Medal

There are two metrics that can tell you if a game is dying or not and Medal cornered the market on it. We even share these metrics publicly on our Trends dashboards– link in the first comment. 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀? It’s not whether paid-for content creators are still making content about your game. It’s not what steamcharts shows as the CCU trend. It’s not the PR fluff pieces that get published for weeks after launch in hopes of keeping the hype alive.  At Medal we call it #Clippability and #Shareability and it’s one of the most predictive metrics to see whether a game, newly launched or on it’s 15th season of updates, is treading water, growing, or dying.  We define these as: 👉 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - Whether the average gamer deems a game good enough to clip.  👉 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - Whether the average gamer cares enough about the game to take clips of their gameplay 𝙖𝙣𝙙 then share that clip with friends.  Games grow have both metrics moving up and to the right.  Simple, right? A few core nuances: 1️⃣ Taking clips for the sake of taking clips is not an indicator of 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Hoarding is common across all walks of life, especially with digital experiences. 2️⃣ Publicly posted clip content alone is not an indicator of whether a game has high 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. People like to show off. People want to get famous. The drivers for posting content are not always aligned with posting 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 content.  3️⃣ Clips taken and shared within close friend groups is the single best determiner of both 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. This behavior indicates that not only is the game itself interesting enough to clip but the clips are also worth sharing with those closest to you—those that may also be in the very clips you’re sharing.  𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?  There are Billions, with a B, dollars spent each year marketing games through popular content creators across Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, etc. The content they create is nice, well-produced, shiny. Great, right? Popular creator + big audience = slam dunk. We’re all guilty of this thinking. I’ve contributed mid-seven figures to this cause over my career too. Hi Kettle, I’m Pot 👋.  The thing is, the shiny content created by highly-paid creators is like the part of the iceberg that’s above the waterline. It’s highly visible but it’s just 10% of the whole thing. And gamers see that content for what it is. It’s bought and paid for. It’s transparently shilly. 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 represent the 90% of content below the waterline. The 90% of content 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 driving decision making when it comes time to buy a new game or resubscribe for this Act’s battlepass. It’s the personal recommendation from a trusted friend, not the panini press promoted by a former boxer on late night TV.  Go take a look at Medal Trends for yourself.