Example Case Study

Class Case Study #1

Name: Call of Duty: Black OpsGenre: First person shooterDevelopers: Treyarch Publishers: ActivisionRelease date: November 9th 2010Playable on: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS (developed by n-space), X-Box 360, Playstation 3, smartphones (developed by Glu Mobile)Sales: 24 hours = 5.6m+copies, 1 year later = 25m+ copies. Revenue: $1 billion+

The Plot• Call of Duty: Black Ops takes place during the 1960s in the Cold War. It

focuses on CIA clandestine black operations carried out behind enemy lines. Missions take place in various locations around the globe such as the Ural Mountains in central Russia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam, and the Arctic circle. The single-player campaign revolves around an experimental chemical weapon codenamed "Nova-6".

• The main protagonist the player controls is SAD/SOG special forces operative Alex Mason, occasionally CIA agent Jason Hudson, and some other characters are playable to progress the story. Alex is often joined by fellow operatives Frank Woods and Joseph Bowman, while Jason teams up with Grigori Weaver, a Russian-born field operative. Viktor Reznov, a key character from the Soviet campaign in World at War, returns along with that game's Russian protagonist Dimitri Petrenko also making an appearance. Black Ops also features several historical figures, including John. F Kennedy.

The campaign

In early April 2010, an unmarked envelope was sent to various gaming news publications as well as high profile Call of Duty fans via mail. It contained a USB flash drive with sound and text files. These files were codes to be decrypted, only to find a mysterious teaser site for an unknown game. Other codes were updated periodically.

• Black Ops was first officially unveiled when the website for the game went live on April 30, 2010.

Then, two days later the teaser trailer was released on Gametrailers TV, episode 310 .Black Ops Teaser

• Similarly to Modern Warfare 2's marketing, the first full-length trailer of Black Ops was aired after the 3rd quarter on ESPN during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 18, 2010.

DuringE3 2010 (Entertainment Expo), studio head Mark Lamia opened the Microsoft conference on 14th June 2010 by playing Black Ops on stage…

A remixed version of the ESPN trailer with Eminem's "Won't Back Down" was released on June 14,[76] prior to the E3 Activision conference for which he also performed.

Eminem ft. Pink remix

A multiplayer teaser trailer was released on August 9, 2010 revealing killstreaks, weapons, and other in-game multiplayer features.Multiplayer teaser

A full multiplayer reveal took place on September 1, 2010, and revealed many multiplayer features from the game.[

On October 11, a single player trailer aired on ESPN during the New York Jets versus Minnesota Vikings NFL Monday Night Football game.ESPN Single-player

The same trailer was aired the next day in the United Kingdom at half time of the England versus Montenegro 2012 European Football Championship qualifying game.

On October 29, the official launch trailer was released online.

Official Black Ops Launch Trailer

The same trailer aired on October 31 during the New Orleans Saints versus Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Sunday Night Football game. The trailer features the song "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones

One week post-release, this US TV celebrity-endorsed trailer aired…

November celebrity trailer

In 2011, Chrysler produced a limited-edition Call of Duty Jeep as the Wrangler is featured in Black Ops.

Since its launch in November 2010, Black Ops has remained remarkably popular, slowly releasing downloadable content to keep gamers wanting more. This content is available on different consoles at different times.For example, the third map pack called "Annihilation" was released for the Xbox 360 on June 28, 2011, and on July 28, 2011 for the PlayStation 3 and PC. It contains four new multiplayer maps named "Hangar 18", "Hazard", "Drive-In", "Silo", and a new zombie map named "Shangri La", which takes place in a legendary shrine lost in an exotic jungle.Annihilation map Pack

The fourth map pack, "Rezurrection" was released on August 23, 2011 for the Xbox 360 and September 22, 2011 on PlayStation 3 and PC.So, a year on from release, Black Ops is still accruing revenue.

Other texts and platforms Black Ops uses:

The use of these social networking sites falls into three categories:1) Official – created and commissioned by the

developers/publishers to market and promote the game.

2) Unofficial – created by the gamers for the gaming community.

