29 replies to this topic

[@Alex@]

Earlier today YoYoGaes sent out an email to it's mailing list detailing a contest with the prize being early access to GM: Studio Beta. Now it's not a proper competion more of a raffle with all the participation being to click like on a Facebook.

YoYo Games are delighted to announce that five lucky people will be given early acces to the Closed Beta of GameMaker: Studio this March!

View e-mail in browser | unsubscribe

<img alt="" style="margin:0;padding:0;max-width:600px;border:none;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;min-height:auto;line-height:100%;outline:none;text-decoration:none;text-transform:capitalize" height="420" border="0" width="600">

We at YoYo Games Ltd. are delighted to announce that five lucky people will be given early access to the Closed Beta of GameMaker: Studio this March!

On the 1^st of March 2012, all those that have liked the YoYo Games Facebook page (www.facebook.com/yoyogames) will be entered into a prize draw to win entry into the Closed Beta of GameMaker: Studio.

Five closed beta invites are up for grabs and the winners will be picked at random and notified on the 2^nd of March. To qualify for the lucky draw, all you have to do is visit the YoYo Games Facebook page at www.facebook.com/yoyogames and click on the like button!

Good Luck!




Competition Terms and Conditions:
1. To qualify for the lucky draw, like the YoYo Games Ltd. Facebook page at www.facebook.com/yoyogames
2. Only one entry per person.
3. A minor under the age of eighteen must be assisted by his/her legal guardian.
4. Winners will be notified via facebook on or before the 2^nd of March 2012.
5. Incorrect information will automatically disqualify the entrant.
6. Anybody may take part except employees of YoYo Games Ltd.
7. The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
8. Closing date for entry is 1 March 2012 at 14:00 GMT.
9. The prize will only be valid for the duration of the GameMaker: Studio Beta
10. By entering the competition, you consent to receive relevant promotional material.
11. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered int

So what do you guys think of this sort of marketing , the chances of winning at quite small. At the time I of writing slightly more than 5%. I'm quite unsure if I like this sort of marketing but I can see why they might try and employee it.

[Panthera Pardus]

I think it's completely fair to take advantage of facebook like this, it's legit, it's cheap, it's effective and everyone else does it. (The last one being the worst argument

I'll probably do something similar when it's relevant for my organization.

It is a little annoying when you get these kind of "commercials" from your friends in your news feed, but if they do it too much you can just decrease the frequency of updates from them.

I "liked it" mainly because I like GameMaker, I'll probably wont really have the time to test it out if I win anyway.

[True Valhalla]

So what do you guys think of this sort of marketing...I'm quite unsure if I like this sort of marketing but I can see why they might try and employee it.

It's completely fine in my opinion. I did the same thing about a week ago for Myriad Online's Facebook page and it increased total 'likes' by around 70%. The more 'likes', the larger audience you have to promote your game (or in YoYo's case, products) to.

I think it's refreshing to see YoYo working to improve their market reach in this way.

[GameGeisha]

Competition Terms and Conditions:
1. To qualify for the lucky draw, like the YoYo Games Ltd. Facebook page at www.facebook.com/yoyogames
2. Only one entry per person.
3. A minor under the age of eighteen must be assisted by his/her legal guardian.
4. Winners will be notified via facebook on or before the 2nd of March 2012.
5. Incorrect information will automatically disqualify the entrant.
6. Anybody may take part except employees of YoYo Games Ltd.
7. The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
8. Closing date for entry is 1 March 2012 at 14:00 GMT.
9. The prize will only be valid for the duration of the GameMaker: Studio Beta
10. By entering the competition, you consent to receive relevant promotional material.
11. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered int

These clauses are logic bombs waiting to go off. YoYo has to potential to give confidential access to the GMS beta to someone who is not legally accountable for honouring an NDA. If that person abuses the right (e.g. shares it on the a file-sharing network), that can be a big problem.

It's completely fine in my opinion. I did the same thing about a week ago for Myriad Online's Facebook page and it increased total 'likes' by around 70%. The more 'likes', the larger audience you have to promote your game (or in YoYo's case, products) to.

I think it's refreshing to see YoYo working to improve their market reach in this way.

Marketing publicly released software is not the same as marketing software that is still under closed development. There are added considerations that need to be taken with the latter, such as the ability to enter a binding contract if access to the closed beta is involved. I also approve of YoYo trying to expand their market reach the way you do, but I think the draw's prize combined with the clauses I underlined above is a mistake.

GameGeisha

Edited by GameGeisha, 22 February 2012 - 01:11 AM.

[9_6]

So long as they keep their facebook out of my gamemaker, I don't care.
If they start integrating it then we start having a problem.

Edited by 9_6, 22 February 2012 - 12:36 PM.

[JAk HAk]

It would make more sense to me if this was merely a giveaway of finished software. As a Beta, I would have thought they'd want to stick to people who could legitimately help them out.

I didn't personally have a problem with liking their page, but that's mostly because I thought I already had done so.

[Dangerous_Dave]

It would make more sense to me if this was merely a giveaway of finished software. As a Beta, I would have thought they'd want to stick to people who could legitimately help them out.

