I have been slacking a tiny bit lately in terms of posting here… In any case, the 4th edition of my weekly digest is here. Video games, esports, Brand Marketing and HR are FOTM!
Article 1: What do developers and publishers really think of Steam Spy? by Ben Barrett (PCGamesN)
PCGamesN asked publishers/devs how accurate Steam Spy was… The results are pretty interesting and show that the tool created by Sergey Galyonkin was fairly on point. Sergey said about it:
Steam Spy uses estimates with 98% confidence interval. It means that 2% of games will be [outside] the displayed interval even with the margin of error. It’s also completely inaccurate for small games. Everything under 30K should be discounted as completely inaccurate – the sample size is just not big enough.
Article 2: Meet Kenny Sugishita, the behind the scenes ELEAGUE employee players love who makes events go by Vince Nairn (Slingshot esports)
There are lots of unsung heroes in all industries, and to the large audience that followed the ELEAGUE finals in Atlanta last month, Kenny Sugishita is one of them. Ever wondered how a player representative works? This article got you covered.
Article 3: 5 strategies to build a strong social media brand by Kristina Petrick (The Next Web)
I’ll do it in the form of a TL;DR. But I highly suggest to read through the full article as it serves as a good reminder:
- Utilize mobile advertising
- Enter the social media landscape
- Get an influencer
- Incorporate video
- Go Live with Your Marketing Strategy
Article4: Gabe Newell explains Valve’s budgeting process: there is none by Alex Wawro (Gamasutra)
Valve (STEAM, DotA2, CS:GO etc) is well known to be a “different” company, with a different way of working, hierarchy etc. This thorough article dives into this very interesting culture and shows the thinking process behind budgets.
Article 5: The most desirable Employee benefits by Kerry Jones (Harvard Business Review)
Spoiler alert: Insurance.
Do not hesitate to let me know if you liked the articles, and/or if you want to discuss.
Rachid's notes. 