3) Unofficial but official! - created by gamers but officially backed by the developers/publishers to promote the game. Often, well-known gamers, who already have a large fanbase, will be used.

Dean Karr created, deployed and directed 58 actors transformed into zombies who represent the new characters featured in “Black Ops 2 – Call of Duty”, staged at the San Antonio Convention

Center for GameShop; the world’s largest retailer of videos games.

Public appearances

Press ReleasesMost Anticipated Title of 2010 Prepares for PC Launch

Oct 22, 2010- Valve and Activision Publishing, Inc today announced the upcoming holiday blockbuster, Call of Duty®: Black Ops (PC), is now available for pre-purchase via Steam, a leading platform for PC and Mac games with over 30 million accounts around the world.

Those who pre-purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops on Steam will be able to start playing immediately upon release on November 9, 2010, when Activision expects the title will be available worldwide. Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops utilizes the Steamworks suite of tools. The title is rated "M" (Mature - Blood, Drug, Reference, Intense Violence and Language) by the ESRB.

In addition to leveraging Steamworks' Auto-Updating, Achievements, and more, Call of Duty: Black Ops will support Steamworks Cloud technology. The PC version of the product will be powered with Steamworks for both the digital and tangible versions of the game and, as with all Steamworks titles, offline play will also be supported.

"We are delighted to be delivering the year's most anticipated title with Black Ops to PC gamers around the world," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "We've collaborated with the development team to leverage the Steamworks suite of services to deliver the highest level of service to Call of Duty: Black Ops PC customers."

"Steam has been a great partner throughout development of Black Ops," said Mark Lamia, president of Treyarch. "We're working closely together to take full advantage of Steamworks to ensure we deliver the most polished and secure PC experience that our community deserves."

Call of Duty: Black Ops is slated for worldwide release the week of November 9 at retailers and via Steam. For additional Call of Duty updates, visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020.

Merchandise

And good, old-fashioned print media!

Following its success, COD: Black Ops 2 was released in November 2012. The same media platforms were used in the promotion and marketing campaign, although the official launch trailer was directed by Guy Ritchie and had a very different feel…

Surprise!

Marketing materials for games often create negative gender stereotypes. Do you agree? How does this trailer differ?

What do you think?What are your views on the COD: Black Ops campaign? • Does it maximise in reaching the target audience? • Describe the demographic and psychographic profiles of the audience.• Are there gender stereotypes at work in the campaign? Do the genders of the central characters

have an impact on whether you would buy the game? • Describe the ‘brand’ identity• Consider the institutions behind the game. Does their size have an impact on the scale of

marketing and promotion for the game? Explain.• How is the institution regulated? What do they need to consider in order to follow the regulators

rules/laws? • Many people may not play the game but will be exposed to the marketing and promotion

campaign. Is there a need to consider the possibility that a campaign like this promotes or glamourizes a negative set of behaviours?

Your own case studyYou now need to work on your own case study, applying the same level of understanding of a marketing and promotion campaign as you’ve seen with COD: Black Ops. You need to be prepared to discuss it at length in the exam, applying the Key Concepts to your work. You are strongly advised to choose a video game which is not of the same genre as COD: Black Ops so you can show a range of knowledge and understanding in the exam. For example, you may choose to study a puzzle game or a strategy game, like Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds.

Remember, you have covered the Key Concepts in all other units, together with advertising and representation. Apply your prior knowledge to your case study.

Use these questions to help your case study

• Does it the campaign maximise in reaching the target audience? • Describe the demographic and psychographic profiles of the audience.• Are there gender stereotypes at work in the campaign? Do the genders of the central

characters have an impact on whether you would buy the game? • Describe the ‘brand’ identity• Consider the institutions behind the game. Does their size have an impact on the scale of

marketing and promotion for the game? Explain.• How is the institution regulated? What do they need to consider in order to follow the

regulators rules/laws? • Many people may not play the game but will be exposed to the marketing and promotion

campaign. Is there a need to consider the possibility that a campaign like this promotes or glamourizes a negative set of behaviours?