Grand Theft Auto V - Case Study

Name of game: Grand Theft Auto V

Release date: 17 September 2013

Institutions behind the game (game studio/publisher): Rockstar Games & Take-Two Interactive

Gaming platforms it is available on (e.g. PS4, PC, Wii etc.): PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Print

1. What print adverts were used to advertise the game? Find examples and post them on your blog.        
2. What key conventions of print adverts can you find on the example you have chosen? Product name? Font? Slogan? Central image? Colour?                                                                                                    The product name in the typical GTA trademark font and colour scheme. The animated cartoon scenes of gangster/violence related images as the central image.
3. Find three reviews for your game that were originally published in videogame magazines. Are they positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from each review.                                 Quarter to Three - "The primary accomplishment in Grand Theft Auto V isn’t gameplay. It’s character. Grand Theft Auto V believes so strongly in its characters that everything else — even gameplay — is secondary." - POSITIVE                                                                                                                                                                 The Telegraph - "Given the pedigree and almost brutish levels of hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto V, it would have been a surprise if this wasn’t the five-star humdinger that you expected." - POSITIVE                                                                                                                                                                  Trusted Reviews - "Playful and dramatic, satirical, sophisticated and shocking, this is Grand Theft Auto at its very best." - POSITIVE  
4. Did your game feature on any videogame magazine front covers? Find examples and explain why a front cover feature is so successful in promoting a game to its target audience.

A front cover feature on a videogame magazine is successful in promoting a game to its target audience because core gamers will purchase magazines and trust the reliability of the reviews and statements regarding videogames. The fact that a game such as GTAV is featured on a magazine front cover compels the audience even more into purchasing the game because their trusted mag is promoting it.

Broadcast

1. Did your chosen game use a TV advert to promote the game? Embed it from YouTube if it did and explain how it fits the key conventions of a TV advert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jy7ceLVVgU - This particular TV ad adheres to the key conventions of placing institutional information at the end of the video as well as rapid in-game cut scenes with the assistance of a dynamic voice-over and background music.
2. Is there a game trailer on YouTube? Embed it on your blog and explain why it is effective in promoting the game to its target audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkoHAzjnUs - This game trailer is effective in promoting the game because it dynamically presents the narrative of the campaign mode of the videogame. It is well crafted with beautifully selected shots to give a cinematic feel to the videogame - marketed as a film would. 
3. Can you find any other broadcast features on the game - interviews, launch party events, video reviews, clips of the gameplay on YouTube etc. Write about how they effectively promote the game to its target audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JU0BoX0nQ - This is an interview with the voices of the three protagonists of the videogame's narrative. This forms a personal relationship between the audience and the celebrities and would therefore generate interest. 

E-media

1. Visit your chosen game's official website. How does it attract and maintain the interest of its target audience? www.rockstargames.com/V/ - Dynamically designed visuals and interesting videos embedded to entertain.  
2. Are there any creative or interesting aspects to the game's official website? - The website allows you to virtually enter the life of the gamer as they are in the videogame playing as any 3 of the protagonists.
3. Does the game have a YouTube channel? - https://www.youtube.com/user/RockstarGames
4. Can you find any examples of user-generated content on YouTube that players have created and uploaded from the game? Embed any examples on your blog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L94bxLL2Ol0 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A9I0xKDJCs , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOJHpft4vwg
5. How does user-generated content such as gameplay videos help to promote the game? - This poses a 'word of mouth' promotional method to result to widespread recognition of the videogame as it gains more views and subscribers via entertaining methods of video generation. 
6. How many 'likes' has your chosen game's Facebook wall had? - 1.2 million likes 
7. What is your chosen game's Twitter hashtag? -   #GTAV
8. How did the campaign use Twitter to promote the game? -   The campagin involves publishing gameplay with questions for audiences to answer and interact with. 
9. Can you find any other creative uses of e-media to promote the game? This might include hashtags, competitions, Instagram, user-generated campaigns or anything else that is designed to draw attention to the game.        -  User generated campaigns include the formation of weekly video uploads to achieve goals within the game. 

Pre- and post-release

1. What was the game's release date? 17 September 2013
2. What is the earliest reference you can find to the game before the release date? Was it announced at a gaming conference (such as E3)? How did the publisher get a potential audience excited about the forthcoming game? 2011 - 

   Grand Theft Auto V Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkoHAzjnUs

3. How did the institution promote the game after it was released? --- The institution relied on 'word of mouth' and UGC to promote the videogame. The institution encouraged users to upload in-game footage of their online achievements and introduced competitions for the players to engage in, resulting in prizes as a reward. 
4. Does the game have any way of making the publisher additional income post-release (such as in-game purchases)? --- The release of multiple DLC packages for additional exclusive in-game content.

Other

1. Who do you think is the target audience for this game? Make up a potential target audience demographic and explain why you think it fits the game. What psychographic groups would be attracted to this game? - Males aged 15-30 - Mainstreamers, escapers. 
2. What else can you find from the marketing and promotion of your chosen game? A launch event? Stories appearing in newspapers? Celebrity endorsement? Scandal or controversy? - Lots of controversy regarding the sexual content and excess violence. 
3. How does the campaign make an emotional connection with the audience? What is the audience appeal of the advertising campaign? - the cinematic presentation of the videogame with different lifestyles from 3 different protagonists appealing to differing psycho-graphic groups.