Live service games face an uphill battle before they even launch. Years of unfulfilled promises across the genre have left players wary, and a splashy reveal alone is no longer enough to win them over. Speaking on The Game Business Show podcast, Chase Colasonno, Senior Vice President at fortyseven communications, a Keywords Studios agency, broke down what actually works when announcing a live service title in today’s climate, and what doesn’t.
Start From a Position of Low Trust
Colasonno’s central point is that most developers are launching into a market that already doubts them. He told the podcast that studios need to go into their announcements understanding that “trust is low and there are sceptics everywhere,” pointing to an over-saturated market and a long run of “unkept promises from other games over the last decade.” His view is that this scepticism has to shape strategy from day one, rather than be treated as an unlucky obstacle.
Hype Alone No Longer Works
Where a big reveal trailer and bold marketing claims might once have carried a game a long way, Colasonno argues that era is over. “Leading on hype alone just isn’t enough,” he said, adding that it’s “not cutting it” in the current climate. Instead, he pointed to credibility, clarity, and a visible long-term commitment as what actually separates successful launches from the rest.
Studio Pedigree Doesn’t Carry the Weight It Used To
Colasonno also flagged a shift in how much “prestige by association” matters to players. Positioning a game as coming “from the creators of” a beloved prior title, he said, still works for “financing and funding conversations,” but “doesn’t carry the same cachet for players that it did back in the day,” especially now that so many teams from the same studios are releasing similar projects in parallel. His advice is to lean instead on transparency about what the game actually is, rather than relying on pedigree alone.
Build the Community Before the Big Reveal
Rather than aiming every effort at one big announcement moment, Colasonno recommends bringing a smaller, trusted group in early creators, streamers, and press included, and letting them become genuine believers in the game before a wider public push. As he put it, “the community isn’t just the player, it’s the whole ecosystem,” and bringing that wider group in early creates the kind of organic advocacy that a single flashy reveal can’t manufacture on its own.
He also pointed to the declining effectiveness of paying streamers simply to play a game on day one, noting that this tactic is “no longer a shot to win the long game.” Knowing exactly who the target audience is, and building trust with them specifically, matters far more than reach for its own sake.
Don’t Overpromise, Even Under Pressure
Extravagant marketing claims set up their own failure, in Colasonno’s view. “You’re always going to underdeliver when you try to sell something in a really extravagant way,” he said, arguing that studios are better served by a measured, honest framing that won’t collapse under its own weight once players get hands-on with the game.
Be Ready to Adapt When Feedback Comes In
Colasonno was also direct about the need for flexibility once a community starts reacting. Referencing the well-known line that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” he suggested that unexpected community pushback is exactly that kind of punch, and that both marketing and development teams need to be ready to adjust, rather than sticking rigidly to an original plan when players clearly aren’t on board.
Communications Needs to Match the Studio’s Actual Voice
One recurring issue Colasonno raised is a mismatch between how a game is marketed and how it actually feels to play. He suggested that many developers aren’t naturally inclined toward big, bombastic marketing pushes, but pressure to “go bombastic” and promise an “awesome cinematic” experience can creep in regardless, and when the marketing voice doesn’t match the studio’s real identity, it shows, and it doesn’t land well with an audience already primed to be sceptical.
The Takeaway
There’s no shortcut around the current climate of scepticism; in Colasonno’s view, only a slower, more transparent path through it. Long-term commitment, real community-building, and a willingness to adjust when feedback arrives all matter more now than a single big, hype-driven reveal ever could.
