Opinions on shadow drops vs. announcement ahead of time for games?

I think it sort of depends on the game. Some games benefit more from it because they might not have done well with a long marketing run if they're a new IP indie or AA type game. I think this is why it worked well for Hi-Fi Rush. It made a great first impression with the shadow drop trailer, but I wonder how many people would've made a point to check it out months later after seeing it a few times. A strong first impression is best capitalized upon quickly in a competitive market for a game with lesser known credibility.

I also think it makes initial word of mouth more powerful. Say you see a trailer and then six months later the game comes out and people are now talking about the game on twitter/reddit/discord etc. Do most onlookers to these social media conversations even really remember the trailer they saw by this time? Is their own residual trailer-excitement still powerful enough to help them care about what they're reading about the game?

When the trailer's same-day fresh in your memory and social media's full of "I tried the game just now and it's AWESOME!" there's far less forgetting what game they're even talking about and if you were interested or not.

But I think there's also a degree of survivorship bias, I'm sure plenty of games try to shadowdrop without enough weight behind them to get into like a direct or a summer games fest game awards type production and maybe fail to get noticed. Not sure exactly but there's gotta be plenty out there that didn't make it, it's a gamble.

I also don't think AAAs like it. As we know, the suits don't like to gamble and there's a budget for marketing at that scale, so we pretty much always see the traditional marketing method there.

Don't have a preference personally. When a game gets released or announced, i do some research on it and if it's something I think I would like then it gets added to my wishlist. I have too many games and too little time to follow the hype of every announcement or drop everything to play a shadow drop.

At my current stage in life, I have the year planned out for what games I will be playing with a little buffer added for unexpected gems, like Dave the Diver as an current example. For the rest of the year, I plan on playing Baldur's Gate 3, Armored Core 6, and Cities Skylines 2. There are many other games I'm excited for but unfortunately I have to be realistic with my time availability and what I believe would be the best ROI for me based on my preferences.

Depends on the game of course, but I think the coolest way is to shadow drop a demo immediately after the announcement of said game. Or at least within a reasonable time period after the announcement

It makes no difference to me. But that’s largely because I refuse to participate in the hype machine that most major releases have. Too many games come out with major bugs these days, and frankly I think the hype/fomo that they build up isn’t good for the consumer. Everyone has been burned by a hyped game ending up being disappointing and so it doesn’t really make much sense to allow yourself to be swept up by the hype cycle.

I think one of the FOMO angles of media today is to be part of the conversation before it dies out - shadow drops kind of take advantage of this. Since companies are vying for everyone's time in an age where other games are cheap or free, it's very easy for Nintendo to stock all these ports in their backlog for games which may have slightly more niche audiences - old Metroid or Pikmin games, or any old ROMs on their online service - and drop them without announcement to both fill in gaps within their release timeline and take advantage of a consumer's snap decision of "oh yeah, I'd play that!" rather than try to hype up a port of Fire Emblem 7 or whatever.

It sounds like it didn't quite work out for Hi-Fi Rush as much as they wanted to in terms of sales (despite the insane word of mouth and critical buzz on community forums that it generated), but I think that was kind of complicated by Game Pass where it sounds like they make a solid chunk of money to have the stability of a contract in place. For someone like Nintendo where they already have flagship titles, though, it's a no-brainer to do it for these re-releases and spend zero money on marketing. Someone who's gunning for a port will figure it out with the speed of news anyway. (FWIW I snap bought Metroid Prime since I was on a Metroidvania kick... But I also had COVID and needed something to do, lol)

I generally prefer having a release date set for me to plan around, especially since my time is limited and desired backlog is growing. Having another game pop up the next week is just another backlog addition many times.

But on the other hand I see the benefits of a shadow drop:

• Advertising can get very expensive and a shadow drop pretty much relies on a single good trailer and to get out before people can forget that trailer
• For the sake of internet discourse, it "surprises" them. If you aren't guaranteed to have some GOTY/GOAT level game, it gives players less time for them to dissect the game into pieces and possibly think up random reasons to hate the game.
• Or, following the above point, simply less time for any other potential controversy. In the time from where Hogwarts Legacy was leaked and released, the series' author had went from some author with questionable retcons to one of the most controversial figures in the modern discourse. I'm sure that caused some name changes behind the scenes that may have been devastating it was official announced around the times of leaks

I will however say that I'll happily take a late announcement over an early one. RPGs in particular are victim of this due to their scope. Elder Scrolls 6, announced while I was still in college and I am well into industry now without any other trailers between.

I like to know when things are going to come out because it helps me plan what I'm gonna play and when.

I don't watch trailers/gameplay footage though, in order to avoid spoilers.

I personally like something in between. There are two ways I prefer: An announcement with a trailer a few months out from release or game drop same day as announcement. The first option puts the game on my radar and lets me have a little time to get excited for it. The second option is nice because of instant gratification. Nintendo likes to do the 2nd option sometimes, after a Nintendo direct they’ll just drop several games to immediately go play.

I think announcing games several years out is detrimental for the company, the game, and the audience. Honestly, most games that are announced 3-5+ years prior to release flop (imo). Turning on the hype train full steam ahead 3-5+ years before release just means that people either won’t care when it finally does release or it will never live up to the hype.

That being said, I think Nintendo sometimes does it the right way when announcing something years out. A slight hint or a tidbit of info jammed into the end of something else, then they leave it there for a while, and as it gets closer to the actual release then they start releasing more information. The amount of theory crafting I saw since the original hint of a new Breath of the Wild game was crazy. Hinting at a game like that let’s you flex timelines and features since you aren’t over promising anything.