Valve’s Anime Marketing Strategy

If you’ve been an esports fan for at least a few years, you probably know by now that Valve has a hands-off approach to game marketing. Two of their biggest titles, CS:GO and Dota 2, have survived over the years largely thanks to their active and passionate communities. Valve’s efforts in this direction have been close to zero. However, a few years ago, the company changed its approach and decided to do something about its dying MOBA game. And that’s how Dota: Dragon’s Blood was born.

What Is Dota: Dragon’s Blood

Dota: Dragon’s Blood is an anime series produced by Studio Mir and Kaiju Boulevard. More importantly, it’s on Netflix, where millions can watch it as just another great series. But because it’s based on Dota 2, people naturally want to know more about the game that inspired it after they see it. As a result, the popularity of the game grew substantially over the last 12 months.

Dota: Dragon’s Blood is a beautifully told story about Davion, the Dragon Knight, who is a core hero inside the game. This hero has been fairly popular throughout the years and is very easy to recognize by anyone who plays Dota 2. His strongest ability is called Elder Dragon Form and it transforms him into a powerful dragon for 60 seconds.

Another thing that might have inspired the creators of Dota: Dragon’s Blood to build their series on this hero is his lore. Davion has a captivating story inside the Dota 2 Universe and he’s not the only one. Many other heroes, such as Invoker, Mirana, and Templar Assassin, have received a powerful literary life that makes them a lot more than simple game characters. So far, only a tiny number of Dota’s heroes have been included in the series. But we may encounter many more if the creators decide to extend the show.

The Magic of Anime Marketing

The reason why anime marketing works is simple: the young generations love this type of show. Story is one of the most powerful ways to make something memorable. People are naturally drawn to anything that has a smart literary mechanism inside. And anime like Naruto and Dragon Ball Z already conquered the world in their own way. As a result, a path had already been laid down for what we might call anime marketing.

What Valve has done is absolutely brilliant. Although, we can’t be sure that it was their idea. Maybe the studios acted on their own and simply asked for Gabe’s blessing. No matter what the truth may be, the numbers speak for themselves. After just 2 seasons of Dota: Dragon’s Blood, the game went from having 390,000 average concurrent players to around 480,000. The number could be further increased by using very basic marketing tactics employed by many other companies. It’s unlikely that Valve will do this but it’s enough for them to stabilize the community at 500,000 average concurrent players and the game will endure for many years to come.

 

Photo credit: Valve