14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Valve has announced that all the commercials for the upcoming first-person puzzle game Portal 2 will be produced by an internal team at the company, mainly because its representatives have had a number of bad experiences when dealing with specialized advertising agencies.
Doug Lombardi, who is the vice president in charge of marketing at Valve, has told MCV that “no one knows the product better than the folks who made it.”
He added, “We’ve had many creative kick-off meetings with agencies over the years, and you’d be shocked by the treatments that have come back. Copycat treatments. Cliché treatments. Treatments that reveal the agency wasn’t listening in the initial meeting.”
Apparently, Valve is using the same approach it takes to video game development when it comes to commercial creation, saying that they are testing version of the ad with the public and looking for feedback that is incorporated in the next version of the ad.
Valve has not said exactly how much advertising it plans to put out for Portal 2, but they have already stated that they are aiming to sell the game to more than those who enjoyed the first Portal, which means that potential customers need to be introduced to both the game world and the mechanics.
Portal 2 will expand on the puzzle dynamic of the first installment while making it easier for players to navigate the game space.
The developers at Valve are saying that more intellectual power will be needed to go through the puzzles, but that no ninja-like controller skills will come into play.
Portal 2 will be playable on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC and gamers in North America will be able to pick it up on April 18, with those playing in Europe having to wait until April 22.