is.
But it also shows how crucial it is for us reality-inspired game makers to strengthen our marketing skills. It should be possible for us to come up to clever, interesting AND respectful ways to sell our projects.
It is complicated, sure, but it's also vital, if we want to become a meaningful part of what games can be.