YYG now has quite a few experiences GM users on their payroll, I doubt a small (5 people) closed beta will make any difference. The idea isn't to get help spotting bugs, the idea is to promote their product.

[JAk HAk]

YYG now has quite a few experiences GM users on their payroll, I doubt a small (5 people) closed beta will make any difference. The idea isn't to get help spotting bugs, the idea is to promote their product.

If the 5 in question were akin to the GM users they've been hiring, or if the beta was expanded beyond 5 people, I see it as still being helpful.

This feels to me less like a promotion. However, I still can't help but be excited because it's an indicator that GMS is nearly here.

[Dangerous_Dave]

If the 5 in question were akin to the GM users they've been hiring, or if the beta was expanded beyond 5 people, I see it as still being helpful.

I expect the staff they have are using GM:Studio a lot. I know I would be .

This feels to me less like a promotion.

If the OP is right with his maths, at the time of posting this topic he had a "slightly more than 5%" chance of winning, so that means less than 100 people had liked the YYG facebook page. There are now more than 1500 people who have liked the facebook page. That's over 1400 people following the company for the price of... 0. I'm pretty sure they are just trying to promote themselves, rather than get actual helpful beta testers.

In fact, if history repeats, YYG would have contacted extra people they thought could helped in the closed beta to find the missed bugs. That's got nothing to do with liking their facebook page, and there is no reason to make it public.

Hence, it's a promotion. I rest my case

[@Alex@]

They actually ended up giving away 20 Beta's today according the Facebook.

YoYo Games Ltd.

Wow!

We never quite expected this many likes in such a quick time! It seems that having only 5 invites to the Closed GameMaker: Studio Beta just won’t cut it anymore. So what are we going to do about it we hear you ask.. Well the answer is simple: We are going to give out more!

Today we have given out 20 invites to the GameMaker: Studio Closed Beta, so check your Facebook inbox to see if you are one of the lucky ones.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get an invite, due to the popularity of GameMaker: Studio we are giving away some more invites over the course of next week!

At time of writing around 1600 have liked the page meaning the chances of winning were roughly 1.25%. That's likely around 1600 people + all their friends that they've informed of GM : Studio , that's potentially a fair bit of customers.

[Artaex Media]

I didn't win

[JAk HAk]

If the OP is right with his maths, at the time of posting this topic he had a "slightly more than 5%" chance of winning, so that means less than 100 people had liked the YYG facebook page. There are now more than 1500 people who have liked the facebook page. That's over 1400 people following the company for the price of... 0. I'm pretty sure they are just trying to promote themselves, rather than get actual helpful beta testers.

Except that the vast majority of people "liking" their Facebook page are only aware of its reward because they were already following YoYoGames. If I wasn't getting emails from YYG and following the Glog, you can bet I wouldn't have known to "like" the page.

[Dangerous_Dave]

Except that the vast majority of people "liking" their Facebook page are only aware of its reward because they were already following YoYoGames.

Obviously not on facebook. Having likes on facebook is separate to having customers on a mailing list, in that when you like a page, all your friends are notified. Hence the reach of the promotion is not just the 1500 extra people liking their page, but the 130 friends of each of those people (potentially 200,000 people, though there is bound to be overlap).

[Mr. RPG]

Any chances of an Open Beta?

[Swast]

It seems that everyone who had bought GM:HTML5 got a license for the Studio Beta.. I got one and one of my friends who also has GM:HTML5.

Edited by Swast, 29 February 2012 - 04:08 PM.

[@Alex@]

Yes. It seems that those with GM : HTML have the oppertunity to participate in a BETA for GM : Studio , YoYo have stressed this liscence ends when the testing period ends. I'm actually downloading it a the moment so there we go.

[2DLuis]

It seems that everyone who had bought GM:HTML5 got a license for the Studio Beta.. I got one and one of my friends who also has GM:HTML5.

Slight addendum: Anyone whom purchased a license before the 27th of February. As far as I know, any purchases after that date won't be invited to participate in the beta.

Source: https://twitter.com/#!/YoYoGamemaker/status/174813503134244865

[NakedPaulToast]

It seems that everyone who had bought GM:HTML5 got a license for the Studio Beta.. I got one and one of my friends who also has GM:HTML5.

Slight addendum: Anyone whom purchased a license before the 27th of February. As far as I know, any purchases after that date won't be invited to participate in the beta.

Source: https://twitter.com/#!/YoYoGamemaker/status/174813503134244865

That doesn't say that at all.

To all those who purchased GameMaker:HTML5 before 27th Feb, we have sent an invite to GameMaker: Studio Beta. Check your inbox

That doesn't say they won't be. It says they hadn't been. Big difference.

Maybe they'll offer it, maybe they won't.

[time-killer-games]

OMG I won!!!!!!! Does this mean I get gms full for free or does it expire? I wasn't real clear on what Ive won, other than to test a program that I can't even compile exe or any other format with. :/

[Dangerous_Dave]

It was clear, it only lasts until the beta period is over.

I can compile to Windows fine...